By Anne D'Innocenzio
The Associated Press
and The Cincinnati Enquirer

NEW YORK - A bigger-than-expected buying spree over the Thanksgiving weekend brought some relief to the nation's major retailers but couldn't save them from recording mostly weak sales for the month.

As merchants released their sales figures Thursday, industry analysts remained cautious about whether consumers will continue their late November splurge on apparel and toys - and in the process turn the holiday shopping season into a success.

TOP 5 RETAILERS

November same-store sales reported by the five largest retailers (sales compare the current year's sales with those of the previous year at stores open at least a year): Wal-Mart Stores, up 2.6 percent. Target, down 6.7 percent. Kmart, filed for Chapter 11 in January and reports its same-store sales data when it reports its operating data at the end of each month. J.C. Penney, unchanged (J.C. Penney stores only). Sears, Roebuck and Co., down 10.9 percent (domestic stores only).

Wal-Mart Inc., the world's largest retailer, reported just a small gain, although it met Wall Street expectations. Still, the company surpassed many other discount and warehouse club rivals, including Target Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp.

Even moderate-priced Kohl's Corp., usually among the standouts, was a disappointment.

Meanwhile, plenty of department stores and mall-based apparel chains, including Saks Inc., May Department Stores Co. and AnnTaylor Stores Inc., suffered high single-digit declines in sales at stores open at least a year.

Federated down

Cincinnati's Federated Department Stores Inc. released its results Wednesday, saying sales at stores open at least a year fell 7.4 percent in November, compared with the previous November.

Same-store sales for Dayton, Ohio-based Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. fell 6.7 percent last month. Total store sales were $69.3 million for the four weeks, a decrease of 6.6 percent versus the same period last year.

Overall, results barely met analysts' lowered expectations. Among the few exceptions was Gap Inc., which recorded a better-than-expected 9 percent gain in stores open at least a year. Same-store sales are considered the best indicator of a retailer's health.

"It was a nice finish to a relatively soft month," said Michael P. Niemira, vice president of Bank of Toyko-Mitsubishi Ltd., whose same-store preliminary sales tally of 85 stores was down 0.1 percent for the month. That was at the low end of Mr. Niemira's projections.

The results were the first decline for November since Mr. Niemira began tracking same-store sales data in 1970. A year ago in November, sales were up 2.1 percent, he said.

The lateness of Thanksgiving, which fell six days later than in 2001, contributed to the drop by depriving retailers of that many holiday shopping days.

In fact, J.C. Penney Co. Inc.'s November reporting period didn't include Thanksgiving weekend. The company reported sales in its department store business that were slightly below analysts' projections.

Analysts believe it is best to study retailers' performances for November and December combined to get the most accurate measure of consumer spending.

Clearly, retailers who plied consumers with deep discounts were most successful over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Wal-Mart, which generated better-than expected results with early bird specials like $149 TVs, said same-store sales for the month rose 2.6 percent. That was in line with the 2.7 percent analysts predicted.

The discounter also said same-store sales for December will be up anywhere from 3 percent to 5 percent.

Price pressure

Target and Kohl's, both of which generally do well in recessionary times, apparently were unable to compete with Wal-Mart's low prices.

Target said same-store sales were down 6.7 percent, in line with the 6.9 percent decline analysts forecast. The company said its outlook for the November and December period remained unchanged. It expects same-store sales to be anywhere from flat to up 2 percent.

Kohl's recorded a 3.4 percent decline in same-store sales, disappointing analysts who anticipated a 2.7 percent gain.

"With a later Thanksgiving, sales of holiday gifts got off to a slower start than we had planned," said Larry Montgomery, chief executive.