May 22 (Reuters) - Music superstar Taylor Swift's latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," was released just two weeks before the end of Target's quarter - and yet sales were enough to buoy the retailer's entertainment business.
Target said the category grew high-single-digits in the latest quarter, benefiting from exclusive offers for Swift's latest release.
Swift released the first 16 tracks of "Poets" on April 19, and two hours later surprised fans by revealing a double album with 15 more songs. The retailer's first quarter ended May 4.
"With an exclusive-to-Target version of the album and three exclusive CD options, this was the strongest music pre-order in our history," Christina Hennington, Target's chief growth officer said in a post-earnings on Wednesday.
The company added that sales were elevated by improved in-store events for the album that included Target-exclusive vinyl that had bonus tracks.
Vinyl of The Tortured Poets Department + Bonus Track 'The Manuscript' sells for $45.99, according to Target's website.
Traditional album sales of this release totaled 1.91 million in the week ending April 25 between digital download albums, CDs, and cassettes and also included 859,000 vinyl sales, Billboard had reported citing data from Luminate.
Swift, 34, has been setting music industry milestones and boosting local economies with The Eras Tour, which resumed in Paris earlier this month, a phenomenon that some economists have termed "Swiftflation."
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru Editing by Nick Zieminski)
