Top 100: 91. Family Dollar

Yet another "dollar store" (see Nos. 82 and 90) has reported a sharp increase in profit thanks to wary consumers in a struggling economy. Family Dollar’s…

Top 100: 94. Old Navy

Old Navy hoped to leverage consumers' renewed frugality last year when the company recommitted to its original focus and began redesigning more than a thousand…

Top 100: 95. Ross Stores

Even though off-price discount retailers have generally been top performers in recent years, Ross Stores has distinguished itself against its closest…

Top 100: 96. Sears

With Sears Holdings Corp.'s total revenues falling $93 million to $10.5 billion for the second quarter of 2010, the retailer began revamping its Web strategy.

Top 100: 97. Staples

The top U.S. office supplier recently announced a new corporate sustainability strategy, and challenged its suppliers to join in. "Race to the Top" calls on…

Top 100: 98. TJ Maxx

The fashionomics (as TJ Maxx terms it) of off-price retail is simple: selling clothing and accessories from major-label brands at low prices. By forging solid…

Top 100: 99. Toys "R" Us

In an effort to position itself as being more convenient for customers, Toys "R" Us launched some 600 Express pop-up stores in malls and shopping centers…

Top 100: 100. ZARA

Rather than promoting predicted trends via fashion shows and similar channels of influence, ZARA focuses its attention on understanding the fashion items its…

Top 100: 3. Amazon

What was once a humble online bookstore is now the 800-pound gorilla of the retail world. The company was a pipedream of founder Jeff Bezos at first; within…

Top 100: 1,2.The economy/gas prices

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Call it two different sides of the same lack of coin: The first and second place finishers in our survey of the 2009's movers, shakers, brands and trends are…

Top 100: 4. Smaller store formats

For many years, the march of retail was pointed in the direction of ever larger things. Stores ballooned in size and selection, and consumer behaviors changed…

Top 100: 5. Bankruptcies in retail

Circuit City may have been the biggest retail casualty in 2008, but it certainly wasn’t the only one. KB Toys, Linens ‘N Things, Sharper Image, Steve &…

Top 100: 6. Digital delivery of products

Not very long ago, buying new computer software meant driving to the store and purchasing something in a cardboard box; buying music meant another drive, this…

Top 100: 7. Apple Stores

They represent only a fifth of Apple’s total revenue, but what a stylish fifth it is. In the relatively short time Apple Stores have dotted the shopping mall…

Top 100: 8. The iPhone

When the first iPhone was announced in early 2007, it was billed by some as the third major computing platform, after Windows and Mac OS. It was to be the Holy…

Top 100: 9. Holiday 2008

According to the NRF, the 2008 holiday shopping season was the most challenging one in years for retailers. It was a perfect storm of negative forces that…

Top 100: 10. The future of the shopping mall

Once the Mecca of the shopping experience, the shopping mall has lost its prominence as both a cultural force and a practical necessity. In October of 2008…

Top 100: 11. Zappos

"At Zappos.com, Customer Service Is Everything. In Fact, It’s The Entire Company."Known primarily as an online shoe retailer, Zappos clearly has its heart in…

Top 100: 12. Walmart

Retail giant Walmart has spent a great deal of energy recently testing smaller store formats and different branding. The chain launched a new logo and design…

Top 100: 13. iTunes store

Apple and its iTunes store pleased a lot of customers in 2008 when it finally dropped its digital rights management (DRM) restrictions on most of its song…