Americans are increasingly shifting their spending to necessities and away from nonessentials like apparel. That has resulted in solid sales gains in July for low-priced operators like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and sluggish sales for mall-based apparel chains.As the nation's retailers report monthly sales reports Thursday, it's clear that with the benefits of rebate checks fading, consumers are pulling back even more on spending. Wal-Mart reported July sales that met the company's plan but were slightly below Wall Street estimates and said that consumers are increasingly running out of money. Costco Wholesale Corp. s same-store sales beat estimates. Same-store sales are those at stores open at least a year.

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