Saks October Comparable Store Sales Increase of 4.6%

Retailer Saks Incorporated announced Thursday that total company comparable store sales increased 4.6 percent and total sales decreased by 10.8 percent for the four weeks ended October 29, 2005 compared to the four weeks ended October 30, 2004.

By segment, comparable store sales decreased 0.1 percent for its Saks Department Store Group (SDSG) and increased 10 percent in Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises (SFAE) during the same period.

Total sales during the period were $436.7 billion, compared to $489.7 billion for the same period last year.

Fine jewelry was among the categories with the best sales performance for SFAE in October; fashion jewelry was amongst the softest performing categories.

Hurricane Katrina, which struck in late August 2005, caused substantial damage to the Saks Fifth Avenue store in New Orleans. As such, the store has been removed from comparable store sales calculation.

In addition, management estimates that hurricane activity in the Southeast during October negatively affected SFAE's comparable stores sales by approximately 200 basis points for the month.

Saks Incorporated operates SFAE, which consists of 55 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 50 Saks Off 5th stores, and saks.com. The company also operates SDSG with 40 Parisian stores; 142 Younkers, Herberger's Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, and Boston Store stores (known collectively as the Northern Department Store Group or "NDSG"; and 56 Club Libby Lu specialty stores.

The company announced on October 31, 2005 that it had reached an agreement to sell NDSG to the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. for $1.185 billion; the transaction is expected to close early in the first fiscal quarter of 2006.

Saks Incorporated is also exploring strategic alternatives for Club Libby Lu, a retailer focusing on the ‘Tween’ customer – girls ages 6-12 years.