• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 1, 2011

Macy's says its same-store sales rose a healthy 7.5% in May -- higher than expected. As a result, the company, which is releasing its results a day ahead of the rest of the retail pack, is also bumping up its quarterly and annual forecasts.

Total sales reached $1.79 billion -- an 8.5% increase for the month, with strong results in every region, as well as in its Bloomingdale's unit. Online sales (macys.com and bloomingdales.com combined) jumped 37.7% in May and 38.2% year-to-date.

The Cincinnati-based chain says year-to-date same-store sales are up 5.9%, and that it expects a gain of 5% in the quarter and 4.5% for the year. Its earlier forecasts had those gains at 4% for the second quarter and 4.3% for the year.

Macy's is not the only retailer feeling flush at the moment. From the high -- like Neiman Marcus, which recently posted a sales gain of 9.7% to $983.8 million -- to the low -- including Dollar General, which just recorded a record sales gain of 10.9% to $3.45 billion -- retailers are on a growth roll.

A new report from Equity Research, reported in Chain Store Age , says capital spending for the retail industry is expected to increase 16% in 2011 to $42.5 billion, with virtually all subsegments projecting double-digit percentage increases. While it still remains well below 2007's peak of $56 billion, it's better than 2010, when retail industry cash capital spending slipped 0.3% to $36.7 billion, as measured by Equity's survey of 76 companies -- and compared with the 23.4% decrease in '09, which was the largest decrease in the 20-year history of the survey.

"Unlike these peak years when a significant portion of spending was dedicated to new store growth, the emphasis will be on maintenance, infrastructure upgrades, e-commerce, and remodels," the paper reports.