NEW YORK--The nation's retailers are reporting weak sales figures for September as the financial meltdown forced already skittish shoppers to cut back further.

As retailers report their sales figures Wednesday, it's clear that shoppers stuck to buying the essentials and looked for bargains. Among the best performers were Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST)

But many mall-based apparel stores, including Wet Seal Inc. (WTSLA) and Cache Inc. (CACH), are reporting big declines in same-store sales, or sales at stores that have been open at least a year.

Wal-Mart saw same-store sales rise 2.4%, just under the 2.5% expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Hurricanes that caused stores to close hurt the result by 0.4 percentage point.