Consumers Find Economic Shelter in Discounters

But that's also been a boon for discounter Wal-Mart, which has spruced up its stores and merchandise.

Wal-Mart report a 3.2 percent gain in same-store sales. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a 2.1 percent gain. Including fuel, same-store sales climbed 3.8 percent.

Its business was fueled by strong sales in grocery and health items, and by entertainment products like flat-panel TVs and video games. The company said apparel sales continued to recover, despite cold weather, but home furnishings sales were weak.

At an industry conference last week, the world's largest retailer said that more affluent customers are shopping at its stores now. For Wal-Mart's purposes, it considers shoppers with a household income of more than $55,000 to $70,000 affluent. It said it expects to keep those customers after the economy improves, too.

Target Corp. posted a 3.1 percent gain in same-store sales, below the 4.5 percent estimate, as consumers shopped for necessities such as food and skipped higher-priced items such as jewelry.

Costco's 8 percent increase surpassed the 6.1 percent estimate, helped by higher gas prices. Excluding fuel, same-store sales rose a solid 5 percent as shoppers were attracted to buying merchandise in bulk.

TJX, which operates discount apparel and home stores including T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, said same-store sales rose a better-than-expected 8 percent. Discount apparel chain Ross Stores Inc.'s 8 percent increase beat estimates, too.

Many mall-based apparel chains struggled, though teen stores fared well.

Among department stores, Penney reported a 1.7 percent decline in same-store sales, though that was better than the 4.6 percent declined analysts expected. Nordstrom Inc. posted a 3.8 percent drop in same-store sales, more than double the decline that Wall Street expected.

Limited reported a 5 percent drop in same-store sales, almost more than double the expected drop. Gap Inc. reported a 6 percent drop in same-store sales, more than three times what was projected.