JCPenney Reports August Sales Results

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) reported comparable store sales for the four-week period ended Aug. 28, 2010, increased 2.3 percent over the same period last year, in line with the Company’s expectations. Total Company sales in August increased 0.8 percent.

Overall, men’s and children’s apparel were the top performing merchandise divisions during the month. The Company’s new brands in kids, Uproar™ and Supergirl^® by Nastia, performed very well during the period. Sales were also robust in back-to-school categories such as tops, back packs and denim in Junior’s and Young Men’s. The Company also noted that sales of the initial deliveries of its Liz Claiborne merchandise, available exclusively at JCPenney, are off to a very strong start weeks ahead of the Company’s official launch and marketing campaign. Fast fashion brand MNG by Mango^® is also off to a solid start in 77 stores located in key JCPenney markets.

Geographically, the southeast and southwest regions were the best performing regions in August.

Preliminary August Sales Summary
($ in millions)
	Total Company Sales				% Increase/(Decrease)
	for period ended				Total Sales			Comp Stores
	Aug. 28,		Aug. 29,
	2010		2009		2010	2009		2010	2009
4 Weeks	$	1,439	$	1,428	0.8	(5.6	)	2.3	(7.9	)
30 Weeks	$	9,306	$	9,255	0.6	(6.7	)	1.4	(8.4	)

Sales Conference Call Recording (8:30 a.m. ET) -- [phone]

About JCPenney

JCPenney is one of America's leading retailers, operating 1,107 department stores throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as one of the largest apparel and home furnishing sites on the Internet, jcp.com, and the nation's largest general merchandise catalog business. Through these integrated channels, JCPenney offers a wide array of national, private and exclusive brands which reflect the Company's commitment to providing customers with style and quality at a smart price. Traded as "JCP" on the New York Stock Exchange, the Company posted revenue of $17.6 billion in 2009 and is executing its strategic plan to be the growth leader in the retail industry. Key to this strategy is JCPenney's "Every Day Matters" brand positioning, intended to generate deeper, more emotionally driven relationships with customers by fully engaging the Company's approximately 150,000 Associates to offer encouragement, provide ideas and inspire customers every time they shop with JCPenney.

This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company's current views of future events and financial performance, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results to be materially different from planned or expected results. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, including inflation, recession, unemployment levels, consumer spending patterns, credit availability and debt levels, changes in store traffic trends, the cost of goods, trade restrictions, changes in tariff, freight, paper and postal rates, changes in the cost of fuel and other energy and transportation costs, increases in wage and benefit costs, competition and retail industry consolidations, interest rate fluctuations, dollar and other currency valuations, risks associated with war, an act of terrorism or pandemic, and a systems failure and/or security breach that results in the theft, transfer or unauthorized disclosure of customer, employee or Company information. Please refer to the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent filings for a further discussion of risks and uncertainties. Investors should take such risks into account when making investment decisions. We do not undertake to update these forward-looking statements as of any future date.