WASHINGTON -- At No. 37, 7-Eleven Inc. led the National Retail Federation's STORES' 2013 Top 100 Retailers listfor the convenience store industry.
Wal-Mart remained at the top of the list, and Kroger (which also operates nearly 800 convenience stores under several banners), reporting maintained the No. 2 spot for the fourth year in a row. Rounding out the top 10, Target came in at No. 3; Costco (No. 4), Home Depot (No. 5) and Safeway (No. 9) each moved up a single spot; Walgreen was No. 6, CVS Caremark No. 7 and Lowe's No. 8; McDonald's (No. 10) joined the top 10 list for the first time in the survey's history.
Other convenience store and related chains represented in the list included the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) at No. 43 and Alimentation Couche-Tard (Circle K) at No. 78.
Dollar General came in at No. 26, Family Dollar at No. 42 and Dollar Tree at No. 56.
Click here to view the full list with sales details.
In any competitive market it takes true ingenuity to remain at the top, and for retailers, the stakes are even higher. According to STORES' 2013 Top 100 Retailers list, nine of the top 10 retailers maintained their status from last year. Kantar Retail compiled the annual ranking of U.S. retailers by domestic sales, featured in the July issue of STORES magazine.
"The evolution of consumer expectations, the emergence of new business models and the proliferation of new technology have set retailers on a course of reinvention," said Susan Reda, editor, STORES Media. "Success is contingent on innovation, relevancy and personalization, and many of the companies on the Top 100 list have embraced those imperatives. There's no such thing as status quo anymore; we live in a world where shoppers expect seamless personalized experiences across every transaction. It's both enormously challenging and tremendously exciting."
The STORES Top 100 Retailers are listed by U.S. sales, which may include estimates for private or closely-held companies. Retailers included in the Top 100 either have group headquarters located in the United States or are foreign entities with significant operations in the U.S. market. For retailers with group headquarters located overseas, the list presents data for North American operations only. It excludes revenues from major nonretailing operating segments where data availability allows.
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