The nation&S217;s stores posted a second consecutive month of sales increases in October, the retailing industry&S217;s best performance in more than a year.

Results at chains as varied as Costco and Saks were clearly helped by easy comparisons to the dismal results of a year ago, but also by October&S217;s cool weather and Columbus Day sales. Retailing analysts said sales might also have been driven by pent-up demand.

Over all, the industry reported a 1.8 percent increase at stores open at least a year, according to Thomson Reuters. Retailers have not reported a sales increase that large since June 2008, when the industry&S217;s sales rose 2 percent. Nearly every sector had sales gains in October, with the exception of teenage-clothing retailers and department stores.

In a statement on Thursday, Michael P. Niemira, chief economist and director of research for the International Council of Shopping Centers, an industry group, called the results &S220;further evidence of retail recovery.&S221;

Clothing chains selling designer names at bargain-basement prices were the top performers. Sales at TJX stores open at least a year, a measure of retail health known as same-store sales, increased 10 percent. TJX, which owns stores including TJ Maxx, Marshall&S217;s and Home Goods, has been on a roll for months as consumers shop for bargains.

Carol M. Meyrowitz, the company&S217;s chief executive, said in a news release that &S220;customer traffic continued to drive sales throughout the month, boding well for the holiday season.&S221;

A TJX competitor, Ross Stores, also thrived, turning in a 9 percent sales increase.

Other discounters reported healthy numbers, including Costco (up 5 percent) and Kohl&S217;s, the value-priced clothing chain, which had its fourth consecutive month of positive sales. October sales increased 1.4 percent at Kohl&S217;s, though that was lower than what analysts were expecting.

Kohl&S217;s also reported some signs of broader recovery, saying in a news release that its strongest year-over-year gains were in the home goods category, a retailing sector hit hard by the recession. The company said same-store sales increases were notable in the Southwest, a region that was hurt more by the recession than other parts of the country.

Sales at BJ&S217;s Wholesale Club declined 1.1 percent, though customer traffic was up 4 percent year-over-year. Sales at Target also decreased slightly, by 0.1 percent, yet its same-store sales of clothing were slightly stronger &<51; a sign that consumers are beginning to spend some discretionary dollars.

&S220;We are entering the holiday season with very clean inventories,&S221; Gregg W. Steinhafel, chief executive of Target, said in a news release, &S220;and we believe we are positioned to perform well in what continues to be a challenging economic environment.&S221;

Wal-Mart Stores, the nation&S217;s largest chain, stopped reporting monthly sales figures in April.

Same-store sales at department stores &<51; a group that was struggling even before the recession &<51; declined slightly, falling 0.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters. Even so, some department stores had sales growth for the first time in months. Same-store sales increased even at the upscale chains like Nordstrom (up 6.5 percent) and Saks (up 0.7 percent). Nordstrom was one of the industry&S217;s top performers. And Saks said in a news release that it experienced &S220;relative strength&S221; in some of its merchandise categories, like women&S217;s designer sportswear, its e-commerce business and its outlet stores, Saks Off 5th.

At Bon-Ton, sales rose 3.1 percent. &S220;We are encouraged by the sustained improvement in our sales trend, which began in August,&S221; Tony Buccina, vice chairman and president for merchandising at Bon-Ton, said in a news release.

Other department stores did not fare as well. Sales declined at Dillard&S217;s (down 8 percent), Neiman Marcus (down 6 percent), Stein Mart (down 4.9 percent), JC Penney (down 4.5 percent) and Macy&S217;s (down 0.8 percent).

Retailers catering to teenage shoppers posted the weakest results, with same-store sales declining 5.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters. That was much lower than analysts&S217; estimates. Sales fell at Abercrombie &&8; Fitch (down 15 percent), Zumiez (down 8.9 percent), American Apparel (down 6 percent), American Eagle Outfitters (down 5 percent), Limited Brands (down 4 percent), Hot Topic (down 2.6 percent), Children&S217;s Place (down 2 percent) and Wet Seal (down 1.3 percent).

Of course some teenage clothing chains bucked the trend as they have for the last several months, including Buckle (up 4.3 percent) and A&>33;ropostale (up 3 percent). The Gap, which is in the midst of a turnaround, posted a 4 percent increase.

For November, the first month of the crucial holiday shopping season, the International Council of Shopping Centers is forecasting a 5 to 8 percent same-store sales increase.

Retailers Report Sales Increases