| A Short Retail Industry Glossary | i |
| Introduction | 1 |
| How To Use This Book | 3 |
| Chapter 1: Major Trends Affecting the Retail Industry | 7 |
| 1) Introduction to the Retail Industry | 7 |
| 2) Wal-Mart Dominates as the World’s Biggest Retailer (and now America’s Biggest Grocer) | 8 |
| 3) Department Stores have Evolved into Giant Apparel, Cosmetics and Accessories Stores | 10 |
| 4) Name Changes, Buyouts and Consolidation Alter the Department Store Landscape | 12 |
| 5) Discounting and Discount Stores Evolve | 13 |
| 6) Category-Killers and Big Box Retailers Struggle to Keep Up With Discounters | 14 |
| 7) Sophistication and Success for Direct Marketers | 15 |
| 8) China Opens up to Direct Sellers including Avon and Mary Kay | 18 |
| 9) Rise of Showcase Stores and Super-Merchandisers | 18 |
| 10) Bricks, Clicks and Catalogs Create Synergies While Online Sales Boom | 20 |
| 11) Retail Technologies Leap Ahead | 20 |
| 12) Self Service Technologies Take Off | 24 |
| 13) Retailers Find New Markets in China While India’s Retail Industry is Poised for Enormous Growth | 25 |
| 14) Yahoo!, eBay and Amazon Create New Ways of Retailing | 26 |
| 15)Entertainment-Based Retailing, including Power Towns | 27 |
| 16)Shopping Centers Continue to Develop and Expand | 28 |
| 17) Malls Morph to Stay Afloat | 30 |
| 18) Kids Items Spark New Store Concepts | 31 |
| 19) Luxury Items Move for Big Bucks | 31 |
| 20) How to Interpret Reports of Retail Sales | 32 |
| Chapter 2: Retail Industry Statistics | 35 |
| U.S. Retail Industry Overview | 36 |
| Exports, General Imports & Trade Balance in Goods, U.S.: 1980-2nd Quarter 2007 | 37 |
| Total U.S. Retail Sales & Annual Percent Change: 1994-2007 | 38 |
| Retail & Food Services Sales by Kind of Business, U.S.: 2001-2006 | 39 |
| Retail & Food Services Sales by Kind of Business, U.S.: Monthly, through September 2007 | 41 |
| Estimated Quarterly U.S. Retail Sales, Total & E-Commerce: 1st Quarter 2001-2nd Quarter 2007 | 43 |
| Total U.S. Disposable Income, Expenditures & Gross Domestic & National Product Per Capita: 1960-2007 | 44 |
| Average Annual U.S. Household Expenditures: 2000-2006 | 45 |
| Distribution of Total U.S. Annual Household Expenditures, by Major Category: 2007 (Estimates) | 46 |
| Resident Population Estimates by Age, U.S.: 2000-2010 | 47 |
| Twenty Largest Shopping Centers, U.S.: November 2007 | 48 |
| Top 20 Websites, U.S.: October 2007 | 49 |
| Top 20 Retail Websites, U.S.: November 17, 2007 | 50 |
| Employment in the Retail Industry, U.S.: 2001-2007 | 51 |
| Chapter 3: Important Retail Industry Contacts | 53 |
| Addresses, Telephone Numbers and World Wide Web Sites | |
| Chapter 4: THE RETAIL 500: | |
| Who They Are and How They Were Chosen | 77 |
| Industry List, With Codes | 78 |
| Index of Rankings Within Industry Groups | 81 |
| Alphabetical Index | 94 |
| Index of Headquarters Location by U.S. State | 98 |
| Index of Non-U.S. Headquarters Location by Country | 103 |
| Index by Regions of the U.S. Where the Firms Have Locations | 105 |
| Index by Firms with Operations Outside the U.S. | 121 |
| Individual Profiles on each of THE RETAIL 500 | 125 |
| Additional Indexes | |
| Index of Hot Spots for Advancement for Women/Minorities | 632 |
| Index of Subsidiaries, Brand Names and Selected Affiliations | 634 |