October Delivers Better News for Retailers

October, 2009 Incentivized by early holiday discounts and an improving economy, consumers spent a little more in October, handing the retail industry its second consecutive monthly sales gain after more than a year of declines. Affluent shoppers, who also had been tight with their purses since the financial meltdown blew up last year, even spent more for designer clothing and accessories.

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally, sales at stores opened at least a year rose 2.1 percent, compared with a 4.2 percent drop in October 2008.

The October results marked the industry's strongest performance since July 2008 and beat estimates for a 1 percent gain. October's gain followed a surprising 0.6 percent increase in September.

The improving figures point to possible sales momentum, and are encouraging as the industry heads into the holiday shopping season.