Here’s a surprise: Wal-Mart is the top retailer in the U.S.
The mass-merch behemoth tops the National Retail Federation’s annual list of top 100 retailers, followed by (in order) Home Depot, Kroger, Costco, Target, Albertsons, Walgreen, Lowes, Sears and Safeway. The STORES Top 100 Retailers ranking is based on volume, but also tracks revenues, growth, number of stores and earnings.
Other retail trends noted in NRF’s coverage of the ranking, published in the association’s STORES Magazine:
- There’s a renewed focus on department stores, prompted by the merger of Federated Department Stores and May Department Stores.
- Supermarkets are coping with Wal-Mart, but now need to address competition from natural foods stores, upscale specialty grocers and limited-assortment grocers.
- There’s a shakeout happening among drug stores since the sale of Eckerd and growth of in-store pharmacies at mass-merchandise stores.
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