Wal-Mart's October sales figures not indicative of the retail industry

Will Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s (NYSE:WMT) final sales figures for October be indicative of the overall state of the retailing industry? Most likely not, as other retailers are poised to see strong sales gains for the month of October and into the holiday shopping season as well.

Wal-Mart's possible sales stumble for October may be due to its laggard efforts in re-modeling stores and its attempts at selling trendier clothes and higher-margin items. Wal-Mart is trying to court a new breed of customer willing to pay for higher-priced merchandise yet shop in the same environment where bargain-basement prices exist on every endcap and on every shelf.

This Thursday, Wal-Mart and other major retailers will release final October sales reports. Analysts are expecting department stores and apparel chains to post strong gains. In addition, Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) -- Wal-Mart's largest and closest rival -- said earlier this month that its sales at stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales, were on pace to meet its forecast of three to five percent growth.

This comes as Wal-Mart released over this past weekend its projection for October same-store sales growth of 0.5%. We'll all see final figures tomorrow, though. Stay tuned to Blogging Stocks, as I'll be covering this retailing news as it happens.