Building materials stores rose 6.4 percent over last year, sporting goods stores were up 7.2 percent and clothing store sales increased 8.3 percent.

FORBES: Retail Sales Better Than Expected in September

About 46 Kohl's stores are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified, and about 20 percent of building materials in new stores are made from recycled elements.

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Sales were also healthy at building materials and garden supply stores, as well as electronics and appliance stores.

BBC: US retail sales inch up in April

In the 1970s Lamb and Casey's founder, Donald Lamberti, started hiring their own superintendents to look over the shoulders of the contractors building their stores and even bought the construction materials, a practice that continues today.

FORBES: Inconvenience