If you're keeping tabs on retailers' second-quarter numbers, then you've seen a little bit of everything. Some store chains have done well. Others haven't. Several of these names dished out big surprises too, both good and bad. With the dust from Q2's earnings season finally starting to settle, though, retailers' seemingly disparate numbers are collectively making more sense.

Here's a rundown of the four biggest themes investors need to glean from last quarter's results since they're all still in place -- and should remain so, at least through the end of the year.

As is usually the case, grocers (or general merchandise stores that also sell groceries) continued to do well. In fact, the entirety of 's (NYSE: WMT) same-store sales growth of 6.4% within the United States in Q2 was driven by groceries and health products. General merchandise sales were actually down year over year.

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Source Fool.com