• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 2, 2012

Looks like large retailers did better than expected in January, with Target, Saks and Costco all coming in with above-forecast results.

Kantar Retail says its index, which tracks some of the country’s largest chains, rose a healthy 4.9% in January, stronger than last month’s so-so increase of 3.6%, and above the 4.2% gain in January of last year.

But Frank Badillo, Kantar’s senior economist, tells Marketing Daily that the gain in January masks some gloomier trends. “January is always a lean month, a clearance month, and there is a lot more volatility in the numbers. What struck me more than anything was that there were more retailers than not reporting weaker results. And while Target, Costco and Saks had larger gains, and we saw Kohl’s move into positive territory, most others did rather poorly.”

“January sales were near the high end of our expected low to mid single-digit range, reflecting strong performance in both discretionary and non-discretionary categories," Target’s chairman/CEO Gregg Steinhafel says in its report, with comparable-store sales climbing 4.3%  "Sales trends were healthy throughout the month and across the country.” And at Costco, same-store sales climbed 8%.

Other big gains came in for luxury retailer Saks, up 10.5%; the Limited, up 9%; and teen retailers Zumiez and The Buckle, up 10.8% and 7.4%, respectively.

But Macy’s disappointed, reporting a gain of just 2.4%, lower than it had predicted. “Sales in January, the smallest-volume month of the year, were weaker than anticipated,” it says in its release. And same-store sales fell 4% for the month at the Gap. “January was largely clearance-based, and we’re pleased we successfully cleared holiday inventory,” says CEO Glenn Murphy in its announcement,  “As we transition to a new year, our teams are focused on making the necessary steps to improve our business performance in 2012.”