Gap Inc.'s June same-store sales fell 7 percent, hurt by weak customer traffic across all divisions, the clothing retailer said Thursday.

The result, beat the 11.6 percent decline expected by analysts, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Total sales for the five-week period ended July 5 slipped 2 percent to $1.41 billion.

Same-store sales at the company's namesake stores in North America fell 5 percent. Old Navy reported a 10 percent drop, better than analysts' forecast for an 18.9 percent decline. The Banana Republic chain booked a 5 percent drop. Analysts expected a 6.2 percent decline.

At Gap stores, where traffic was down 14 percent, kids clothing outperformed baby and adult merchandise, the company said in a prerecorded sales call. Banana Republic traffic fell 7 percent. Traffic at Old Navy stores fell 3 percent, much better than a 12 percent drop in the previous month, driven by customer response to summer sales events, the company said.

"Our June sales events helped us successfully clear through summer merchandise at each brand," said Sabrina Simmons, chief financial officer, in a statement. "As a result, we achieved total company merchandise margins significantly above last year, and our stores are well-positioned for early fall product."

Sales were strongest in the Northeast and weakest in the West.

Year-to-date same-store sales are down 11 percent, while total sales are down 5 percent to $5.88 billion.

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