• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 7, 2010

Looks like back-to-school shopping delivered at least a little more than stores expected after all, with major retailers posting modest gains for September. Teen retailers Abercrombie & Fitch and Zumiez saw big jumps, and mainline department stores turned in exceedingly solid results.

But overall, the results are a bit of a decline. Kantar Retail, which tracks 31 large chains, says its monthly index fell to 2.8%, down a little from the 3.1% same-store sales gain in the previous month. But it was up from the 0.9% gain in September of last year. The International Council of Shopping Centers, which tracks a slightly different set of stores, says its index rose 2.6%.

A&F's comparable-store sales jumped 13%, and Zumiez's rose 17%. Other teen stores also had improving sales, with Aeropostale and Buckle both adding 3% and American Eagle Outfitters adding 4%. (Sales fell at Wet Seal and Hot Topic.) And Limited Brands, parent of both Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works brands, says its sales shot up 12%.

Mid-tier department stores also recovered some of their mojo. At Macy's, which says this has been its most successful BTS season in years, sales gained 4.8%. And JCPenney, which had a gain of 5.1%, says men's apparel was its top-performing division, followed by shoes and fine jewelry, which benefited from its Billion Dollar jewelry promotion. And during the first two weeks of the month, back-to-school sales picked up, "as customers continued to shop closer to need."

Sales at Bon Ton advanced 5.9%, and both Kohl's and Dillard's registered increases of 3%.

Luxury stores also had a good month, with ICSC's overall luxury index rising 6.6%. Nordstrom's sales climbed 7.5%, Saks' 6.5%, and Neiman Marcus, 4.7%.

But still, some lagged. Target, for example, says same store sales came in 1.3% higher, "near the low end of our expectations," the company says in its release, despite strong performances from back-to-school, back-to-college, and grocery, beauty and healthcare.

On the whole, experts are expecting gains for the holidays, but extremely modest ones. "The results suggest that outside of healthy back-to-school spending, shoppers otherwise continue to moderate their spending from a surge in the spring," Kantar says in its release. "This moderation should continue into the holidays."