WASHINGTON -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Inc. has snagged the No. 3 spot on the STORES Hot 100 Retailers list of the retail chains with the greatest increase in domestic sales between 2009 and 2010. With a 37.8% increase, the El Segundo, Calif.-based small-format grocery retailer, the U.S. arm of U.K.-based Tesco PLC, was surpassed only by Dress Barn at 58.9% and Amazon at 46.2%.
All public and private U.S. companies with more than $300 million in sales are eligible for the list, which is compiled by Kantar Retail.
Fresh & Easy "managed to stay [image-nocss] true to its expansion plans over the last year, especially with its move into large cities in California," the magazine said. The company grew its U.S. store footprint 13.1% in 2010 versus 2009.
Fresh & Easy Market remains among the hottest of the hot primarily because British parent Tesco persists in expanding its toehold in the New World, STORES said. The deep pockets of the world's fourth-largest retailer are financing the expansion, even though Fresh & Easy has lost money ever since opening its first store four years ago (it projects profitability by 2013). After concentrating on Southern California and the Phoenix and Las Vegas markets, Fresh & Easy recently opened a dozen stores in Northern California, including two in San Francisco.
The only pure-play convenience store company to make the list this year is Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., which operates the Circle K chain in the United States out of Tempe, Ariz. At No. 36, it exhibited 10.7% sales growth and 7.2% store growth.
Other closely related retail channels players to make the list included Tops Markets (No. 5), Bodega Latina (No. 6), Fresh Market (No. 20), Whole Foods Market (No. 30), Dollar General (No. 40), WinCo Foods (No. 41), Dollar Tree (No. 45; the discount store chain's sixth consecutive year on the list), Wegman's (No. 47), Trader Joe's (No.48), Harps Food Stores (No. 49), B.J.'s Wholesale Club (No. 63), Hy-Vee (No. 65), Kroger (No. 68), Family Dollar (No. 70), Walgreen (No. 71; the drugstore chain's sixth consecutive year on the list), H-E-B (No. 75), Costco (No. 76), Giant Eagle (No. 78), 99 Cents Only Stores (No. 84), Weis Markets (No. 93), Big Y Foods (No. 94), Grocery Outlet (No. 97), Discount Drug Mart (No. 98) and Meijer (No. 100).
Click here to view the full list.
A fresh batch of retailers is benefitting from precise market segmentation, innovative solutions and "good old-fashioned popularity" among consumers, the report said, adding that the fastest-growing retailers in the country "are thinking outside the box and seeing big rewards."
"Many of today's shoppers are making purchasing decisions not only on price, but also based on how connected they feel to brands," said Susan Reda, editor of STORES Media.
Kantar Retail is a global retail insights and consultancy company providing insight-driven solutions for retailers and manufacturers.
STORES Media is the publishing group of the National Retail Federation (NRF), the world's largest retail trade association.
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