DALLAS, Apr 6, 2006/ --- --- It was a case of ‘good news and not so good news’ with JCPenney, as the company reported its March sales with a 5% increase in Direct Sales while its brick and mortar locations experienced flat sales.

The company’s online channel, www.jcpenney.com saw a dramatic increase in sales, posting a 25% growth in March, making the company’s fastest growing channel.

With online sales as part of JCPenney’s Direct sales efforts, its tremendous growth helped in the 5% sales increased during the period, which surpassed the initial guidance for a low single digit sales.

Though department store sales remained flat, it was actually an improvement compared to to the same period last year. March’s comparable department store sales decreased 1.0 percent compared to a 0.4 percent decline in last year's March period.

Sales were below initial guidance for a low single digit comparable store increase, reflecting a later Easter spending pattern than originally anticipated, due to the three-week shift of the Easter holiday into mid-April 2006.

The western region of the country continues to generate the strongest sales results, with the best divisional performance coming from home, family shoes and fine jewelry.