Holiday Shopping Recovery Looks On Track After Retailers Get Nice Boost From Back To School

September retail sales were better for most chains and a lot better for some. Stores like Abercrombie & Fitch , Macy's and Limited Brands (the parent company of Victoria's Secret) overwhelmed expectations for consumer retail spending this year with better than expected same-store sales in September.

Abercrombie & Fitch was the star Thursday morning when its stock climbed by 10% after the bell, trading now at $42.50. With a 13% increase in same-store sales this September, and a 5% increase this year to date, Abercrombie & Fitch put up far better than the 2.8% average sales increase in national retail chains that Thompson Reuters calculated for September. Analysts were expecting a more tepid 2.1% increase. Thompson also notes that September was the thirteenth month of consecutive growth in retail sales.

Limited Brands reported a 12% increase, and Macy's posted a 4.8% increase in same-store sales in September. Buckle Inc. , a store aimed at the youth market, saw a 3% increase.

Teen stores Hot Topic and Wet Seal were down 2.6% and 0.7% in September, managing to only see a slight boost from August sales. This is more in line with the polls that show a weak impulse behind consumer's shopping habits going into the holiday season.

A holiday spending survey performed by the NPD Group showed no change from last year in the amount of consumers, 30% of the total polled, who said they would spend less this year than they did last year on holiday shopping.

Dorothy Lakner, a specialty retail analyst at Caris & Company, raised Zumiez 's price target this morning by $2.00, to $27, after the company reported a 17% increase in September sales. The company operates 396 stores in the U.S., which cater to a young teen market.

"Over all this bodes well for holiday sales," Lakner said. "What we've seen over and over is consumers are spending in times of need, which are peak times. It's safe to say that the holidays will bring out the customers."

The consensus on a willing consumer this year being in at this point, there are signs that retailers are also prepared for it. Promotions to get consumers in the stores and out with merchandise were launched two years ago, when store sales and umemployment hit record lows in 2008. With smarter promotions and slimmer inventories, retailers are on track to slim their margins as well, which is good news for the stocks.

"The ball is abosolutely in the shoppers' court, there's no doubt about that," Lakner said. "But in another sense, retailers have gotten smarter, kept costs and inventories lean, and have researched the smartest promotions for consumers."

Zumiez stock was up 7% today, trading at $24.33, Limited Brands was up 3%, at $28.34, and Macy's fell 1%, trading at $23.41.