Target Corporation's same-store sales and net retail sales both increased in August.

Same-store sales-sales at stores open for at least a year and a key measure of retailer performance-increased 1.8 percent for the four weeks that ended August 29.

Target Chairman, President, and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said that the results were “in line with expectations.”

Meanwhile, net retail sales for August totaled $4.86 billion, up 3.4 percent from the same period last year.

“We're pleased with our strong performance in back-to-school and back-to-college categories, as well as our performance in apparel and food,” Steinhafel said in a statement. “Guest traffic trends remained healthy throughout the month. These results demonstrate the resilience of our strategy and our ability to deliver on both sides of our 'Expect More. Pay Less.' brand promise.”

Year-to-date, Target's same-store sales are up 2.2 percent, and its net retail sales are up 4.5 percent to $35.3 billion.

Following the release of Target's August sales results, shares of the company's stock were trading up almost 1 percent at $52.69 in Thursday morning trading.

Minneapolis-based Target-which operates a retail segment and a credit-card segment-now serves customers at 1,743 stores in 49 states nationwide and on its Web site. It is Minnesota's second-largest public company based on its revenue, which totaled $65.4 billion in its most recently completed fiscal year.