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Retail Winners: Rite Aid, Saks, Zale
By Jeanine Poggi
TheStreet.com Staff Reporter
10/29/09 01:55 PM EDT

NEW YORK(TheStreet) -- Retailers are roaring Thursday morning, after GDP reported growth, signaling a possible end to the recession.

The S&P Retail Index is up 2.3% to 390.39, led up by big movers like Saks (SKS:NYSE) , Office Depot (ODP:NYSE) and Rite Aid (RAD:NYSE) .

Saks is soaring 7.9% to $5.88 after announcing it will test 36-hour, invitation-only, online sales. This move will put Saks in direct competition with other private sales sites like Hautelook.com.

Rite Aid is spiking 6.4% to $1.34 after posting a 0.5% slip in October sales. The drugstore was hurt by front-end sales, which fell 2.7%, while prescription comparable sales were weighed down by the introduction of new generic drugs.

Despite disappointing third-quarter results from both Office Depot and OfficeMax (OMX:NYSE) , both are trading up this afternoon.

Office Depot widened its loss and missed sales forecasts, while OfficeMax swung into profit but predicts a loss in its fourth quarter. Nonetheless, shares of Office Depot are gaining 9.5% to $6.47 and OfficeMax is advancing 6.5% to $10.90.

Vitamin Shoppe (VSI:NYSE) is jumping 5.3% to $18.90 a day after it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The retailers IPO raised $17, more than the $14 to $16 expected.

Sears (SHLD:NYSE) is rising 4.1% to $71.16 a day after it announced it will be ramping up its holiday promotions. The department plans to offer a new Black Friday deal every Saturday until Christmas.

Zale (ZLC:NYSE) is up 7.4% to $6.42 ahead of its earnings release after-market today. The jeweler delayed reporting two times after discovering it needs to review its accounting on prepaid advertising costs.

Urban Outfitters (URBN:NYSE) is receiving a 5.8% boost to $32.52 after being upgraded by Thomas Weisel to overweight from market weight.

Other notable gainers include American Apparel (APP:NYSE) , which is soaring 9.2% to $2.73, Nordstrom (JWN:NYSE) , which is gaining 5.2% to $32.24 and Target (TGT:NYSE) , which is growing 2.3% to $49.35.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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