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In 1996, Dayton's, Hudson's and Marshall Field's began a mission to become the "best store in town." The repositioning has been well-received by our guests, resulting in two consecutive years of strong earnings growth. In fact, our department stores led the department store industry in comparable-store sales growth in 1998. We continue to refine our strategies in merchandising, guest service and marketing in order to differentiate our stores — and deliver further improvement in our operating results.
Our merchandising strategy has three goals: First, to be dominant in national brands with the best assortments and the newest items. Second, to differentiate our offering through our high-quality owned brands that fill in the gaps between the national brands and are only available at Dayton's, Hudson's or Marshall Field's. In 1998, we launched an important new casual owned brand aimed at juniors and young men called Oxford & Fulham ™. We have increased the sales penetration of our owned brands to 10 percent. Third, to constantly edit our assortments, eliminating those brands that aren't consistent with our market position. To reinforce our reputation as the best store in town, we want our guests to know that Dayton's, Hudson's and Marshall Field's are fashion leaders in their markets — and sophisticated without being stuffy. For example, our "Where Else?" marketing campaign tells our guests that we are different and better — and supports our less promotional strategy. To improve the guest experience at our stores — and preserve and enhance our strong market share in our core upper Midwest markets — we launched a disciplined, multi-year store remodeling program and undertook eight remodels in 1998. In 1999, we will remodel nine more stores to make them more guest friendly. And we are investing in training our team members to deliver consistently superior service. The best store in town means merchandise that is different and exciting, service that is consistently excellent, and a store environment that is attractive and convenient. Our strategy is working, and our Department Stores will continue to play a key role in Dayton Hudson's future growth.
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