October was a mixed bag for U.S. retail, and a situation where even bad same-store sales growth was decent since many companies continued to witness declines. Below we show some of the best and worst October retail sales figures from major retailers.

The first thing clear is that when times are tough, Americans come to their wits and stop buying Abercrombie. Same store sales for the company were down a nasty 15% in October, partly due to the company's Hollister and Ruehl brands doing especially bad.

Same-store sales for Dillard's, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penny, and Limited Brands also fell by less than appealing amounts. Yet brands and good management can help, and companies such as Gap, Nordstrom, and TJX are proof of that since they were able to grow their sales reasonably well.

Of course, price matters too, especially in this environment. The fact that lower cost retailers such as Costco and Ross Stores are doing well isn't that much of a surprise.

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