Discounters post strong results in September

New York City -- Costco Wholesale Corp. turned in a strong September performance, leading the category with a 12% rise in same-store sales for the month. Wall Street expected a 10.1% rise. However, the warehouse club operator cautioned that margins were negatively impacted during the period and that it would be raising its membership fees to compensate. Target Corp., helped by strong sales of groceries, beauty products and clothing, saw September same-store sales rise 5.3%, beating the projected 3.9% increase. Sales for the period rose 6.5% to $5.9 billion. “We’re very pleased with our September comparable-store sales, which were