ICSC and UBS predict year-on-year same-store gains this month for a handful of retailers. Target's will rise 6% and Federated Department Stores and J.C. Penney will climb 4%, it says. All three chains would beat their September performances if they meet those expectations.

Besides the Columbus Day sales, cooler-than-normal temperatures aided retailers in their results. That benefit pushed the ICSC-UBS Weekly U.S. Retail Chain Store Sales Index to its highest point since Sept. 11. Same-store sales rose 0.5% compared to the previous week.

Cooler weather should continue to help results improve during the month, the report says, though high gasoline prices could drag down same-store sales by as much as 0.5%. ICSC and UBS predict October's same-store sales will increase somewhere between 3% and 4%.