Retail Winners & Losers: August Wears Red

(ICSC data and stock prices added.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Across the board, August was awash in red, with 21 out of the 28 retailers reporting same-store sales results on Thursday in negative territory. The International Council of Shopping Centers said total same-store sales slipped 2% for the month.

But in each sector there were some clear winners and losers. Here's how TheStreet breaks it down.

TEEN RETAILERS:

Loser: Abercrombie & Fitch(ANF) once again missed the mark, with August same-store sales plunging 29%, lower than the 23.9% tumble analyst expected. While the teen retailer significantly improved its merchandise selection for back-to-school and lowered some of its prices, shoppers are still hesitant to spend, and instead are trading down to wallet-friendly players like Aeropostale(ARO).

Shares of Abercrombie sank 4% to $30.82 in morning trading.

Winner: Aeropostale once again was one of the biggest winners, jumping 9% during the month, more than the 7.1% forecast. Aeropostale raised its third-quarter outlook on better-than-expected results. The teen retailer now forecasts earnings in the range of 78 cents to 80 cents a share, up from a prior guidance of 76 cents to 78 cents a share.

The news sent shares climing 6% to $40.96 in morning trading.

August Same-Store-Sales

DEPARTMENT STORES:

Loser: The luxury sector doesn't look like it will rebound any time soon; case in point Saks(SKS), which reported a 19.8% plummet in its comparable sales, missing the 14.1% decrease expected by analysts. The company said results were weak across all sectors, and looking ahead continues to expect its results to decline in the "mid-to-high single digit range" for the second half of the year. It projects that its third quarter will most likely be worse than the fourth.

Winner: No surprise, the department store winner was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Value-priced player Kohl's(KSS) saw a 0.2% increase, better than the 1.7% decline forecast. Kohl's continues to outshine its competitors with exclusive and private-label merchandise.