Discount stores grew by 0.5 percent, following a drop of 0.1 percent in August. This brings the year-to-date average for the sector to a decrease of 0.7 percent. Target Corporation reported a net retail sales increase of 1.3 percent for the five weeks that ended on Oct. 4, which represents a change of 0.7 percent compared to the previous quarter. In a statement to the press, Gregg Steinhafel, chairman and CEO of Target emphasized the stronger-than-expected retail segment performance had helped boost the company's sales.

Wal-Mart and K-mart were excluded from the totals as they only publish same-store sales data on a quarterly basis, The next release is expected next month.

The wholesale clubs sector also posted a moderate increase, with an overall gain of 0.8 percent. That total is increased to 4.2 percent when fuel sales are excluded. Costco increased its sales by 1 percent to mark its second consecutive monthly increase. This gain is less than the 2 percent uptick seen in Aug 2009. BJ's Wholesale continued in its decline, which began back in March, to fall 0.5 percent. This loss is a substantial slowdown of the declines seen in August (down 6 percent) and July (9.1 percent).

Comparatively, drug stores did enormously well, posting a 3.7 percent jump in September, marking the largest growth since a 4.6 percent uptick in April. Monthly totals for the market currently average 1.3 percent.

Same-store sales at Walgreen's continued to increase in September (5.3 percent) to follow in steady growth since March 2009. Year-over-year sales for all stores, including those open less than a year, jumped 10.3 percent from $4.8 billion in 2008 to $5.3 billion. Rite Aid, however, again saw decline (0.3 percent), with a 3.1 percent drop in front-end sales and a 1.1 percent gain in pharmacy sales. The drop follows losses of 1.9 percent in Aug and 0.6 percent in July and June.
  
Looking ahead, the ICSC expects U.S. chain store sales for October will be flat compared with October 2008. In addition, ICSC Research projects U.S. holiday sales for the November-December 2009 period will increase by approximately 1 percent based on either GAFO store sales or the ICSC's tally of major chain store sales. Shopping center sales are expected to increase by 1.8 percent this holiday season.