Wal-Mart, the stalwart of retail, reported its weakest increase since December 2000. The retail giant posted net sales of $23.175 billion, an increase of 7.8 percent over the $21.489 billion in the similar period in the prior year.

Texas-based J.C. Penney which reported stellar sales last December, posted a disappointing comparable department store sales decrease of 5.5 percent.

Even Target, fashion-concious discount retailer reported that comparable-store sales declined 2.3%. The company's net retail sales increased 4.6 percent to $3.889 billion from $3.717 billion last year.

Only highlights were Sears, Gap and Pacific Sunwear which all beat Wall Street's forecast.

Though Sears reported same-store sales drop of 3.1%, it beat analyts' expectations of 9.4% decline.

Same with The Gap, wherein analysts were expecting a 5.3% gain. The specialty retailer posted a 9% increase in same-store sales.

Brightest spot is teen retailer Pacific Sunwear which gained 9.5% in same-store sales beating Wall Street forecasts of a 5.5 percent increase.

Shoe retailers did not fare very well though. Payless Shoesource and Brown Shoe both reported same-store sales decrease of 10.6 percent.