Business / Technology

Attracted by heavy winter sales and promotions, shoppers headed to the malls in January as retailers worked to clear their shelves in advance of the coming spring.

Issaquah-based Costco Wholesale and Everett-based Zumiez were among the January winners, reporting sales growth above Wall Street estimates.

Major chain stores overall posted an impressive 4.2 percent increase in January compared with the same month a year earlier, handily exceeding analysts' expectations of a modest 2 percent rise.

Discounters and apparel sellers especially posted healthy sales increases, according to Thomson Reuters' tally of 20 retailers.

Top performers were a mixture of high- and low-end stores. Action-sports chain Zumiez led the way with a 10.8 percent bump, more than double the 4.3 percent rise predicted by analysts.

Buoyed by a comeback of wealthy shoppers, luxury retailer Saks reported a strong 10.5 percent increase.

Costco said sales rose 8 percent, well above analysts' expectations of a 6.1 percent gain. Limited Brands, parent company of Victoria's Secret stores, had a 9 percent increase.

Other retailers did not fare as well. Teen clothier Wet Seal said sales fell 13 percent, while struggling apparel giant Gap reported a 4 percent drop.

Macy's posted a 2.4 percent increase, which was "weaker than anticipated," said the chain's CEO Terry J. Lundgren. Still, the retailer raised its guidance for the fourth quarter and full year based on stronger sales earlier in the quarter. "The fourth quarter was our strongest in many years, and demonstrated the continued progress in improving the fundamentals in our business," Lundgren said in a statement.

Seattle-based Nordstrom reported a 5 percent increase, below analysts' forecast of 5.3 percent growth.

All told, about 59 percent of retailers beat expectations, Thomson Reuters said.

Results are based on sales at stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales and considered an important measure of a retailer's health because it excludes the effect of stores' openings and closings.

For many retailers, January is the last month of the fourth quarter and a time when shoppers go to stores to redeem gift cards and pick through discounted winter merchandise. It can also give an early sign of demand for spring goods, which begin appearing on store shelves during the month.

"The take-away is that the underlying demand is still there, but business continues to be uneven," said Michael P. Niemira, the International Council of Shopping Center's chief economist. "It was definitely a divided picture."

Industry watchers look closely at retailers' monthly sales numbers, but only a small number of retailers report those figures. Home Depot, Best Buy and even Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, don't report monthly revenue. A fuller picture of January spending will come in a government retail-sales report that will be released Feb. 14.

There's no doubt, though, that retailers have been affected by consumers' finicky shopping habits. January's reports of revenue at stores open at least a year — a gauge of a retailer's health — show that Americans were most willing to shop at discounters and wholesale clubs that offer more of a variety in merchandise.

Material from

Seattle Times business reporter Amy Martinez and

The Associated Press is included in this report.