Thursday morning saw Gap (NYSE: GPS) and Target (NYSE: TGT) post February same-store sales that topped the analyst's estimates. This is partly down to the fact that a winter that did not get anything like as cold as one would normally expect resulted in a boost in the purchases of spring clothing.

The scarfs, big coats and fur-lined boots that were bought in November stayed in the closet for the majority of the winter, as temperatures stayed comfortable throughout, so early trips for spring clothing helped boost profits for GPS and TGT.

According to Bloomberg, Gap saw sales climb 4%. This means that the largest apparel chain in America beat the average projection for a 1.4% drop from analysts surveyed by Retail Metrics.