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SALES, PROFITS INCREASE AT SHAW'S

WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Sales at Shaw's Supermarkets here rose 1.2% to $4.4 billion and same-store sales jumped 0.9% for the fiscal year ended March 29, the chain's London-based parent company, J Sainsbury, said.Sainsbury also said Shaw's operating profits for the year rose 9.7% to $215 million.Sir George Bull, chairman, said Shaw's expects to increase selling space this year by 15%, with capital

WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Sales at Shaw's Supermarkets here rose 1.2% to $4.4 billion and same-store sales jumped 0.9% for the fiscal year ended March 29, the chain's London-based parent company, J Sainsbury, said.

Sainsbury also said Shaw's operating profits for the year rose 9.7% to $215 million.

Sir George Bull, chairman, said Shaw's expects to increase selling space this year by 15%, with capital expenditures scheduled to increase, although he did not give a specific dollar amount. He said cap-ex spending at Shaw's rose 16.6% last year to $253.3 million, compared with $217.3 million spent in 2002.

Shaw's spent an additional $78.4 million last year to acquire 17 Ames Department Stores, Bull said.

More than 70% of Shaw's customers use the chain's Rewards Card, Bull noted, "and since last September, using our experience in the United Kingdom, we have mined customer data [from Shaw's] and produced customer profiles to implement targeted marketing activities [aimed at] increasing promotional effectiveness and tailoring product ranges and choices."

Bull also said Shaw's participated in its first online auction early in 2003 under the auspices of Sainbury's membership in GlobalNetXchange; it has since participated in 39 auctions, he added.