Washington, D.C. – According to the Triversity Top 100 Retailers, a ranking based on an annual survey and published in the July issue of locally based National Retail Federation’s STORES magazine, the nation’s top retailers strived in 2000 to reinvent themselves in the face of heightened competition and a slowing economy.
There was little shuffling among the Top 10 retailers with Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart heading the list again as the nation’s largest retailer with 2000 sales of $193.3 billion, a 15.9% increase over 1999. However, Wal-Mart eased its pace of new store openings from a 13.5% increase in 1999 to a 4.9% increase in 2000.
Kroger, the Cincinnati-based food retailer, retained its #2 position by growing its chain strength 5% through acquisitions of small local chains.
Atlanta-based Home Depot moved up to #3 with stepped up offerings in carpet and major appliances, forcing Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears, Roebuck & Co. to drop a notch to #4.
Kmart, headquartered in Troy, Mich., took the #5 spot in this year’s list after retrofitting its stores to the Big Kmart format.
The remaining retailers in the Top 10, in descending order, are Albertson’s, Target, JCPenney, Costco and Safeway.
Despite a slowing economy, the retail industry as a whole still posted a 7.1% gain in total sales over 1999 to reach $3.4 trillion.