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The May Department Stores Company Reports Sales For March ST. LOUIS, April 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The May Department Stores Company (NYSE:MAY) reported preliminary net sales of $1.28 billion for the five-week period ended April 2, 2005, an 8.3% increase from $1.18 billion in the similar period last year. Store-for-store sales decreased 10.8%. Sales comparisons in March 2005 were adversely affected by the movement of a major sales promotion event from the last week of fiscal March 2004 to the first week of fiscal April 2005. The company anticipates its April sales performance will benefit from this calendar shift. Net sales for the first two months of fiscal 2005 were $2.29 billion, an 11.0% increase compared with $2.06 billion during the first two months of fiscal 2004. Net sales were as follows: Fiscal Fiscal Percent Store-for-Store (dollars in millions) 2005 2004 Increase Decrease March $ 1,279.4 $ 1,181.0 8.3% (10.8)% Year-to-date 2,287.2 2,061.3 11.0 (8.0) During March, May opened a Robinsons-May store at Imperial Valley Mall in El Centro, Calif. In addition, May's Bridal Group opened two After Hours Formalwear stores. The May Department Stores Company currently operates 492 department stores under the names of Famous-Barr, Filene's, Foley's, Hecht's, Kaufmann's, Lord & Taylor, L.S. Ayres, Marshall Field's, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May, Strawbridge's, and The Jones Store, as well as 240 David's Bridal stores, 449 After Hours Formalwear stores, and 11 Priscilla of Boston stores in its Bridal Group. May operates in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For more information, contact Sharon Bateman at 314-342-6494. DATASOURCE: The May Department Stores Company CONTACT: Sharon Bateman of May Department Stores Company, +1-314-342-6494 Web site: http://www.mayco.com/

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