pre_text: the contractual maturities of held-to-maturity securities as of january 30 , 2009 were in excess of three years and were $ 31.4 million at cost and $ 28.9 million at fair value , respectively . for the successor year ended january 30 , 2009 and period ended february 1 , 2008 , and the predecessor period ended july 6 , 2007 and year ended february 2 , 2007 , gross realized gains and losses on the sales of available-for-sale securities were not material . the cost of securities sold is based upon the specific identification method . merchandise inventories inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market with cost determined using the retail last-in , first-out ( 201clifo 201d ) method . under the company 2019s retail inventory method ( 201crim 201d ) , the calculation of gross profit and the resulting valuation of inventories at cost are computed by applying a calculated cost-to-retail inventory ratio to the retail value of sales at a department level . costs directly associated with warehousing and distribution are capitalized into inventory . the excess of current cost over lifo cost was approximately $ 50.0 million at january 30 , 2009 and $ 6.1 million at february 1 , 2008 . current cost is determined using the retail first-in , first-out method . the company 2019s lifo reserves were adjusted to zero at july 6 , 2007 as a result of the merger . the successor recorded lifo provisions of $ 43.9 million and $ 6.1 million during 2008 and 2007 , respectively . the predecessor recorded a lifo credit of $ 1.5 million in 2006 . in 2008 , the increased commodity cost pressures mainly related to food and pet products which have been driven by fruit and vegetable prices and rising freight costs . increases in petroleum , resin , metals , pulp and other raw material commodity driven costs also resulted in multiple product cost increases . the company intends to address these commodity cost increases through negotiations with its vendors and by increasing retail prices as necessary . on a quarterly basis , the company estimates the annual impact of commodity cost fluctuations based upon the best available information at that point in time . store pre-opening costs pre-opening costs related to new store openings and the construction periods are expensed as incurred . property and equipment property and equipment are recorded at cost . the company provides for depreciation and amortization on a straight-line basis over the following estimated useful lives: .
post_text: improvements of leased properties are amortized over the shorter of the life of the applicable lease term or the estimated useful life of the asset. .
table: Land improvements 20
table: Buildings 39-40
table: Furniture, fixtures and equipment 3-10
question: Analyse this data from a financial earnings document. what was the percentage change in the excess of current cost over lifo cost from 2008 to 2009 .