Hot Stores For

A Special Report Sponsored by Alliance Data ® T H E NAT I O N ’ S H OT T E S T R E TA I L E R S 2 O O 8 Two years ago, the companies tied for the 75th spot on the inaugural STORES Hot 100 Retailers chart showed a sales increase of 10.3 percent, while the same ranking last year came with a 12.4 percent year-over-year gain. This year, Neiman Marcus has sole possession of that spot with an 8.9 percent gain – still mighty respectable, since the Dallas-based company is one of only two department stores represented in the Hot 100. The companies heading the 2008 STORES Hot 100 Retailers list took the typical route to the top — acquisitions. H2 STORES / AUGUST 2008 H T H E NAT I O N ’ S H OT T E S T R E TA I L E R S 2 O O 8 BY DAVID P. SCHULZ ot retailers had to be exceptionally hot in the economic environment that settled over most of the country in 2007. The hottest of the hot, the top 10, performed comparably to chart-toppers from prior years; more challenged were those at the lower end of the chart. CVS joined forces with Caremark; Rite Aid completed its deal for the Brooks Pharmacy and Eckerd operations; IHOP took over the larger Applebee’s chain; FTD saw a revenue boost from the 2006 acquisition of U.K.-based Interflora. Amazon.com made some small transactions to enhance existing merchandise categories while extending its e-commerce expertise into new areas. GameStop continues to reap the synergistic benefits of some strategic acquisitions two years ago, and American Apparel and Chipotle Mexican Grill both have been growWWW.STORES.ORG 2 The Hot 100 Retailers section is the definitive annual ranking of the fastest-growing retail chains. In compiling the list, STORES focused on the publicly-traded retail companies with annual revenues of $100 million or more that had the greatest increase in year-over-year revenues. Several segments – particularly in the restaurant sector – showed strong results despite a softening economy, and 40 retail companies have made the list all three years. The editors of STORES believe that the Hot 100 offers a distinct snapshot of the retailing landscape. It looks at the companies and segments that set the pace in 2007 and, perhaps, hints at those worthy of keeping tabs on in the months to come. W HAT MAKE S T HE M HOT? 84 90 33 H 48 39 61 ow does one obtain “hot” status in today’s generally lukewarm retail climate? Regardless of industry trends or performance, the answer to this question rarely changes: deliver relevant value to the customer. In 2008, cautious consumers are defining value by dollars saved and gasoline economized. But that’s only one dimension of the value story. Consumers’ buying decisions are made in the context of their busy lives and personal priorities. More than ever before, retailers must make a cusIvan Szeftel tomer connection. At Alliance Data we help retailers to understand what matters to their customers and then to deliver that value. Our cobrand and private label credit card programs combined with customer analytics give retailers the power to target the right customer with the right message, at the right time. The retailers on this year’s Hot 100 Retailers list have cracked the value code. Congratulations. You have set the pace in a challenging market by inspiring customers to patronize your brand. That’s inspiration to us all. Sincerely, Ivan Szeftel President, Retail Services Alliance Data 18 13 5 ing store counts for a couple of years, with the resultant sales increases up in this year’s figures. With CVS Caremark resting at the top of the chart and Rite Aid commanding the runner-up position, it is not surprising that drug chains constitute the hottest retail segment among companies on the Hot 100 chart, sporting a gaudy 42 percent year-over-year volume increase. Last year was the first full year of operation for the combination of drug retailer CVS and prescription benefits manager Caremark Rx: Their joint revenues of more than $76 billion were 74.2 percent above the $43.8 billion CVS generated in 2006. Rite Aid’s revenue boost came from its purchase of the Brooks Pharmacy units in New England and Eckerd drug stores along the East Coast that had once been part of Canadian Jean Coutu Group’s ill-fated experiment doing business south of the border. It is only this summer that Rite Aid is wrapping up the conversion and integration of those stores into its coast-to-coast network. Walgreen is beginning to slow its three-stores-every-twodays expansion pace, abetted by some selective acquisitions of specialty pharmacies. R Convenience store heat anking behind drug stores as the second-hottest group of retailers is a quartet of fuel, food and convenience merchandise merchants in the quickH4 STORES / AUGUST 2008 stop/c-store segment SIZZLING SEGMENT with an average revenue increase of 21 Quick Stops/C-Stores 21.1% TravelCenters of America 28.9 percent. The four in- Susser Holdings 20.0 clude No. 10 Travel- Casey’s General Stores 20.0 Centers of America, The Pantry 15.9 the truck stop/travel center and restaurant operator spun-off by a group of private equity investors early last year; Susser Holdings, which once operated under the Circle K banner before renaming and launching the Stripes convenience store chain in 2006 and buying Town & Country Food Stores last year; Casey’s General Stores; and The Pantry, the latter two having made a practice of buying small operators to either in-fill or grow the perimeters of their operating territories. Holding down the third position on the Hot 100 list is IHOP, one of three restaurant companies in the top 10. IHOP startled industry observers last summer when it announced its intentions to acquire Applebee’s, the nation’s largest full-service dining chain by number of locations. Though IHOP built its name and reputation running pancake restaurants, it has spent the last five years transforming itself from an operator to a franchisor of restaurants and is now nearly 99 percent franchised. Top 100 Most of Applebee’s units were company retailers owned and operated; it began changing that in the Hot 100 shortly after consummating its takeover last No- 30 WWW.STORES.ORG Rank COMPANY HEADQUARTERS FY END 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 CVS Caremark Rite Aid IHOP Amazon.com American Apparel GameStop BJ’s Restaurants Chipotle Mexican Grill FTD TravelCenters of America Panera Bread Zumiez Blue Nile Dick’s Sporting Goods Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Urban Outfitters Texas Roadhouse Lumber Liquidators PriceSmart Starbucks All dollar figures in thousands Woonsocket, R.I. Camp Hill, Pa. Glendale, Calif. Seattle Los Angeles Grapevine, Texas Huntington Beach, Calif. Denver Downers Grove, Ill. Westlake, Ohio St. Louis Everett, Wash. Seattle Pittsburgh Greenwood Village, Colo. Philadelphia Louisville, Ky. Toano, Va. San Diego Seattle 12/29/2007 $76,329,500 43,821,400 3/1/2008 12/31/2007 12/31/2007 12/31/2007 2/2/2008 1/1/2008 12/31/2007 6/30/2007 12/31/2007 12/25/2007 2/2/2008 12/30/2007 2/2/2008 12/30/2007 1/31/2008 12/25/2007 12/31/2007 8/31/2007 9/30/2007 24,326,846 17,399,383 484,559 349,560 14,835,000 10,711,000 387,044 284,966 7,093,962 5,318,900 316,095 238,928 1,085,782 822,930 613,012 465,133 6,166,157 4,783,514 1,066,691 828,971 381,416 298,177 319,264 251,587 3,888,422 3,114,162 763,472 618,721 1,507,724 1,224,717 735,089 597,131 405,307 332,060 888,801 734,673 9,411,497 7,786,942 REVENUES 2007 2006 CHANGE 74.2% 39.8 38.6 38.5 35.8 33.4 32.3 31.9 31.8 28.9 28.7 27.9 26.9 24.9 23.4 23.1 23.1 22.1 21.0 20.9 $2,622,800 1,354,800 (1,078,990) 26,826 (480) 44,553 476,000 190,000 15,478 (1,606) 288,291 158,250 11,705 9,845 70,563 41,423 31,912 25,543 (123,356) 31,033 57,456 58,849 25,326 20,856 17,459 13,064 155,036 112,611 30,651 29,362 160,231 116,206 39,325 34,009 11,326 12,898 12,926 11,858 672,638 564,259 EARNINGS 2007 2006 CHANGE 93.6% N.A. N.A. 150.5 N.A. 82.2 18.9 70.3 24.9 N.A. -2.4 21.4 33.6 37.7 4.4 37.9 15.6 -12.2 9.0 19.2 UNITS 2007 2006 CHANGE 6,301 6,205 5,029 3,330 3,320 1,302 0 0 182 147 5,264 4,678 69 56 704 579 0 0 189 164 1,230 1,061 285 235 0 0 340 294 384 347 245 207 204 163 116 91 23 23 1.5% 51.0 155.0 N.A. 23.8 12.5 23.2 21.6 N.A. 15.2 15.9 21.3 N.A. 15.6 10.7 18.4 25.2 27.5 0 20.7 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 N.A. — Not applicable 15,011 12,440 WWW.STORES.ORG STORES / AUGUST 2008 H5 vember. In a deal typical of its plans for Applebee’s, the company last month announced the sale of 26 Applebee’s restaurants in Southern CaliforRestaurant nia to Apple American Group, a deal which genoperators in erated approximately $27 million in after-tax cash the Hot 100 proceeds. To signal a new stage in its development SIZZLING SEGMENT — and reduce the potential for confusion Casual Dining 18.3% 38.6 among the restaurant-going public — IHOP 32.3 IHOP Corp. earlier this year changed its BJ’s Restaurants Red Robin Gourmet Burgers 23.4 name to DineEquity. The company boasts Texas Roadhouse 23.1 that, with more than 3,300 units, DineE- Darden Restaurants 19.0 quity is the largest full-service restaurant Buffalo Wild Wings 18.5 company in the world. California Pizza Kitchen 14.1 Joining IHOP among restaurant opera- NPC International 12.9 8.0 tors in the top 10 are No. 7 BJ’s Restau- Ruby Tuesday rants and No. 8 Chipotle Mexican Grill, Famous Dave’s of America 7.9 H OT TE S T EARNINGS GROWTH 27 both of which are growing organically rather than through acquisitions. BJ’s, which started serving deep dish pizza in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Ana 30 years ago, has grown into a chain numbering 73 locations. After opening its first brewery in 1996, the company’s latest restaurant is styled as BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, where pizza is still a major component of the menu. Though more than half of BJ’s locations are in California, the company has grown eastward, with units stretching into Texas and Louisiana, as well as Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Florida. In July, the company created the post of chief marketing officer and filled it with Matt Sudden spikes in profits, as represented by the hottest earnings growth group, frequently occur when non-recurring items are included in year-end accounting reconciliations, and such is the case for Burger King. Earnings jumped $121 million, or more than 448%, in 2007, in part because the company did not have to lay out $73 million in one-time fees as it had the year before. Burger King has also been enjoying lower sales, general and administrative (SGA) expenses, while comparable-store sales have been strong. Burger King’s fiscal year runs through the end of June, thus 2008 figures had not been released at press time. It is a safe bet the company won’t post another triple-digit earnings increase, but the gain should be solid just the same. Through the nine months ended March 31, BK’s income was running 24.1 percent ahead of the previous year, driven by strong system-wide comparable sales (which have persisted for 17 consecutive quarters) and 2007 EARNINGS 2006 EARNINGS continued growth in the number of restaurants in operaCOMPANY CHANGE Burger King Brookstone REX Stores OfficeMax RadioShack 1-800-Flowers $148,000 17,118 6,420 $27,000 236,800 476,000 207,373 Amazon.com IACI Retail 33,867 13,013 87,486 10,245 73,400 190,000 1,632 3,187 448.1% 222.6 150.5 293.4 437.1 11,351 5,220 198.4 126.1 149.3 Ark Restaurants Hastings Entertainment All dollar figures in thousands 42,172 91,721 5,019 104.1 107.5 Funds and Bain Capital Partners. 1-800-Flowers, another retailer whose fiscal year ends around July 1, increased its earnings by implementing strong cost controls. In addition, there were not the expenses associated with relocating corporate headquarters as there were in 2006. Brookstone, the gadget retailer controlled by a consortium of private equity groups, boosted its profits in part by shedding its Gardeners Eden operations and reaping some tax benefits along the way. RadioShack’s earnings improvement came as a result of the restructuring it undertook in 2006. This included closing or relocating hundreds of stores, consolidating distribution centers, updating inventory and implementing a program to reduce overhead expenses. The effort had a double-barreled effect on 2007 earnings by depressing income in 2006 and increasing profitability last year to triple what it had been the prior year. WWW.STORES.ORG tion. Though it is a publicly-held company, BK is controlled by private equity funds, including TPG Capital (formerly known as Texas Pacific Group), Goldman Sachs H6 STORES / AUGUST 2008 Rank COMPANY HEADQUARTERS FY END 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Ulta Susser Holdings Casey’s General Stores A&P Darden Restaurants H.H. Gregg Buffalo Wild Wings Shoe Pavilion Jamba SUPERVALU Romeoville, Ill. Houston Ankeny, Iowa Montvale, N.J. Orlando Indianapolis Minneapolis Sherman Oaks, Calif. Emeryville, Calif. Eden Prairie, Minn. 2/2/2008 12/30/2007 4/30/2008 2/23/2008 5/25/2008 3/31/2008 12/30/2007 12/29/2007 1/1/2008 2/23/2008 12/30/2007 8/28/2007 2/2/2008 7/1/2007 12/30/2007 12/29/2007 2/2/2008 9/27/2007 7/7/2007 2/2/2008 REVENUES 2007 2006 CHANGE $912,141 755,113 20.8% 20.0 20.0 19.2 19.0 18.6 18.5 18.2 17.9 17.8 17.6 17.6 16.9 16.7 16.6 16.3 16.3 15.9 15.9 15.9 EARNINGS 2007 2006 CHANGE $25,335 22,543 16,252 (3,746) 84,891 61,891 12.4% N.A. 37.2 N.A. 87.3 0.2 20.8 N.A. N.A. 31.2 -23.7 -10.3 35.0 437.1 -3.6 -34.0 33.3 -70.0 4.7 35.5 UNITS CHANGE 2007 2006 249 196 505 325 27.0% 55.4 0.3 10.1 21.8 4.3 14.9 6.5 18.8 -0.2 18.0 48.4 5.1 -0.03 21.9 24.2 12.6 10.1 11.9 14.5 2,717,362 2,265,159 4,827,087 4,024,010 6,401,130 5,369,203 6,626,500 5,567,100 1,256,666 1,059,428 329,652 278,183 152,571 129,057 317,209 269,045 44,048,000 37,406,000 319,171 271,479 6,591,773 5,607,376 619,888 530,074 912,598 781,741 1,092,722 936,864 358,647 308,323 920,814 791,638 6,911,163 5,961,702 670,912 579,073 1,334,723 1,152,100 1,468 1,463 447 406 1,702 1,397 97 93 493 429 115 108 707 595 2,474 2,478 118 100 276 186 368 350 97 100 317 260 82 66 786 698 1,644 1,493 273 244 260 227 (160,680) 26,893 377,200 201,400 21,406 21,358 19,654 16,273 (16,294) 1,865 (113,296) (59,026) 593,000 452,000 18,146 23,790 182,740 203,828 75,247 55,726 17,118 3,187 32,063 33,253 8,814 13,348 80,331 60,250 26,732 89,198 77,278 73,807 97,075 71,641 Ruth’s Chris Steak House Heathrow, Fla. Whole Foods Markets The Buckle 1-800-Flowers P.F. Chang’s McCormick & Schmick’s Gymboree The Pantry bebe Stores J.Crew All dollar figures in thousands Austin, Texas Kearney, Neb. Carle Place, N.Y. Scottsdale, Ariz. Portland, Ore. San Francisco Sanford, N.C. Brisbane, Calif. New York N.A. — Not applicable WWW.STORES.ORG STORES / AUGUST 2008 H7 Hood, who had been national brand restaurant consultant for Google. Denver-based Chipotle, which split from McDonald’s in 2006, experienced explosive growth before and after the alliance, even though some quick-serve conventional wisdom has been cast aside. For one thing, the company operates its own restaurants and doesn’t franchise; for another, it eschews TV advertising. Chipotle is the brainchild of Steve Ells, whose approach is to marry the pedestriAverage an burrito with ingredients such as freshYOY revenue growth ly chopped cilantro and beefsteak mariof the Hot 100 retailers nated for 12 hours, ideas worthy of some- 14.4% 41 H OT TE S T PROFIT RATIO GROWTH Apparel retailers went through a long stretch of depressed sales, which no doubt helped hone inventory management strategies so as to position them to reap the rewards when sales picked up last year. Half of the retailers with the hottest profit ratios are apparel specialty store operators. Category leader REX Stores runs small consumer electronics and appliance stores in communities ranging in size from 20,000 to 300,000 in population. REX Stores is not following a pure retail strategy and helped its profit ratio by selling off stores to invest in ethanol production and other alternative energy efforts. Last year, for example, the company completed a $74.5 million cash deal involving the sale of 86 stores and lease-back provisions for 40 of the locations. As a merchandise category, apparel sales increased about 3 percent last year, according to research firm NPD Group. The hottest-profit-ratio group of apparel retailers, however, sported sales jumps ranging from 9.3 percent for American Eagle Outfitters to 23.1 percent for Urban Outfitters. American Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch have been going head-to-head for years and both prospered last year while expanding multiple formats. AEO boosted its 20-unit Martin + Osa with an e-commerce site. aerie, the intimate apparel brand that began opening freestanding stores in 2006, is expected to have 100 units in operation by the end of this year. Also in the works is the launch of a brand extension aimed at 2- to10-year-olds called 77kids by American Eagle, starting with a website this year and H8 STORES / AUGUST 2008 69 Hicks, with five stores in operation. The Buckle, where denim accounts for nearly half the volume, has extended its hot streak into 2008 with doubledigit same-store sales increases, while bebe Stores hews its own trail while selling contemporary women’s apparel and accessories in more than 300 locations. Urban Outfitters, which also operates Anthropologie and Free People units, this year acquired a chain of nurseries and relaunched it as a garden center concept called Terrain. COMPANY 2007 REVENUES 2007 EARNINGS bricks-and-mortar locations next year. A&F counters with its namesake stores, plus ’tween-and-teen favorite Hollister, the urban sophisticate Ruehl, kids-oriented abercrombie and the newly-launched “underwear not lingerie” brand Gilly RATIO REX Stores The Buckle American Eagle Outfitters 3,055,419 Abercrombie & Fitch bebe Stores McDonald’s Tiffany AutoZone Urban Outfitters Ark Restaurants 3,749,847 619,888 670,912 124,207 1,507,724 2,938,771 6,169,804 $223,975 $33,867 400,019 75,247 77,278 475,697 160,231 303,772 595,672 13,013 12.14 12.69 10.63 10.34 13.09 15.12% 11.52 22,786,600 2,395,100 10.48 10.51 9.65 All dollar figures in thousands WWW.STORES.ORG Rank COMPANY HEADQUARTERS FY END 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 Cheesecake Factory Tiffany Tween Brands Citi Trends California Pizza Kitchen Tractor Supply Cabela’s Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) Walgreen Finlay Enterprises Abercrombie & Fitch NPC International * Aéropostale Ark Restaurants Spartan Stores Men’s Wearhouse Saks Rubio’s Restaurants Best Buy Sonic All dollar figures in thousands Calabasas Hills, Calif. New York New Albany, Ohio Savannah, Ga. Los Angeles Brentwood, Tenn. Sidney, Neb. Seattle Deerfield, Ill. New York New Albany, Ohio Overland Park, Kan. New York New York Grand Rapids, Mich. Houston New York Carlsbad, Calif. Minneapolis Oklahoma City 1/1/2008 1/31/2008 2/2/2008 2/2/2008 12/30/2007 12/29/2007 12/29/2007 12/31/2007 8/31/2007 2/2/2008 2/2/2008 12/25/2007 2/2/2008 9/29/2007 3/29/2008 2/2/2008 2/2/2008 12/30/2007 3/1/2008 8/31/2007 $1,511,577 1,315,325 2,938,771 2,560,734 1,013,971 883,683 437,515 381,918 632,884 554,601 2,703,212 2,369,612 2,349,599 2,063,524 1,342,024 1,181,531 53,762,000 47,409,000 835,892 739,021 3,749,847 3,318,158 697,845 618,333 1,590,883 1,413,208 124,207 110,519 2,476,822 2,206,270 2,112,558 1,882,064 3,282,640 2,940,003 169,731 152,268 40,023,000 35,934,000 770,469 693,262 REVENUES 2007 2006 CHANGE 14.9% 14.8 14.7 14.6 14.1 14.1 13.9 13.6 13.4 13.1 13.0 12.9 12.6 12.4 12.3 12.2 11.7 11.5 11.4 11.1 EARNINGS 2007 2006 CHANGE $73,964 81,282 -9.0% 19.6 -18.9 50.4 -29.6 5.8 2.4 2.9 16.6 N.A. 12.7 N.A. 27.0 149.3 36.4 -1.0 -11.7 N.A. 2.2 -18.4 UNITS 2007 2006 CHANGE 152 131 184 167 16.0% 10.2 16.6 15.2 15.1 13.0 50.0 7.9 9.8 4.6 9.6 8.8 11.6 -6.1 13.8 53.9 9.4 7.8 12.3 3.5 303,772 253,927 52,574 64,821 14,214 21,351 14,784 21,000 96,241 91,008 87,879 85,785 41,427 40,273 2,041,300 1,750,600 (10,049) 4,408 475,697 422,186 7,770 (2,740) 129,197 106,647 13,013 5,220 34,306 25,160 147,041 148,575 47,473 53,742 1,189 (3,461) 1,407,000 1,377,000 64,192 78,705 842 722 319 277 237 205 764 676 27 18 96 89 5,997 5,461 793 758 1,035 944 888 816 828 742 46 49 99 87 1,157 752 197 180 179 166 1,314 1,170 3,300 3,188 N.A. — Not applicable * Pizza Hut franchisee WWW.STORES.ORG STORES / AUGUST 2008 H9 H OTTE S T IHOP and Rite Aid rank among the top 10 companies with the greatest year-to-year changes in store count. They also rank among the top 10 on the Hot 100 Retailers chart, which isn’t too surprising, since adding a lot of stores and increasing sales often go hand-in-hand. Usually the jump is accomplished by acquiring an industry rival, which is what IHOP and Rite Aid did. IHOP’s big move came last summer when it spent approximately $2.1 billion to buy Applebee’s International. IHOP was an experienced franchisor of pancake restaurants (IHOP was once known as International House of Pancakes) while, with some 3,250 locations, Applebee’s was the nation’s largest chain of sit-down restaurants. Applebee’s had lost some of its glow and was being pur2007 UNITS 2006 UNITS CHANGE UNIT GROWTH 3 sued by private equity funds when it put itself up for sale and was amenable to IHOP’s advances. Rite Aid, of course, completed its deal for the Brooks Pharmacy and Eckerd drug stores that were once owned by Canada-based Jean Coutu Group. Coldwater Creek built on its catalog and Internet base by moving into high gear with its bricks-and-mortar expansion. It opened a net of 67 stores, including 12 in the final quarter, driving a lot of volume, but paid the price in terms of margin and earnings. The company is making a number of changes in order to improve its performance. “We are moderating our retail expansion” this year, says president and CEO Daniel Griesmer. New store openings have been scaled back to about 50. Among the new locations was the first Coldwater Creek in Manhattan after the company entered the market with 13 stores in Long Island, Staten Island and nearby New Jersey and Connecticut suburbs. COMPANY IHOP Susser Holdings Rite Aid Cabela’s 3,320 1,157 5,029 276 306 249 204 505 1,302 325 3,330 186 239 196 163 752 155.0% 55.4 51.0 48.4 28.0 27.0 25.2 53.9 Men’s Wearhouse Whole Foods Markets Coldwater Creek Ulta Lumber Liquidators Texas Roadhouse 27 18 91 50.0 27.5 116 Drug Stores SIZZLING SEGMENT CVS Caremark Rite Aid Walgreen drugstore.com 42.0% from local farms. Chipotle has nearly 750 restaurants 74.2 across the country, is opening its first Cana39.8 dian units this year and is casting an eye to13.4 ward Europe, where Frankfurt, London 7.2 and Paris have been mentioned as possible expansion sites. Supermarket segment he supermarket segment has five representatives in the Hot 100, but none are in the Average three-year revenue growth of top quartile. As a group, they posted a the 40 retailers that 17.2 percent year-to-year revenue rise, led by have appeared in A&P’s 19.2 percent boost following its acquisi89 Hot 100 since tion of Pathmark Stores. The differential was eninception in 2006 hanced by A&P’s downsizing in the several quarone trained at the Culinary Institute of ters preceding the combination of the two New JerseyAmerica. Ells was one of the early proponents of pushing based chains. suppliers to use natural and humane methods of raising Rising food prices have helped all grocers’ top lines, and farm animals. More recently, the company has begun a SUPERVALU benefited from this, as well as from the inprogram of buying at least 25 percent of its produce — roclusion of its distribution business in total revenues for the maine lettuce, green bell peppers, jalapenos, red onions — 45.1% T H10 STORES / AUGUST 2008 WWW.STORES.ORG Rank COMPANY HEADQUARTERS FY END 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 Jos. A. Bank O’Reilly Automotive PetSmart Brookstone Morton’s Dress Barn Retail Ventures AFC Enterprises* Hampstead, Md. Springfield, Mo. Phoenix Merrimack, N.H. Chicago Suffern, N.Y. Columbus, Ohio Atlanta 2/2/2008 12/31/2007 2/2/2008 12/29/2007 12/30/2007 7/28/2007 2/2/2008 12/30/2007 2/2/2008 2/2/2008 9/29/2007 6/30/2007 12/31/2007 12/29/2007 7/28/2007 3/30/2008 12/31/2007 12/30/2007 9/29/2007 1/31/2008 REVENUES 2007 2006 CHANGE $604,010 546,385 10.5% 10.5 10.4 9.9 9.9 9.7 9.7 9.3 9.3 9.2 9.2 9.1 9.1 8.9 8.9 8.9 8.8 8.7 8.7 8.6 EARNINGS 2007 2006 CHANGE $50,168 43,222 16.1% 8.9 39.8 293.4 N.A. 28.2 N.A. 3.1 3.3 N.A. 37.7 448.1 -32.4 10.3 97.7 -11.7 N.A. N.A. 44.4 12.8 UNITS CHANGE 2007 2006 426 382 11.5% 2,522,319 2,283,222 4,672,656 4,233,857 562,835 511,914 353,825 321,982 1,426,607 1,300,277 1,871,904 1,706,533 167,300 153,000 3,055,419 2,794,409 1,151,472 1,054,611 2,851,593 2,612,233 2,234,000 2,048,000 22,786,600 20,895,200 10,416,000 9,561,000 4,390,076 4,030,110 296,946 272,649 134,556 123,699 256,834 236,229 740,939 681,504 374,526,000 344,992,000 193,988 178,085 258,684 185,069 6,420 1,632 13,002 (13,600) 101,182 78,954 51,442 (150,913) 23,100 22,400 400,019 387,359 (2,488) 55,372 58,638 42,582 148,000 27,000 2,395,100 3,544,200 909,000 824,000 111,932 56,609 12,793 14,495 (20,784) (12,328) (30,663) (9,059) 36,304 25,138 12,731,000 11,284,000 1,830 1,640 1,008 908 319 311 78 77 1,428 1,347 295 254 1,903 1,878 942 906 306 239 197 197 11,283 11,129 31,377 31,046 35,233 34,595 62 59 107 97 141 123 484 464 432 387 7,262 6,779 11.6 11.0 2.4 1.3 6.0 16.1 1.3 4.0 28.0 0.0 1.4 1.1 1.8 5.1 10.3 14.6 4.3 11.6 7.1 American Eagle Outfitters Pittsburgh Coldwater Creek Ingles Markets Burger King McDonald’s Yum Brands Neiman Marcus Group Benihana Cosi Caribou Coffee Charlotte Russe Walmart All dollar figures in thousands Sandpoint, Idaho Asheville, N.C. Miami Oak Brook, Ill. Louisville, Ky. Dallas Miami Deerfield, Ill. Minneapolis San Diego Bentonville, Ark. N.A. — Not applicable * Parent company of Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits WWW.STORES.ORG STORES / AUGUST 2008 H11 RED TO B L AC K When companies move from unprofitability one year to profitability the next, there is usually jubilation, if only among the shareholders. The celebratory ambience is missing at American Apparel, a company whose financial statements are rarely written in indelible ink. Five years ago, it was a clothes maker with just three stores; now American Apparel is pushing the 200-store mark with locations in 15 countries. As a seller of youth-oriented apparel, the company has an outlaw image and is best known for advertising that has been described as, among other things, “almost porn” and “soft core.” Sales, even comparable-store sales, regularly register jumps of 25 to 30 percent. The financial side of the business is something else COMPANY 2007 EARNINGS 2006 LOSS American Apparel ValueVision Jo-Ann Stores A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts Susser Holdings Wet Seal Triarc $15,478 22,161 15,400 16,252 12,586 23,232 16,081 300,594 13,002 3,783 ($1,606) (1,900) (3,746) (12,838) (361,301) (2,685) (2,740) (406) NPC International Einstein Noah Bagels Morton’s 7,770 (6,868) (10,932) (13,600) (3,461) Winn-Dixie Landry’s Seafood Retail Ventures Rubio’s Restaurants All dollar figures in thousands 18,112 1,189 (21,770) 51,442 (150,913) entirely, especially since the 2005 death of CFO Mark Schlein. Interim CFOs, bookkeeping by committee and outsiders imposed by institutional investors have all had their turns. Mistakes were made and restatements of earnings followed. In a filing with the SEC when it was going public last November, the company admitted it had “identified certain material weaknesses in American Apparel’s internal control over financial reporting that will need to be remedied.” One of these was “inadequate expertise in the application of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.” Becoming a public company was not accomplished via a routine initial public offering of common stock, but through a transaction known as a “blank check” IPO in which a special purpose acquisition company buys a private firm and immediately goes public. The company’s shares began trading on the American Stock Exchange in December; the price rose as high as $16.80 and bottomed out at $5.52, though it has bounced back a bit since then. Other companies on the Red to Black list have had more conventional transitions from red ink to black. NPC International, an operator of Pizza Hut franchises, also went public last year, while Einstein Noah has morphed from the New World Restaurant Group a couple of years ago into the operator and franchisor of such quick-casual bagel restaurants as Einstein Bros., Noah’s New York and Manhattan Bagels. 58 100 H12 STORES / AUGUST 2008 first time this year. Spar- SIZZLING SEGMENT tan Stores has shed its 17.2% drug store chain and Supermarkets A&P 19.2 also distributes to some SUPERVALU 17.8 independent grocers. Whole Foods Markets 17.6 Rounding out the hot Spartan Stores 12.3 grocery segment are In- Ingles Markets 9.2 gles, a low-profile but well-respected operation based in western North Carolina, and Whole Foods Markets, which is still opening stores. Apparel stores are well represented among the Hot 100 Retailers, with the ’tweens and teens category enjoying an aggregate 13.3 percent sales lift. Included in this group are chains that have grown through rapid store openings rather than acquisitions, operations as disparate as Zumiez, Urban Outfitters, Aéropostale, The Buckle, and oneWWW.STORES.ORG Rank COMPANY HEADQUARTERS FY END 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 99 Cents Only Stores Collective Brands Conn’s Wet Seal Ruby Tuesday City of Commerce, Calif. Topeka, Kan. Beaumont, Texas Foothill Ranch, Calif. Maryville, Tenn. 3/29/2008 2/2/2008 1/31/2008 2/2/2008 6/5/2007 12/30/2007 12/26/2007 2/2/2008 12/30/2007 2/2/2008 1/26/2008 9/2/2007 3/29/2008 2/2/2008 9/1/2007 2/3/2008 12/31/2007 2/2/2008 3/1/2008 2/3/2008 $1,199,374 1,104,696 3,035,400 2,796,700 824,128 760,657 611,163 564,324 1,410,227 1,306,240 125,873 116,621 279,025 259,888 5,975,212 5,570,210 445,723 415,777 2,162,559 2,017,713 18,647,126 17,404,637 63,087,601 58,963,180 314,745 294,282 4,242,600 3,969,400 6,834,305 6,394,772 499,032 467,321 233,268 218,604 19,372,682 18,160,789 7,048,942 6,617,429 63,367,000 59,490,000 REVENUES 2007 2006 CHANGE 8.6% 8.5 8.3 8.3 8.0 7.9 7.4 7.3 7.2 7.2 7.1 7.0 7.0 6.9 6.9 6.8 6.7 6.7 6.5 6.5 EARNINGS 2007 2006 CHANGE $2,893 9,762 -70.4% -65.0 -1.6 N.A. -9.2 22.5 N.A. 8.0 N.A. N.A. -0.01 -1.9 -20.5 4.8 24.5 N.A. N.A. 2.3 -5.3 2.2 UNITS 2007 2006 CHANGE 269 253 6.3% 7.0 11.3 14.4 6.0 15.2 8.4 11.7 N.A. 3.9 3.9 6.6 4.5 6.0 4.2 2.3 2.4 8.2 9.3 7.0 42,700 122,000 39,686 40,311 23,232 (12,838) 91,668 100,977 6,070 4,954 (4,034) 637 261,051 241,634 (11,511) (13,026) (59,567) 87,390 771,750 776,756 1,082,772 1,103,215 10,433 13,123 201,300 192,000 242,854 195,111 (224) 5,704 (1,375) 971 995,670 973,677 562,808 594,244 2,849,000 2,787,000 4,894 4,572 69 62 494 432 933 880 167 145 389 359 890 797 0 0 1,239 1,194 2,563 2,466 488 458 70 67 3,411 3,219 6,430 6,173 262 256 301 294 2,038 1,884 971 888 1,591 1,488 Famous Dave’s of America Minnetonka, Minn. El Pollo Loco Ross Stores drugstore.com The Children’s Place TJX Costco Birks & Mayors Dollar Tree Stores Family Dollar Duckwall-ALCO Big Dog Holdings Staples Bed Bath & Beyond Costa Mesa, Calif. Pleasanton, Calif. Bellevue, Wash. Secaucus, N.J. Framingham, Mass. Issaquah, Wash. Montreal Chesapeake, Va. Matthews, N.C. Abilene, Kan. Santa Barbara, Calif. Framingham, Mass. Union, N.J. Minneapolis 100 Target All dollar figures in thousands WWW.STORES.ORG N.A. — Not applicable STORES / AUGUST 2008 H13 NOT SO HOT E A R N I NG S G ROWTH Casual Male has the dubious distinction of topping both the Not-So-Hot Earnings Growth and the Not-So-Hot Profit Ratio charts. Part of the reason is that the big-and-tall menswear retailer has been transforming itself over the past couple of years, including opening the first Rochester stores since acquiring the brand in 2004 and also dropping “big and tall” from its name. The company added “XL” to the logo of its flagship brand, denoting “extra large.” This comes as plus-size menswear continues to grow from its current level of about $6 billion a year. Unfortunately for Casual Male, this growth in large-size clothing has also attracted the attention of mainstream retailers ranging from JCPenney to Macy’s to Walmart, all of which have added some larger menswear to the ends of their clothing racks. Being a single source for a broad selection of clothing and accessories provides a welldefined niche for Casual Male, but there is also the challenge of finding those customers and letting them know COMPANY 2007 EARNINGS 2006 EARNINGS CHANGE Casual Male Syms Haverty Furniture Genesco Dillard’s Foot Locker The Bon-Ton Stores The Pantry Collective Brands 99 Cents Only Stores $414 1,758 53,000 53,800 26,732 42,700 7,750 807 $42,632 16,000 251,000 245,600 89,198 9,548 -99.0% -91.5 -88.5 -89.0 67,646 46,883 9,762 -78.9 -78.1 -70.0 -65.0 11,562 2,893 -75.3 -70.4 All dollar figures in thousands 122,000 about the stores. “We are catering to a small percentage of the adult male population and it is very hard to discriminate who is who by size,” says Casual Male CEO David Levin. “It’s always been an expensive proposition for us to prospect new customers.” Casual Male is responding to the challenge by making efforts to attract men at the smaller end of the tape measure — those with 42-inch to 46-inch waists — who currently account for only about 25 percent of total sales. “It’s a stigma issue,” says Levin, in explaining why men in that size range might prefer shopping at department stores or mass merchants rather than at Casual Male. Contributing to the precipitous decline in earnings last year were losses from discontinued operations (primarily stores that were closed) and increased promotional activity in the final quarter of the year. The company’s earnings per share dropped to a penny, in contrast to $1.21 per share the year before. Even while forecasting same-store sales to be flat or perhaps up as much as 2 percent this year, Casual Male says it is comfortable with analysts’ forecasts of earnings in the area of 28 cents a share. 53 H14 STORES / AUGUST 2008 time Limited divisions SIZZLING SEGMENT Tween Brands (the erst- Tweens & Teens 13.3% while Limited Too) and Zumiez 27.9 23.1 Abercrombie & Fitch. Urban Outfitters 16.9 As a group, specialty The Buckle 14.7 apparel retailers didn’t Tween Brands 13.0 Abercrombie & Fitch fare as well as those foAéropostale 12.6 cused on the younger American Eagle Outfitters 9.3 set. With sales gains of Charlotte Russe 8.7 35.8 percent, only No. Wet Seal 8.3 5 American Apparel earned a single-digit ranking. American Apparel has been opening stores with a vengeance, fueling its torrid sales gains, but the expansion might be coming at the expense of fiscal prudence, with securities analysts and industry watchers raising red flags over equilibrium on the company’s balance sheet. WWW.STORES.ORG Specialty Apparel American Apparel Gymboree bebe Stores J.Crew Men’s Wearhouse Jos. A. Bank Coldwater Creek The Children’s Place Big Dog Holdings SIZZLING SEGMENT 12.0% 35.8 16.3 15.9 15.9 12.2 10.5 9.2 7.2 6.7 Amazon.com hasn’t carved out a niche so much as it has defined what online retailing is and how it should be conducted. The result is a formidable seller of books, music, NOT SO HOT U N I T G ROWTH movies and a lot of other goods, as well as an entity that functions like an electronic shopping mall — directing shoppers to branded stores carrying other retailers’ names — and as a facilitator and consultant for retailers too small or too inexperienced to establish 70 e-commerce businesses on their own. All the while, Amazon has remained innovative and creative while adding new merchandise categories (like groceries) and introducing the Kindle, an electronic device enabling the Department downloading and reading of store operators in the Hot 100 books in digital formats. 2 Landry’s, REX Stores and Macy’s have been here before. All were included on this list last year and have been moving aggressively to lop off unproductive and underperforming locations so the core operation can thrive. Sometimes this is an ongoing process. When it was still Federated Department Stores, Macy’s sold the Lord & Taylor chain and redundant department stores acquired in the purchase of May Department Stores. It took a little longer to sell the specialty stores in May’s bridal division, and the divestiture of the After Hours formalwear business lingered until 2007. On the other hand, REX Stores, which is on the list for the third straight year, isn’t interested in expanding its electronics retail business: it is closing units so it can continue investing in alternative energy efforts, including ethanol production. Landry’s Restaurants has a tale that is a bit more convoluted. The Houston-based operator of Chart House, Rainforest Café, Salt Grass Steak House and Landry’s Seafood House restaurants, as well as the Golden Nugget Casinos and The Boardwalk Inn entertainment complex in Kemah, Texas, saw many of its Gulf Coast locations devastated by Hurricane Katrina in late 2005. Several, the company determined, weren’t worth reopening. Two years ago, Landry’s also sold 120 Joe’s Crab Shacks to J.H. Whitney Capital Partners and closed 16 others that it couldn’t sell. During its most recently completed fiscal year, Landry’s closed more locations as it reorganized its diverse businesses. Tilman J. Fertitta, co-founder, chairman, president and CEO of Landry’s, wants to buy the 61 percent of the company he doesn’t already own. COMPANY Landry’s Seafood REX Stores Macy’s Hancock Fabrics Limited Brands Cracker Barrel Nordstrom Syms TransWorld Entertainment Pacific Sunwear 2007 UNITS 179 853 270 564 800 157 944 2006 UNITS CHANGE 115 375 404 712 992 1,360 193 -52.3% -33.2 -20.8 -19.4 -37.3 -40.4 2,926 3,798 191 -23.0 -17.8 -8.3 33 1,119 36 -15.6 WWW.STORES.ORG STORES / AUGUST 2008 H15 G GameStop spreads internationally ameStop has no direct competition in this country, though retailers from Best Buy and Blockbuster to Target and Walmart all sell electronic games. GameStop continues to open stores here, aiming for about 300 this year, but its greatest opportunities are overseas, where it buys entire chains to enter a new country or market. Earlier this year, GameStop acquired the 49-unit Free Record Shop in Norway to go with the 100 units it already operated in Scandinavia. More recently, GameStop agreed to purchase The Gamesman, New Zealand’s largest independent game retailer, which will give it 308 locations in New Zealand and Australia. No. 9 FTD sells flowers Pure-play and gifts directly to cone-tailers in the Hot 100 sumers through ftd.com 4 63 B L AC K It would be hard to find anyone who has faced as much adversity and worked as hard at getting a retail business back on track as Rite Aid president and CEO Mary Sammons. And this year, no one is leading a company that has sustained such a large swing from profit ($26.8 million) to loss ($1.1 billion) in successive years. Sammons took the reins of Rite Aid amid accounting scandals that required the reconfiguration of financial statements, a period that also saw rivals CVS and Walgreen beef up store counts. When the opportunity presented itself in the form of the Brooks Pharmacy and Eckerd chains being placed on the selling block by Jean Coutu Group, Rite Aid did some bulking up itself. Just as the digestion and integration of the acquired units moved into high gear, however, consumer spending now,” she says, “finishing the remaining minor remodels of went into a swoon, and Rite Aid was swamped with red ink. the acquired stores.” And with most of the heavy lifting This year is a different story. behind them, the combined businesses are expected to “We increased both pharmacy and front-end sales in the “contribute significantly to strong results in the second half core Rite Aid stores,” Samof the fiscal year.” COMPANY 2007 2006 mons says. “We also passed a Rite Aid’s story is replicated EARNINGS LOSS at several other members of the major milestone in the integraRite Aid ($1,078,990) $26,826 Black to Red grouping, includtion of the former Brooks Eck31,576 Talbots (188,841) ing A&P, which shed many erd stores by completing the A&P (160,680) 26,893 stores before acquiring rival store systems conversion. TransWorld Entertainment (99,400) 11,700 Pathmark Stores in an effort to Today, pharmacy dispensing, 108,923 Charming Shoppes (86,567) become a strong regional chain cash registers and all business Blockbuster (85,100) 39,200 in the Northeast. Ditto for applications are now consistent 32,364 Finish Line (60,385) Talbots, which found itself in all of our stores and we can 87,390 The Children’s Place (59,567) overextending in apparel formanage our business seamClaire’s Stores (43,131) 188,762 mats aimed at niche markets lessly nationwide. General Nutrition Centers (32,300) 37,400 and has begun to reinvent itself. “We’re in the home stretch All dollar figures in thousands WWW.STORES.ORG TO RED H16 STORES / AUGUST 2008 S U STAIN ED F orty companies have appeared in the Hot 100 each year since STORES began compiling the list in 2006. Those retailers have enjoyed average three-year revenue growth of 45.1 percent over that period. COMPANY REVENUE GROWTH 2004-2007 COMPANY SIZZLE 8 PHOTO: COURTESY OF BURGER KING CORP. 72 SIZZLING SEGMENT GameStop CVS Caremark Amazon.com The Pantry Coldwater Creek Dress Barn Blue Nile The Children’s Place Abercrombie & Fitch Dick’s Sporting Goods Urban Outfitters bebe Stores Shoe Pavilion Casey’s General Stores Whole Foods Markets J.Crew Aéropostale PriceSmart American Eagle Outfitters Jos. A. Bank Cabela’s 285% 149.5 114.3 97.9 95.1 89 88.6 86.8 85.5 84.3 82.1 80.2 77.9 72.1 70.6 66 65 63.3 62.4 62.2 59.9 Tractor Supply Gymboree 1-800-Flowers O’Reilly Automotive Best Buy Big Dog Holdings Walgreen Ross Stores Wet Seal PetSmart Charlotte Russe Bed Bath & Beyond Dollar Tree Stores Target Staples Costco Tiffany Walmart Family Dollar REVENUE GROWTH 2004-2007 Average 45.1% 55.5 54.9 51.1 46.5 45.5 44.6 43.3 40.9 40.3 38.9 37.4 36.9 35.7 35.3 34.1 33.9 33.3 32.8 29.4 WWW.STORES.ORG and is also a web and telephone marketer of Chipotle Mexican Grill 31.9 merchandise through Panera Bread 28.7 its network of approxStarbucks 20.9 imately 20,000 North Jamba 17.9 American flower shops. Rubio’s Restaurants 11.4 Merchandise includes Sonic 11.1 9.3 AFC Enterprises flowers, plants, pots 9.1 Burger King and vases as well as McDonald’s 9.1 books, plush toys, jewYum Brands 8.9 elry and collectibles. Cosi 8.8 This is likely FTD’s Caribou Coffee 8.7 final appearance on El Pollo Loco 7.4 the Hot 100 chart, since it has agreed to be acquired by United Online, a provider of consumer Internet and media services based in Woodland Hills, Calif. A number of retailers have displayed the ability to maintain their heated growth pace over the three years of the Hot 100’s existence. In spite of the sluggish consumer spending environment, GameStop, CVS Hot 100 companies Caremark and Amazon.com that reported sport triple-digit growth over the net losses in extended period. What might FY 2007 Sandwich/Beverage 12.0% 14 47 seem counterintuitive is that not all of the three-peat Hot 100 retailers are active in the mergers and acquisitions arena or are young go-go companies. Among the 40 retailers showing sustained sizzle are Walmart, Costco, Tiffany and Abercrombie & Fitch. STORES / AUGUST 2008 H17 NOT SO HOT P RO F I T RATIO G ROWTH Poor earnings will show up in both a decline in yearover-year performance comparisons and as a low profit-to-sales ratio. Sure enough, eight of the 10 retailers in this group also show up on the Not-So Hot-Earnings chart: Casual Male, Haverty Furniture, 99 Cents Only Stores, Syms, The Bon-Ton Stores, The Pantry, Genesco and Dillard’s. The exceptions are Fred’s, an operator of small format discount stores and O’Charley’s, operator of O’Charley’s, Ninety Nine and Stoney River Legendary Steaks restaurants. Fred’s is well aware of its profitability problems and is on the case, having embarked on an effort to improve profitability and margins, following an internal study of the previous 10 quarters. The initiative includes closing 75 underperforming locations, repositioning and reducing corporate overhead by 10 percent, generating $11 million in annualized cash savings in the second half of this year and initiating multiple merchandising programs to enhance margin and address the changing shift in sales mix. This latter includes placing more emphasis on pharmacy sales. By the end of 2010, says CEO Michael J. Hayes, “we expect to achieve a cumulative increase of approximately $100 million in free cash flow generated directly as a result of these new strategies … which, compared with the $27 million cost of the plan, reflects substantial return for the company and its stockholders.” O’Charley’s profits have suffered during what the company says is a turnaround initiative begun two years ago. Among other things, it has absorbed a $16.5 million write-off involving impairment charges and losses involving a number of restaurant locations as well as a commissary and other supply chain facilities. These charges came at the same time sales were suffering as a result of consumers’ cutting back on dining out in the second half of last year. These woes have continued into 2008, with sales dropping nearly 5 percent this year and margins being squeezed across all three formats. The capital spending has been trimmed for this year, and the company is continuing its rebranding projects — “Project RevO’lution” for the O’Charley’s brand and “Dressed to the Nines” for the Ninety Nine chain. COMPANY REVENUES 2007 EARNINGS 2007 RATIO Casual Male Syms Haverty Furniture $464,128 99 Cents Only Stores The Bon-Ton Stores The Pantry Genesco Fred’s Dillard’s 1,199,374 3,467,659 1,780,923 7,370,800 977,752 267,149 6,911,163 1,502,119 784,613 2,893 807 1,758 $414 0.09% 0.22 0.30 0.24 26,732 10,718 53,800 7,232 11,562 7,750 0.39 0.33 0.52 0.60 0.73 O’Charley’s 0.74 All dollar figures in thousands No food service busiSIZZLING SEGMENT nesses are included in Upscale Dining 14.7% this group because Ruth’s Chris Steak House 17.6 restaurants weren’t P.F. Chang’s 16.6 part of the initial Hot McCormick & Schmick’s 16.3 100, but restaurants Cheesecake Factory 14.9 12.4 now constitute the Ark Restaurants 9.9 largest segment among Morton’s Benihana 8.9 Hot 100 Retailers, though for compilation purposes they are grouped into three sub-segments (Sandwich/beverage, casual and upscale dining). Size is not an impediment to hot sales, with fully 30 companies appearing on both the Top 100 chart and the Hot 100 list, ranging from Walmart at the top end to No. 99 Saks Fifth Avenue, which is prospering after slimming H18 STORES / AUGUST 2008 down from its foray SIZZLING SEGMENT into regional depart14.6% ment stores. Jewelry, a Jewelry Blue Nile 26.9 retail segment not repTiffany 14.8 resented at all in the Finlay Enterprises 13.1 Top 100, is well-repre- Birks & Mayors 7.0 sented among Hot 100 Retailers, including Tiffany, Blue Nile, Finlay Enterprises (operator of leased departments and parent of the Bailey Banks & Biddle and Carlyle chains) and Birks & Mayors, which operates stores in both Canada and the United States. St ORES David P. Schulz, a New York-based writer and editor, reports on U.S. and foreign retailers for several publications. WWW.STORES.ORG COMPANY 1-800-Flowers A&P 99 Cents Only Stores Abercrombie & Fitch Aéropostale AFC Enterprises Amazon.com American Apparel Ark Restaurants bebe Stores Benihana Best Buy American Eagle Outfitters Bed Bath & Beyond Big Dog Holdings Birks & Mayors Blue Nile Brookstone The Buckle Cabela’s Buffalo Wild Wings Burger King California Pizza Kitchen Caribou Coffee Casey’s General Stores Charlotte Russe Cheesecake Factory Citi Trends Conn’s The Children’s Place BJ’s Restaurants Montvale, N.J. New York Seattle Atlanta City of Commerce, Calif. New Albany, Ohio Carle Place, N.Y. HEADQUARTERS RANK 34 COMPANY 24 53 4 81 H.H. Gregg IHOP Ingles Markets J.Crew Jamba Jos. A. Bank McDonald’s Morton’s Glendale, Calif. New York Asheville, N.C. Emeryville, Calif. Hampstead, Md. Toano, Va. Houston Dallas Oak Brook, Ill. Chicago Portland, Ore. Indianapolis HEADQUARTERS RANK 26 3 51 40 71 68 69 5 29 61 18 73 36 Los Angeles Pittsburgh Lumber Liquidators Men’s Wearhouse McCormick & Schmick’s Brisbane, Calif. Miami Union, N.J. Minneapolis Montreal Seattle New York 54 76 93 99 39 Neiman Marcus Group NPC International P.F. Chang’s The Pantry PetSmart Panera Bread O’Reilly Automotive 65 56 Santa Barbara, Calif. Huntington Beach, Calif. 59 Overland Park, Kan. St. Louis Phoenix Scottsdale, Ariz. Springfield, Mo. 75 52 11 97 7 35 63 38 62 Merrimack, N.H. Kearney, Neb. Sidney, Neb. Ankeny, Iowa Secaucus, N.J. Savannah, Ga. Topeka, Kan. Denver Calabasas Hills, Calif. San Diego Minneapolis Los Angeles Miami Minneapolis 13 Sanford, N.C. 64 33 PriceSmart 47 23 78 72 27 Recreational Equip. Inc. (REI)Seattle Retail Ventures Rite Aid Ross Stores San Diego Columbus, Ohio Camp Hill, Pa. Carlsbad, Calif. Heathrow, Fla. 19 15 Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Greenwood Village, Colo. Pleasanton, Calif. Maryville, Tenn. New York Sherman Oaks, Calif. Grand Rapids, Mich. 48 2 67 45 Rubio’s Restaurants Ruby Tuesday Saks Shoe Pavilion Sonic Spartan Stores Staples Starbucks Target TJX SUPERVALU Ruth’s Chris Steak House 88 85 57 58 31 Chipotle Mexican Grill Coldwater Creek Cosi Collective Brands Costco 90 41 79 8 Sandpoint, Idaho 44 83 1 82 Oklahoma City Seattle 60 98 22 28 55 70 Framingham, Mass. Houston Eden Prairie, Minn. Minneapolis New York Louisville, Ky. Beaumont, Texas Deerfield, Ill. Orlando Woonsocket, R.I. Pittsburgh Chesapeake, Va. Issaquah, Wash. 20 77 CVS Caremark 92 25 14 Susser Holdings Texas Roadhouse Tiffany Tractor Supply Tween Brands Ulta Walgreen Walmart Wet Seal Zumiez 30 17 46 100 91 42 Darden Restaurants Dollar Tree Stores Dress Barn Dick’s Sporting Goods drugstore.com El Pollo Loco Family Dollar FTD Suffern, N.Y. Duckwall-ALCO Abilene, Kan. Bellevue, Wash. 66 96 94 Framingham, Mass. Westlake, Ohio Philadelphia Romeoville, Ill. Deerfield, Ill. Brentwood, Tenn. New Albany, Ohio 89 87 Travel Centers of America Urban Outfitters 10 16 Costa Mesa, Calif. Matthews, N.C. 21 80 43 Famous Dave’s of America Finlay Enterprises GameStop Gymboree WWW.STORES.ORG New York Minnetonka, Minn. Grapevine, Texas San Francisco 86 95 9 Downers Grove, Ill. 50 Bentonville, Ark. Louisville, Ky. Austin, Texas 49 84 32 37 6 Whole Foods Markets Yum Brands Foothill Ranch, Calif. Everett, Wash. STORES / AUGUST 2008 H19 12 74