Retail sales solid in January

NEW YORK — Consumers lured by clearance sales and a fresh assortment of spring apparel gave many of the nation’s retailers solid January sales despite late-month snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast.

As merchants released their results Thursday, a diverse group of retailers had sales that beat Wall Street expectations, including clothing stores Abercrombie & Fitch and Talbots Inc., department store chain J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and discounter Target Corp. Luxury stores such as Neiman Marcus Group Inc. again reported sales that surpassed Wall Street estimates.

The month provided some encouraging trends — stores including Penney, Talbots and Gap Inc. reported strong sales of regular-priced spring merchandise, indicating consumers are feeling better about spending.

There were some disappointments during January, including an overall sales decline at Gap Inc. and a drop at May Department Stores Co. But generally, it was a good month.

The International Council of Shopping Centers-UBS preliminary sales tally of 70 retailers rose 3.7 percent in January, higher than the 2.5 percent forecast. The tally is based on same-store sales.