• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 3, 2011

Kantar Retail reports that same-store sales grew by 4.9% in January, compared with the somewhat ho-hum gain of 3.2% in December. And the International Council of Shopping Centers, which tracks a slightly different group of stores, says its index grew by 4.8%.

Experts say the stronger-than-expected results for some stores—on the heels of disappointing December, which followed a hot November--suggest that this recovery may continue to lurch along in this up-a-little, up-a-lot fashion for some time. "It's been volatile and uneven since last summer or so, and we expect it to continue to be so for the rest of this year," Frank Badillo, Kantar's senior economist tells Marketing Daily. "But spending intentions among consumers are bouncing back. That's fed by a number of things—there is more certainty, post-election. The stock markets are recovering. And there have been some great price promotions from retailers, starting before the holiday."