Not a Merry Month for Federated

Federated Department Stores (Cincinnati) reported a 1.2 percent decrease in total sales for the four weeks ended May 31, 2003. Same-store sales were down 0.8 percent.

Year-to-date, Federated's sales are down 3.8 percent from last year and same-store sales are down 4.0 percent.

President and ceo Terry Lundgren said the company's performance in May exceeded its expectations of minus 2 to 3 percent for the period. The department store retailer said it expects same-store sales in June to be down again, at roughly minus 1 to 2 percent.