Consumers give retailers needed October boost

NEW YORK -- The arrival of cold weather sent consumers on a buying spree in October, giving retailers some hope that the holiday season might be better than expected.

As the nation's largest retailers reported their monthly sales on Thursday, discounters and moderate-priced stores fared the best. Wal-Mart Stores and Kohl's Corp. announced results that exceeded Wall Street expectations.

Even mall-based apparel stores performed well, particularly Gap, which reported a double-digit gain in sales at stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales. That was the company's first monthly increase in more than a year.

Same-store sales are considered the best gauge of a retailer's health.

But department stores again languished, except for J.C. Penney and Nordstrom.

"Is the retail industry finally on the mend? It appears that, tentatively, the answer could be yes," said Michael P. Niemira, vice president of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., whose preliminary same-store sales tally was up 3.1 percent for the month. That was a percentage point above Niemira's expectations.

"You have your weak areas, but you have gotten some good strength in apparel and footwear," he continued.

"You are starting to see some life in the industry."

Given so much economic uncertainty, retailers were watching to see how consumers will behave in the crucial November and December months.

At least one analyst, Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Trend Report, expressed some concern that the strong October sales might dampen November results.

Some retailers reported pockets of weakness.

Sears described sluggish sales for big-ticket items, such as home appliances and jewelry, but saw "substantial improvement" in apparel, company chairman and CEO Alan J. Lacy said in a statement.