Kohl's: June same-store sales rise 2.3 percent

Department store Kohl's Corp. said Thursday its June same-store sales rose 2.3 percent to beat Wall Street estimates, citing stronger sales of summer clothes due to warmer weather in the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic regions.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance because it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected an increase in same-store sales for the five weeks ended July 5 of 0.6 percent, on average.

The company said total sales for the five-week period rose 11 percent to $1.49 billion from $1.35 billion a year ago.

Year to date, Kohl's said same-store sales declined 4.8 percent. Its total year-to-date sales rose 3.5 percent to $6.32 billion from $6.12 billion a year ago.

"All apparel businesses, along with accessories and footwear, achieved positive comparable-sales increases," Chief Executive and Chairman Larry Montgomery said in a statement. "Our inventories remain well-controlled and we enter July with inventory per store well below last year.