APRIL SALES RUN GAMUT FOR STATE RETAILERS.

Byline: Daily News staff and wire services

Retailers got a mixed message from California consumers in April, with some chains reporting strong sales and others posting less impressive results.

National sales mirrored the state scene. A number of large national chains posted double-digit gains in April over a year ago. But sales at other companies dropped as much as 3 percent.

Overall, retail sales at stores opened at least a year rose a narrow 1.3 percent in April, according to Salomon Brothers' retail index. The gains were far less than the 7 percent increase the index reported for the same period last year.

Meanwhile, TeleCheck Inc. reported checks processed for April retail sales were up 0.5 percent nationwide. But California was down 1.9 percent, compared with a year ago, and Los Angeles was not far behind with a 1 percent drop.

Dayton Hudson Corp. said same-store sales were up 3.6 percent. Dayton, which operates the Target and Mervyn's chains, reported mixed results in California.

``Mervyn's was stronger in California than any other part of the nation,'' said Dayton spokeswoman Susan Eich, adding that stores in the northern half of the state helped drive the gains. ``There was a 10-point spread between the Mervyn's in California and the non-California stores.''

But Target reported weaker sales in California compared with other parts of the nation, she said.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. said California sales have kept pace with the retailer's others stores across the nation. J.C. Penney reported a 0.7 percent drop in April sales over last year.

``There's not a huge difference from what I've seen in California. It's not below the chain's national average,'' said Duncan Muir, spokesman. ``Over the last couple of months, we've seen this narrowing between California's performance and the rest of the nation.''

Analysts said April sales may appear artificially weaker because Easter arrived in March, bringing out holiday shoppers earlier than last year when Easter fell in April.

And this year, April lost a weekend.``Saturday is a big shopping day. A Saturday can move sales figures as much as 3 percent,'' said Laura Hughes, a spokeswoman for TeleCheck Inc.

Terrence McEvoy, a Janney Montgomery Scott Inc. analyst, saw gradual improvement in the underlying tone of business. McEvoy labeled the numbers decent, with retailers selling merchandise for the home faring the best.Companies posting gains in same-store sales included Sears Roebuck & Co., with a lofty 10.9 percent increase. Gap Inc. followed closely with a 9 percent increase in same-store sales. Posting smaller gains were Kmart Corp. with a 0.2 percent gain and May Department Stores Co. with a 3.5 percent rise.