Discount giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said its second-quarter profit beat expectations, but it also reported that sales fell; trendy clothing company American Apparel Inc. said earnings plummeted 34 percent compared with a year earlier; and upscale department-store chain Nordstrom Inc. reported that its profit fell 27 percent. Consumers' frugal spending continues to affect merchants in all sectors. The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales fell 0.1 percent in July; economists had expected a 0.7 percent gain. Although car sales, aided by the government's cash-for-clunkers program, jumped 2.4 percent -- the biggest increase in six months -- there was widespread weakness elsewhere. Gasoline stations, department stores, electronics outlets and furniture stores all reported declines. Wal-Mart, which has snapped up market share from competitors during the recession because of its wide array of low-priced necessity items, reported virtually flat second-quarter profit compared with a year earlier. The company said it made $3.44 billion, or 88 cents a share for the three months ended July 31; it reported a profit of $3.45 billion, or 87 cents a share, a year earlier. Still, the earnings beat Wall Street expectations and were at the high end of the company's guidance range. 'Customers around the world are forced to do more with less, and they rely on Wal-Mart to help them save money,' Chief Executive Mike Duke said in a statement. 'In a sales environment more difficult than we expected, we managed our operations in a disciplined manner.' It wasn't all good news for the world's largest retailer, which reported that sales at U.S. stores open at least a year -- known as comparable sales and considered an important measure of a retailer's health -- slid 1.2 percent compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Total company revenue fell 1.4 percent year-over-year to $100.08 billion. Despite the sales decline, 'we believe our comparable store sales continued to outperform the retail sector almost everywhere we do business,' Duke said. Industry watchers were eagerly awaiting the company's quarterly sales performance -- its first since it stopped reporting sales on a monthly basis after posting April results. Wal-Mart said it decided to stop reporting monthly sales to encourage Wall Street to take a longer-term view of the company. The move also has helped the discount giant avoid the volatility that can come with reporting sales on such a frequent basis. Analysts have worried that the absence of monthly data from the retail behemoth could make it more difficult to gauge how the industry is doing. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has been one of the few bright spots in the retail industry during the economic downturn. The company said it expected comparable store sales during the third quarter, ending Oct. 30, to be between flat and 2 percent. At American Apparel, profit for the second quarter was $4.5 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with profit of $6.8 million, or 10 cents a share, for the second quarter of 2008. The Los Angeles clothing company known for its colorful basics and racy ad campaigns, said net sales for the quarter that ended June 30 totaled $136.1 million, a 2.3 percent year-over-year increase. Comparable store sales fell 10 percent. 'Our team has been active in rationalizing our cost structure and operating more efficiently, as well as reinvigorating and repositioning the brand in our key metropolitan markets,' founder and CEO Dov Charney said in a statement. 'We believe that our business is well positioned for the long-term and that the company will emerge from this consumer downturn with an enhanced ability to deliver on revenue and profitability targets.' Nordstrom's second-quarter profit fell to $105 million, or 48 cents a share, from $143 million, or 65 cents a share, in the same period last year. The 27 percent decline matched analysts' expectations for the retailer, which has struggled in recent months as consumers have scrimped on luxury purchases. The Seattle chain's revenue fell 6 percent to $2.14 billion from $2.29 billion last year. Sales in stores open at least one year fell 12.3 percent, the company said. In trading Thursday, Wal-Mart shares rose $1.37, or 2.7 percent, to $51.88. Nordstrom and American Apparel reported their earnings after the markets closed; during regular trading, Nordstrom's shares rose 34 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $29.76, and American Apparel's shares rose 8 cents, or 2 percent, to $4. 