Federated January Same-Store Sales Rose 3.7%, Plans to Close Stern's Unit

Federated Department Stores(FD Quote) said January same-store sales rose 3.7%, above Wall Street's expectations, which called for 2.3% growth.

Federated, the owner of Bloomingdale's and Macy's, said total sales for the month rose to $1.11 billion, a 14% increase over the $965 million in the year-ago period. This year's total includes an extra week, due to a 53-week fiscal year.

Federated said same-store sales increased 1.6% for the fourth quarter. Total sales for the period, which includes an extra week, rose to $6.11 billion, a 2.3% increase from $5.97 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Shares of Federated fell $2.99, or 6.5%, to $42.95 in recent New York Stock Exchange trading.

Federated also said today that it plans to close its New Jersey-based Stern's department store division and convert 19 of the 24 stores to Macy's and Bloomingdale's.