Global Powers of Retailing 2012

Switching channels
Global Powers of
Retailing 2012

Retail perspectives
from Deloitte.
© 2012 Deloitte LLP. All rights reserved.
Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
The next evolution: Store 3.0™
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Global economic outlook G4
2012 global retail industry trends G8
Global Powers of Retailing Top 250 highlights G10
Global Powers of Retailing geographical analysis G20
Global Powers of Retailing product sector analysis G25
Top 250 newcomers G28
Accelerated organic growth, acquisitions fuel Fastest 50 G29
Q ratio analysis of the Top 250 G32
Study methodology and data sources G34
Consumer Business contacts G35
Contents
www.deloitte.com/consumerbusiness January 2012 G3

January 2012 www.deloitte.com/consumerbusinessG4
Global economic outlook
The economic situation for retailers
The global economy is decelerating, with growth in 2012 likely to be
slower than was experienced in 2011 in many of the world’s leading
markets.
In Europe, the crisis of the euro has led to the tightening of credit
markets. In an effort to rebuild investor confidence, governments
across the continent are cutting spending and raising taxes, the net
effect of which is to weaken economies and, in the process, further
undermine confidence. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank
engages in a relatively neutral monetary policy aimed at suppressing
inflation. As of this writing, the risk remains that the Eurozone will
crumble, leading to an even worse economic downturn.
In the United States there are signs of accelerating economic activity,
yet the failure of the government to agree on a path toward fiscal
rectitude has wreaked havoc with investor confidence, hurting equity
prices and employment creation. While the U.S. economy may
accelerate in 2012, it will probably not grow at a pace sufficient to
significantly reduce unemployment.
The world’s second-largest economy, China, is slowing following a
tightening of monetary policy combined with the negative effects
of slow growth in Europe and the United States. In addition, the
remaining BRICs face slower growth resulting from the lagged effects
of tight monetary policy and weak global growth.
Only in Japan is economic growth in 2012 widely expected to exceed
that of 2011. The reason is that 2011 was so awful following the
devastating earthquake and tsunami, and reconstruction expenditures
are likely to provide a temporary jolt to the Japanese economy.
Retailers may find some silver linings in this otherwise cloudy
environment, however. One positive effect of slower global growth
will be continued dampening of commodity prices. For retailers, this
means some improvement on the cost side of the ledger. Meanwhile,
a number of countries, including the United States, Japan, several
in Western Europe and many leading emerging markets, are seeing
higher retail price inflation. Combined with stagnant input prices,
this suggests the possibility of improved profit margins, even in the
context of slow top line growth.
In many of the slowing markets, a disproportionate share of the
growth of consumer income is accruing to the relatively affluent.
This is especially true in the United States and China. Hence, for
retailers targeting upscale consumers, the environment might not be
so bad. As for retailers targeting everyone else, the ability to offer low
prices to uncertain consumers will be a clear competitive advantage.
The most significant silver lining can be found on the long-term
horizon. Even though the economic environment in 2012 will be
difficult, the long-term outlook for the global economy remains good.
Global growth in the coming decade is expected to be strong, with
particular strength coming from leading emerging markets other than
China. Of course China will grow, but it faces some headwinds, both
demographic and structural. Other emerging markets like India, Brazil,
Turkey, Indonesia, the Andean region of South America and much of
sub-Saharan Africa offer the possibility of stronger growth and new
opportunities for the world’s leading retailers.
Let us now consider the outlook for the world’s leading retail
markets:
Western Europe
It is difficult to provide a helpful roadmap to a situation that, as of Q4
2011, still seemed to be changing daily. So perhaps it is best to look
back at how it came to this.
The Eurozone project was intended to bind the economic and
political fortunes of Europe’s economies in perpetuity, yet the
architecture of this union was always lacking. Countries were required
to maintain fiscal discipline, but there was never a credible vehicle for
ensuring it. The first countries to violate the rules were Germany and
France, and it is not surprising that others soon followed. Indeed, the
existence of the euro enabled the countries of Southern Europe to
borrow with abandon. Investors were happy to extend credit at low
interest rates with the expectation that bonds denominated in euros
were a safe asset.
Still, the absence of fiscal rectitude alone was not the biggest
problem. The biggest problem was that several Mediterranean
economies lost their competitiveness. Over the past decade, their
wages rose far faster than their productivity, with the result that it
became less feasible for them to generate the strong export revenues
needed to service their external debts. Normally, a country with a
competitiveness problem will devalue its currency.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), in conjunction with STORES Media, is
pleased to present the 15th annual Global Powers of Retailing. This report identifies
the 250 largest retailers around the world based on publicly available data for fiscal
2010 (encompassing companies’ fiscal years ended through June 2010). The report also
provides an outlook for the global economy, trends for retailers to consider in the
coming months, and an analysis of market capitalization in the retail industry.

However, because these countries no longer have their own
currencies, they cannot restore competitiveness unless they
dramatically accelerate productivity growth and/or cut wages – both
tall orders.
When Greece was unable to roll over its considerable debts and the
EU bailout was deemed insufficient to correct Europe’s ailments,
investors became fearful. Governments faced difficulty in rolling over
debts, and banks that held such debts faced problems raising funds.
Risk spreads increased, credit market activity declined and Europe
faced a new recession. There are three possible scenarios as to what
might happen next.
In the first, Europe agrees to engage in greater integration in order
to avoid disintegration. This could entail using the European Central
Bank (ECB) to backstop sovereign debtors and create a fiscal union
with large transfers of resources from richer to poorer nations within
the union. This would enable the Eurozone to succeed and ultimately
prosper. The problem with this scenario is that it requires individual
countries to give up sovereignty and abide by conditions set by the
richer countries in the EU.
The second scenario is that the Eurozone fails. While this could
happen, the short-term costs of disintegration would be catastrophic.
It can be argued that, in the long run, some of the troubled countries
would be better off outside the Eurozone, but much of Europe would
suffer grievously during the transition. The Mediterranean countries
would face problems in gaining access to global credit markets,
while the northern economies would see their currencies rise rapidly,
thereby hurting exports.
The third scenario, then, seems to be the most likely: Europe
manages to hold the Eurozone together but fails to take action that
would guarantee its success. This could be called the “muddling
along scenario” and would likely involve a prolonged period of slow
economic growth, political turmoil and periodic crises.
What does this scenario mean for retailers? It means continued fiscal
contraction across Europe, in part through higher taxes, and tight
credit market conditions. Consumer spending would grow slowly, if
at all. Consumers would be highly price sensitive and uncertain about
the future. For retailers, it would mean a severe market share battle. It
would also means that, for retailers that are financially healthy, there
would be good reason to accelerate the process of globalization in
order to find growth outside of Europe.
China
China’s economy is decelerating, the result of tighter monetary policy
in 2011 and declining export growth. In response, China’s central
bank has stopped tightening policy. Therefore, although China’s
economy will slow in 2012, it will not necessarily slow dramatically.
On the other hand, it is notable that a senior Chinese official recently
predicted that growth in 2012 would be below 9 percent -- the first
year since 2001 that it has done so. Interestingly, there is evidence
that the economic slowdown is being experienced principally by small
to medium-sized private businesses (especially those that export) and
not by the large state-run enterprises that retain favorable access to
credit.
China’s officials have complained about the rapid expansion of U.S.
government debt. This reflects fear that the massive stock of foreign
currency reserves held by China’s government could lose value. Less
attention, however, has been paid to the big increase in overall debt
in China itself. That is likely to change soon, given the fact that overall
debt has nearly tripled in the past five years. Notably, a top Chinese
official recently said that the debt of China’s local governments is “our
version of the U.S. subprime crisis.” The $1.7 trillion in debts issued by
local governments to fund infrastructure has been a concern for some
time, but officials have downplayed the danger until now. The fear is
that multiple defaults without a bailout from the central government
could damage the health of China’s banks. How did this come about?
When the global economic crisis began in 2008 and China’s exports
suddenly dropped, the government implemented a vast stimulus
program to boost domestic demand and offset the decline in
exports. Part of this involved extending credit to provincial and local
governments to engage in infrastructure development. In the short
run, this policy was successful in boosting growth and preventing
a general recession. The problem, however, is that many such
investments have failed to generate adequate returns. The Chinese
government estimates that little more than one-quarter of local
government investment has produced a return adequate to service
the debts.
Local government borrowing is not the entire problem. During the
global crisis, the government injected capital into state-run banks
so that they could lend to state-run companies. The result was
an investment boom, but too many of those investments are not
producing an adequate return. As a result, investment in fixed assets
surged, reaching almost 50 percent of GDP last year. Meanwhile,
consumer spending declined to about 35 percent of GDP. Now that
the Chinese economy is slowing, the risk exists that China’s debtors
will soon face greater difficulties in servicing their debts.
So is China at risk of its own financial crisis? The answer is yes and
no. There is a danger that a new round of defaults will damage the
solvency of China’s state-run banking system, but it is likely that the
government would bail out such banks and, thereby, prevent a larger
financial crisis.
China does face a risk, however. Specifically, if the government were
compelled to bail out troubled financial institutions, it would probably
not support continued lending for the purpose of poorly conceived
investments. Consequently, investment would likely fall considerably.
Given that investment is now close to 50 percent of GDP, such a
fall could have serious consequences for GDP, absent an offsetting
increase in something else. What could that something else be?
Exports are not likely to take up the slack. Instead, China will
look toward a boost in consumer spending to offset a decline in
investment. Given that consumer spending is now only 35 percent
of GDP, it would have to grow very rapidly to make a difference and
avoid a significant economic slowdown.

There are, however, some positive signs concerning the prospect for
consumer spending. First, wages have been rising, adding to real
disposable incomes. This reflects a shortage of labor, as demographic
trends limit labor force growth and internal migration slows.
In addition, provincial and local governments have been increasing
their minimum wage.
Second, the government intends to have state-run companies pay
higher dividends to shareholders (mainly the government). This
money could be used to boost overall spending. Third, high inflation
might spur more spending by consumers. Fourth, the currency is
gradually being allowed to rise in value. This reduces import prices
and helps to stimulate consumer spending.
On the other hand, the biggest negative for consumer spending
is simple demographics. Due to the lagged effect of China’s one
child policy, the labor force is expected to grow much more slowly
in the coming decade than it did during the past 10 years. As such,
the prime consuming age cohort will barely grow while the elderly
population will grow rapidly.
Finally, one side effect of China’s unbalanced economy is a sharp
increase in income inequality. While incomes have increased
overall, lower income cohorts have not seen significant increases
in purchasing power, especially as home prices have increased
dramatically.
There are reasons to expect that China’s economy will grow more
slowly in the coming decade. Although consumer spending is likely
to increase as a share of GDP, it is not clear that it will be sufficient to
create a consumer spending boom.
United States
As of this writing, the U.S. economy is showing signs of modest
strength. There is growth, but not the kind that has followed past
recessions, when housing made a sizable contribution to the recovery.
Instead, growth has been relatively anemic. The housing market
remains troubled. Partly as a consequence of this, credit markets have
not been strong and bank lending has been continually declining
since the start of the economic crisis in 2008. Moreover, the troubles
in Europe could have a negative impact on credit activity in the
United States.
Despite these headwinds, American consumers continue to spend.
This is a bit surprising given the various negative influences faced by
U.S. consumers. Unemployment is uncomfortably high (above 8.5
percent), real disposable incomes have been declining over the past
year and various measures of consumer confidence have recently
been at near-historic lows. Yet consumer spending has been rising.
There are various explanations. First, consumers have substantially
paid down debt: debt service payments as a share of income are at
the lowest levels since 1993, so consumer cash flow has improved. In
addition, the increase in spending lately has been at the expense of
saving. The saving rate has declined, suggesting a higher degree of
confidence on the part of consumers despite what they tell
survey takers.
Finally, it is likely that there is considerable pent-up demand following
a long dry period.
Consumers may feel a bit more confident because the overall
economy is showing signs of renewed (albeit modest) strength. In
the first half of 2011, economic growth was so anemic that many
pundits worried that the United States was heading into a new
recession. Today, fears of a double dip have abated somewhat as
growth has accelerated. Industrial activity has been rising moderately,
with particular focus on production of capital goods. In fact, business
investment, especially in equipment and software, has been quite
strong during the latter half of 2011.
In addition, exports have been strong. Although export growth has
decelerated somewhat as the global economy has slowed, it remains
strong and contributes substantially to overall GDP growth. This
reflects the effects of a relatively weak dollar and the impact of a
decade of sizable productivity gains for the manufacturing sector.
Finally, recent growth has been almost entirely due to increased
demand for goods and services. There has been little inventory
accumulation, and inventories remain historically lean. This is good
news, as it means that the increased output was entirely due to
increased demand. It also bodes well for the future, as further
increases in demand will require more production rather than dipping
into existing inventories.
The impact of economic policy has been mixed. On the one hand,
monetary policy remains supportive of growth. Although the Federal
Reserve is no longer engaged in “quantitative easing,” it is engaged
in a policy designed to reduce long-term interest rates and, therefore,
stimulate more credit demand. While it is too early to say whether
this has been effective, the decline in bank lending has eased and
consumer willingness to take on new debt has increased. The Fed
has indicated that it is open to another round of quantitative easing
should the economy generate disappointing growth.
Fiscal policy is a different story. During 2011, the President and the
Congress failed to reach an agreement on dealing with long-term
budgetary issues. This resulted in the first-ever downgrade of the
U.S. government’s credit worthiness. Although the bond market
yawned at this news, it probably had a negative impact on business
confidence, and it certainly had a negative impact on equity prices.
If Congress does absolutely nothing, the budget deficit will decline
considerably. That is because, under current law, taxes are scheduled
to rise considerably at the end of 2012, yielding nearly $3 trillion over
10 years. In addition, there have already been $2.2 trillion in spending
cuts built into future budgets. Thus, the real issue facing Congress is
how to eliminate those tax increases and find offsetting reductions in
future budget deficits.
For retailers, the U.S. economic environment is lukewarm. A
reasonable expectation for the coming year is that consumer
spending growth will be positive but modest, that inflation will be
low, that consumers will remain relatively price sensitive and that
commodity prices will be soft. It is also a reasonable assumption that,
to the extent there are income gains, a disproportionate share will
accrue to upper-income households. Thus, spending growth will be
bifurcated.

Japan
Japan suffered grievously in 2011 due to the terrible earthquake
and tsunami. Aside from the unspeakable human cost, there was a
huge economic cost as well. The sharp drop in electricity production
and the damage to the transport infrastructure led to a big decline
in industrial output. Not only did this lead to a drop in Japan’s GDP,
it had a global impact as well, as much of the global automotive
and electronics industry supply chains are dependent on Japan’s
participation.
The outlook for 2012, however, is better. Industrial production has
bounced back and, in the third quarter of 2011, the economy grew
rapidly – especially due to the resumption of exports. In addition,
the Parliament has allocated the equivalent of $240 billion to
reconstruction, most of which will be spent in the next 18 months.
Thus, this should have a positive impact on growth in 2012.
Still, Japan faces some negative influences. First, it is likely that the
reconstruction spending will be financed in part by higher taxes on
consumers, and this will probably have a negative impact on retailing.
Second, Japan remains highly dependent on exports, yet the value
of the yen is at an historic high and is not expected to come down.
Moreover, as the global economy slows, export growth is likely to
decelerate.
Finally, although Japan’s central bank has engaged in a more
aggressive monetary policy, this alone may not be sufficient.
The goal of such a policy is to increase inflation, reduce real interest
rates and stimulate more spending and credit market activity. Yet
as of this writing, inflation remains very low, consumer spending is
anemic and credit market activity is poor. Absent a more aggressive
policy, it is likely that Japan’s economy will grow slowly following the
end of reconstruction spending.
India
Indian retailing briefly made global headlines when the government
announced it had changed the rules regarding foreign investment
so that multi-brand foreign retailers would be permitted to own up
to 51 percent of an Indian retail enterprise. In the long-term, this
would have a positive impact on economic growth and could lead to
a rationalization of the supply chain, greater supply chain efficiency
and greater effective spending power for consumers. It would also
be beneficial to the world’s leading retailers as they continue to seek
global opportunities beyond the Chinese market. Facing serious
opposition, however, the government backed down and withdrew
the planned liberalization. At this writing, it is not clear whether and
when this proposal will be offered again.
In the short term, the outlook for India is a bit cloudy. The Indian
economy is clearly slowing following a period in which monetary
policy was tightened to fight inflation. The problem is that, although
the monetary tightening resulted in slower economic growth, it
did not bring inflation down. Now policymakers are faced with the
conundrum of slow growth with persistent inflation.
That said, because trade is a modest share of GDP, India is relatively
immune to the problems in the global economy.
In addition, India’s financial sector is not highly exposed to the
troubles in European credit markets. Thus, even a worsening of the
situation in Europe is not likely to have a big negative impact on India.
Longer term, India’s prospects are good. The country has a
youthful population, which bodes well for growth and consumer
spending. Economic policy has been supportive of growth through
deregulation. In addition, India’s capital markets have funneled credit
to entrepreneurs, contributing to growth. India does have obstacles,
however. These include a high degree of trade protection, continuing
regulation of labor markets and uncertainty regarding the future of
policy.
Brazil
As in much of the emerging world, Brazil’s policymakers have quickly
shifted from a focus on excessive inflation toward a focus on growth.
In the first half of 2011, Brazil was growing rapidly and experiencing
uncomfortably high inflation. The central bank raised interest rates,
which resulted in a sharp rise in the value of the currency and harmed
export competitiveness. Yet by the second half of the year, with
domestic demand decelerating and exports being harmed by slower
global growth, the central bank shifted and cut interest rates.
Brazil is likely to have modest growth and declining inflation in
2012. Interestingly, consumer spending has held up well despite the
economic slowdown. This was due in part to continuing growth of
consumer credit. While positive for spending, this credit expansion
does pose a risk to the economy and especially to the banking
system.
Longer term, the prospects for Brazil’s economy and consumer sector
are very good. With a youthful population, favorable economic
policies and sizable foreign direct investment, growth should
be strong. In addition, roughly half of Brazil’s exports are now
manufactured goods. This is a big change from the past, when Brazil
was largely a commodity exporter, and it suggests a less volatile
future. Improving income distribution and the rapid rise of the middle
class also bode well for continued growth of modern retailing.
Russia
Russia’s growth has been moderately strong lately owing to the
strength of commodity prices. In addition, there are indications of
greater openness to foreign investment in the commodity sector,
thereby offering the possibility of increased commodity production.
Yet Russia’s continued dependence on commodities makes it
vulnerable to volatile prices. Russia is also highly dependent on
Western Europe, and a deepening crisis there would have a strong
negative impact on Russia.
As long as the economy grows, Russia’s retail industry has good
prospects, at least in the largest cities where a disproportionate share
of spending power exists. On the other hand, a declining and aging
population means that longer term prospects are not great. And a
failure to diversify away from commodities puts the retail sector at
the mercy of forces beyond the control of Russia’s authorities.

Away from home
Globalization is not a new trend for retailers: in fact, it was the
theme of last year’s Global Powers of Retailing report. In 2012,
retailers will continue to look to enter new markets like Asia Pacific,
Africa and South America as higher growth in these regions
continues, and they will look to improve their existing operational
performance in these markets to achieve sustained growth.
Along the way, retailers have learned that to succeed in emerging
markets they must significantly customize both their market models
and product offerings to meet local needs and preferences. In
addition, expect retailers to more fully empower store and regional
managers when developing marketing and sales plans, given the
managers’ better understanding of local consumer and community
needs. Finally, real estate will continue to be of great importance
when entering new markets, given the difficulties of gaining a
foothold when local operators already own the best locations.
Retailers will not only be looking for growth in emerging markets;
they will also look to innovate in multi-channel strategies, mobile
and data analytics to maintain or grow their market shares in
developed markets.
Across channels
Retailers are entering new markets, both developed and
developing, through various channels. For example, one may open
an online store overseas to test the market before committing
to a physical presence. Most retailers have a presence across
multiple channels (e.g., stores, catalogs, online, call centers,
social networking, digital displays, mobile). Few, however, truly
understand how consumers are using and shopping across each
of their channels (e.g., using social media sites to get discounts,
going to the store to test the product and then purchasing the
product online), and even fewer have a seamless, consistent
and comprehensive multi-channel strategy. However, having a
comprehensive multi-channel strategy will become more important
than ever.
As consumers become savvier, they are increasingly taking charge
of their shopping experience, identifying and leveraging many
different sources of information and channels to optimize the
different elements of their shopping journey. As of this writing,
71 percent of respondents to the Deloitte U.S. 2011 Annual Holiday
Survey were planning on shopping multiple channels in some
manner – viewing or researching products in one channel and
purchasing in another, for example.
Since customers do not distinguish between channels, retailers will
have to support seamless integration among and between each
of them, including access to assortment, customer information
and order information. Within the next few years, it is likely that
consumers will expect to use a mobile device to get real-time
inventory information about the closest stores or to order a product
while in a store and have it delivered to their home. Therefore, in
2012 it is likely that retailers will continue to develop and launch
innovative multi-channel solutions.
Retailers will need to have a clear understanding of the shopping
journey and how consumers move across channels, from mobile to
social networking, the web and in-store. Understanding how they
go through the pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase process
will be key to retailers identifying opportunities that both enhance
their bottom line and actually make sense to consumers. For
example, most large retailers in developed multi-channel markets
like the United States and the U.K. no longer operate in silos but
have become “brand and product showrooms” that drive revenues
across all channels and are “destinations” for consumers to do more
than just simply browse and transact. To support similar integrated,
seamless and consistent multi-channel experiences, many retailers
will need to re-evaluate their business and make fundamental
changes across their organizations in all functions
Mobile
With the incredible speed at which the iPhone 4S sold – one million
units in 24 hours,1
four million the weekend it was launched2
– and smartphones emerging as the most dominant consumer
technology platform, one cannot mention multi-channel without
also discussing mobile. Moreover, since a significant population
of mobile users has not even reached shopping age, one can
anticipate that mobile, and all the capabilities and opportunities it
offers, will be top of mind among retailers in 2012.
Mobile consumers are no longer just early adopters: They represent
a broad range of consumer segments and have become part
of the mainstream population. For retailers looking to remain
relevant in this connected consumer environment, the ability to
leverage mobile to deliver an improved customer experience will
be a critical success factor. To be sure, there is a great deal of
activity in launching mobile solutions focused on the pre-shopping
experience. However, many retailers are diving in without a clear
strategy, and few have launched an integrated multi-channel
experience. Retailers that can deliver an integrated customer
experience demonstrating a clear understanding of consumer
preferences and behaviors across the purchase process will have an
advantage over the competition.
2012 global retail industry trends
1 Apple press release, October 10, 2011
2 Apple press release, October 17, 2011

In the race to put out a “cool” app, retailers must not neglect three
important factors:
• Usability and the user experience, including integration points
between mobile and other channels. A poor customer experience
is worse than no app at all.
• Security and privacy. A mobile-related security or privacy breach
could severely damage a retailer’s reputation and hamper
adoption of mobile capabilities.
• Access for employees and business partners. Sales associates
need access to the same information as the connected “super
user” consumers who walk through the door. Providing suppliers
real-time visibility into the location and estimated arrival time of
shipments can ultimately benefit consumers as well.
From data to personalization
Data analytics and personalization will continue to be critical
success factors in 2012 and beyond. Indeed, personalization has
become the norm for growing numbers of consumers. Given all
the new channels through which retailers are interacting with
consumers, from point-of-sale to mobile to social media sites, the
sheer volume of data that can be collected about consumers and
their shopping behaviors continues to grow. The industry is evolving
quickly in its data analytics capabilities and in its ability to develop
personalized marketing campaigns and customer experiences.
Still, the ongoing challenge for retailers will be how to best analyze
all this rich data and derive from it valuable insights about what
consumers want and need.
What about the store?
While technology is bringing radical changes to how people shop,
the bricks-and-mortar store remains the core of retail.
The physical store, however, is no longer the final shopping
destination; increasingly, it is becoming a piece in a larger, more
connected customer experience. This transition will require
retailers to innovate and re-think their operating models in ways
many couldn’t even conceive of five years ago.

Global Powers of Retailing Top 250 highlights
Retail industry rebounds in 2010 as global economy stages
fragile comeback
2010 started off on a positive note, but as it progressed the global
economy began to face headwinds. In the United States, the end of
fiscal stimulus, combined with continuing problems in the housing
and credit markets, caused a deceleration in growth that led to fears
of a double-dip recession. Europe saw the start of the Eurozone crisis
when Greece required a massive bailout to avoid default on
its sovereign debts.
In emerging markets, on the other hand, growth in fiscal 2010 was
unusually strong, resulting in accelerating inflation. Governments
in such disparate places as China, India and Brazil responded by
tightening monetary policy. Rising interest rates led to severe
upward pressure on currency values. Consumer spending in
emerging markets rose at a healthy rate, although the monetary
tightening in some countries caused deceleration.
Nevertheless, the global retail industry rebounded in 2010.
Sales-weighted, currency-adjusted retail sales rose a solid 5.3 percent
for the world’s Top 250 retailers, up from anemic 1.2 percent growth
for 2009’s Top 250. As consumers emerged from the doldrums,
more than 80 percent of the Top 250 retailers (205 companies) saw
their 2010 retail sales increase, compared with less than two-thirds
(159 companies) in 2009.
Profitability continued to improve as well. The Top 250 composite
net profit margin rose to 3.8 percent in 2010, up from 3.1 percent
in 2009 and 2.4 percent in 2008. Nearly all of the companies that
disclosed their bottom-line results (183 of 195) operated at a profit
in 2010, and more than two-thirds of the reporting companies saw
an improvement in their net profit margin.
Stronger profitability also led to an improvement in return on assets.
Composite ROA increased to 5.8 percent in 2010. While this is up
from 4.9 percent in 2009, asset turnover declined slightly to
1.5 times from 1.6 times the prior year. This suggests that retailers
may have increased their inventories and invested in new property
and equipment in 2010 in anticipation of an economic recovery.
Top 250 quick stats, 2010
• $3.94 trillion – aggregate sales of Top 250
• $15.763 billion – average size of Top 250 retailers
• $3.292 billion – minimum sales required to be on Top 250
list in 2010
• 5.3% – composite year-over-year retail sales growth
• 5.7% – 2005-2010 composite compound annual growth
rate in retail sales
• 3.8% – composite net profit margin
• 5.8% – composite return on assets
• 1.5 times – composite asset turnover
• 23.4% – percent of Top 250 retail sales from foreign
operations
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), in conjunction with STORES Media, is
pleased to present the 15th annual Global Powers of Retailing. This report identifies
the 250 largest retailers around the world based on publicly available data for fiscal
2010 (encompassing companies’ fiscal years ended through June 2010). The report also
provides an outlook for the global economy, trends for retailers to consider in the coming
months, and an analysis of market capitalization in the retail industry.

Top 250 global retailers 2010
1 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. U.S. 418,952 421,849 16,993 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
16 6.0%
2 Carrefour S.A. France 119,642 121,519 754 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
33 3.9%
3 Tesco PLC U.K. 92,171e
94,244 4,131 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
13 9.3%
4 Metro AG Germany 88,931 89,311 1,243 Cash & Carry/Warehouse Club 33 3.8%
5 The Kroger Co. U.S. 82,189 82,189 1,133 Supermarket 1 6.3%
6 Schwarz Unternehmens
Treuhand KG
Germany 79,119e
79,119e
n/a Discount Store 26 9.8%
7 Costco Wholesale Corporation U.S. 76,255 77,946 1,323 Cash & Carry/Warehouse Club 9 8.0%
8 The Home Depot, Inc. U.S. 67,997 67,997 3,338 Home Improvement 5 -2.5%
9 Walgreen Co. U.S. 67,420 67,420 2,091 Drug Store/Pharmacy 2 9.8%
10 Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG Germany 67,112e
67,112e
11 Target Corp. U.S. 65,786 67,390 2,920 DDS 1 5.1%
12 Rewe Group Germany 61,134e
70,431 n/a Supermarket 13 5.4%
13 CVS Caremark Corp. U.S. 57,345 96,413 3,424 Drug Store/Pharmacy 1 11.0%
14 Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. Japan 57,055 59,338 1,402 Convenience/Forecourt Store 18 5.9%
15 Groupe Auchan SA France 55,212 56,425 985 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
13 4.7%
16 Edeka Zentrale AG & Co. KG Germany 54,072 57,763 n/a Supermarket 1 5.5%
17 Aeon Co., Ltd. Japan 53,458 59,069 1,064 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
8 2.2%
18 Woolworths Limited Australia 51,771 53,704 2,118 Supermarket 2 7.3%
19 Best Buy Co., Inc. U.S. 50,272 50,272 1,366 Electronics Specialty 15 10.3%
20 Lowe’s Companies, Inc. U.S. 48,815 48,815 2,010 Home Improvement 3 2.5%
21 Wesfarmers Limited Australia 47,631 52,330 1,902 Supermarket 2 62.3%
22 Sears Holdings Corp. U.S. 43,326 43,326 150 Department Store 3 -2.4%
23 Centres Distributeurs E. Leclerc France 41,165e
41,165e
n/a Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
7 3.2%
24 Safeway Inc. U.S. 40,229e
41,050 591 Supermarket 3 1.3%
25 Koninklijke Ahold N.V Netherlands 39,213 39,213 1,133 Supermarket 10 -0.1%
26 Casino Guichard-Perrachon
S.A.
France 37,875e
38,612 987 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
27 5.0%
27 ITM Développement
International (Intermarché)
France 33,994e
37,978e
n/a Supermarket 8 5.1%
28 Amazon.com, Inc. U.S. 33,251 34,204 1,152 Non-Store 8 32.1%
29 J Sainsbury plc U.K. 32,837 32,837 996 Supermarket 1 6.1%
30 The IKEA Group (INGKA
Holding B.V.)
Sweden 31,642 32,243 3,693 Other Specialty 39 9.3%
31 SuperValu Inc. U.S. 28,911 37,534 -1,510 Supermarket 1 22.1%
32 WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC U.K. 25,248 25,427 975 Supermarket 1 6.3%
33 Rite Aid Corporation U.S. 25,215 25,215 -555 Drug Store/Pharmacy 1 7.9%
34 Yamada Denki Co., Ltd. Japan 25,193 25,193 831 Electronics Specialty 2 10.9%
35 Publix Super Markets, Inc. U.S. 25,134 25,328 1,338 Supermarket 1 4.1%
36 Macy’s, Inc. U.S. 25,003 25,003 847 Department Store 3 2.2%
*Group revenue and net income may include results from non-retail
operations
**CAGR = Compound annual growth rate
n/a = not available
ne = not in existence (created by merger or divestiture)
e = estimate
Retail
sales
rank
(FY10) Name of company
Country
of origin
2010
retail
sales
(US$m)
2010
group
revenue*
(US$m)
2010
group net
income*
(US$m)
Dominant operational
format 2010
#countries
of
operation
2010
2005-2010
retail sales
CAGR**

37 Delhaize Group SA Belgium 24,918e
27,687 764 Supermarket 7 1.8%
38 The TJX Companies, Inc. U.S. 21,942 21,942 1,343 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 7 6.4%
39 Loblaw Companies Limited Canada 21,782e
Superstore
1 1.2%
40 Migros-Genossenschafts Bund Switzerland 20,937e
24,075 857 Supermarket 3 8.8%
41 Système U, Centrale Nationale France 20,423 20,423 n/a Supermarket 3 5.1%
42 Mercadona, S.A. Spain 20,241 20,241 528 Supermarket 1 9.7%
43 Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. Canada 18,966 18,966 370 Convenience/Forecourt Store 9 13.3%
44 Kohl’s Corporation U.S. 18,391 18,391 1,114 Department Store 1 6.5%
45 Grupo Pão de Açúcar Brazil 18,318 18,318 412 Electronics Specialty 1 19.1%
46 J. C. Penney Company, Inc. U.S. 17,759 17,759 389 Department Store 2 -1.1%
47 El Corte Inglés, S.A. Spain 17,336 21,662 422 Department Store 5 0.4%
48 Coop Group Switzerland 16,684e
18,234 512 Supermarket 5 6.1%
49 Inditex S.A. Spain 16,343 16,535 2,298 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 79 13.2%
50 H.E. Butt Grocery Company U.S. 16,100e
16,100e
51 AS Watson & Company, Ltd. Hong Kong
SAR
15,857 15,857 n/a Drug Store/Pharmacy 37 6.8%
52 Coop Italia Italy 15,845e
15,845e
53 Empire Company Limited/
Sobeys
Canada 15,575 15,839 374 Supermarket 1 4.2%
54 Meijer, Inc. U.S. 15,323e
15,323e
Superstore
1 3.6%
55 Marks & Spencer Group Plc U.K. 15,157 15,157 931 Department Store 39 4.5%
56 "LVMH Moët
Hennessy-Louis
France 15,085e
26,983 4,407 Other Specialty 84 7.5%
57 H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB Sweden 15,051 15,051 2,592 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 38 12.1%
58 Groupe Adeo SA France 15,005e
15,005e
722 Home Improvement 11 11.4%
59 Kingfisher plc U.K. 14,846 16,124 762 Home Improvement 8 4.5%
60 PPR S.A. France 14,803 19,394 1,348 Other Specialty 91 -4.9%
61 Staples, Inc. U.S. 14,696e
24,545 889 Other Specialty 14 5.7%
62 The Gap, Inc. U.S. 14,664 14,664 1,204 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 32 -1.8%
63 Louis Delhaize S.A. Belgium 14,100e
14,100e
Superstore
8 1.7%
64 Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. Japan 13,933 14,283 40 Department Store 11 ne
65 Toys "R" Us, Inc. U.S. 13,864 13,864 167 Other Specialty 35 4.2%
66 Bailian (Brilliance) Group China 13,344e
15,341e
67 Otto (GmbH & Co KG) Germany 13,203 15,050 239 Non-Store 32 1.4%
68 Dollar General Corp. U.S. 13,035 13,035 628 Discount Store 1 8.7%
69 Co-operative Group Ltd. U.K. 12,957 19,926 340 Supermarket 1 20.1%
70 ICA AB Sweden 12,818 13,067 76 Supermarket 5 7.1%
71 Dixons Retail plc (formerly DSG
International plc)
U.K. 12,738e
13,051 -384 Electronics Specialty 28 4.3%
72 UNY Co., Ltd. Japan 12,635 12,897 113 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
2 -1.7%
73 Dell Inc. U.S. 12,357 61,494 2,635 Non-Store 180 0.3%
operations
n/a = not available
e = estimate
Retail
sales
rank
Country
of origin
2010
retail
sales
(US$m)
2010
group
revenue*
(US$m)
2010
group net
income*
(US$m)
format 2010
#countries
of
operation
2010
2005-2010
retail sales
CAGR**

operations
n/a = not available
e = estimate
74 Conad Consorzio Nazionale,
Dettaglianti Soc. Coop. a.r.l.
Italy 12,170 12,170 n/a Supermarket 2 5.8%
75 Gome Home Appliance Group China 12,042e
12,042e
n/a Electronics Specialty 2 21.8%
76 SPAR Österreichische
Warenhandels-AG
Austria 12,011e
12,011e
77 Alliance Boots GmbH Switzerland 11,859 31,462 957 Drug Store/Pharmacy 17 9.0%
78 Cencosud S.A. Chile 11,791 12,389 613 Supermarket 5 20.2%
79 Lotte Shopping Co., Ltd. S. Korea 11,487e
11,760 879 Department Store 5 9.2%
80 John Lewis Partnership plc U.K. 11,359 11,359 197 Supermarket 2 7.4%
81 Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A. Portugal 11,317 11,541 398 Discount Store 2 19.0%
82 Shinsegae Co., Ltd. S. Korea 11,314 11,314 962 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
2 9.8%
83 X5 Retail Group N.V. Russia 11,264 11,280 271 Discount Store 2 ne
84 Suning Appliance Co. Ltd. China 11,170 11,170 607 Electronics Specialty 3 36.5%
85 S Group Finland 11,007 13,896 393 Supermarket 5 9.9%
86 Metro Inc. Canada 10,896 10,896 376 Supermarket 1 11.1%
87 BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. U.S. 10,633 10,877 95 Cash & Carry/Warehouse Club 1 6.4%
88 Tengelmann Warenhandel-
sgesellschaft KG
Germany 10,599e
11,347e
n/a Home Improvement 14 -18.1%
89 Dansk Supermarked A/S Denmark 10,563 10,563 395 Discount Store 5 3.2%
90 The Daiei, Inc. Japan 10,415 10,568 -62 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
1 -7.9%
91 Kesko Corporation Finland 10,356 11,655 286 Supermarket 8 4.0%
92 Shoprite Holdings Ltd. S. Africa 10,279e
10,362 363 Supermarket 16 16.7%
93 Shoppers Drug Mart
Corporation
Canada 10,075 10,075 574 Drug Store/Pharmacy 1 7.7%
94 J. Front Retailing Co., Ltd. Japan 9,866 11,012 106 Department Store 1 ne
95 Apple Inc./Retail (Apple Stores) U.S. 9,798 65,225 14,013 Electronics Specialty 11 33.0%
96 Limited Brands, Inc. U.S. 9,613 9,613 805 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 45 -0.2%
97 GameStop Corp. U.S. 9,474 9,474 407 Other Specialty 18 25.1%
98 Grupo Eroski Spain 9,437e
9,739e
-86 Supermarket 3 6.6%
99 Reitan Group Norway 9,420e
9,721 n/a Discount 4 16.2%
100 Takashimaya Company, Limited Japan 9,398 10,077 165 Department Store 3 -3.6%
101 Nordstrom, Inc. U.S. 9,310 9,700 613 Department Store 1 3.8%
102 Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Japan 9,027 9,044 695 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 20 16.2%
103 K’s Holdings Corporation Japan 9,020 9,020 274 Electronics Specialty 1 14.0%
104 Whole Foods Market, Inc. U.S. 9,006 9,006 246 Supermarket 3 13.9%
105 Giant Eagle, Inc. U.S. 8,900e
8,900e
106 Home Retail Group plc U.K. 8,886 9,051 295 Other Specialty 3 1.0%
107 Bed Bath and Beyond Inc. U.S. 8,759 8,759 791 Other Specialty 4 8.6%
108 C&A Europe Belgium/
Germany
8,697 8,697 n/a Apparel/Footwear Specialty 20 4.8%
109 Edion Corporation Japan 8,647e
10,542 208 Electronics Specialty 1 1.5%
110 Beisia Group Co., Ltd. Japan 8,511e
9,156e
n/a Home Improvement 1 4.5%
111 Office Depot, Inc. U.S. 8,343e
11,633 33 Other Specialty 21 -3.5%
Retail
sales
rank
Country
of origin
2010
retail
sales
(US$m)
2010
group
revenue*
(US$m)
2010
group net
income*
(US$m)
format 2010
#countries
of
operation
2010
2005-2010
retail sales
CAGR**

operations
n/a = not available
e = estimate
112 Menard, Inc. U.S. 8,300e
8,300e
113 Army and Air Force Exchange
Service (AAFES)
U.S. 8,244 8,748 391 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
35 0.0%
114 Yodobashi Camera Co., Ltd. Japan 8,196 8,196 n/a Electronics Specialty 1 3.1%
115 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea
Company, Inc.
U.S. 8,078 8,078 -599 Supermarket 1 -1.6%
116 Dairy Farm International
Holdings Limited
Hong Kong
SAR
7,971 7,971 410 Supermarket 10 10.9%
117 Oxylane Groupe France 7,938 7,938 n/a Other Specialty 17 9.8%
118 Canadian Tire Corporation,
Limited
Canada 7,921 8,721 440 Other Specialty 1 2.8%
119 Kesa Electricals plc U.K. 7,879 7,879 41 Electronics Specialty 11 5.0%
120 SHV Holdings N.V. / Makro Netherlands 7,870 21,257 898 Cash & Carry/Warehouse Club 6 7.4%
121 Family Dollar Stores, Inc. U.S. 7,867 7,867 358 Discount Store 1 6.2%
122 Ross Stores, Inc. U.S. 7,866 7,866 555 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 1 9.7%
123 Liberty Media Corp. / QVC, Inc. U.S. 7,807 10,982 1,937 Non-Store 8 3.7%
124 Open Joint Stock Company
"Magnit"
Russia 7,776 7,777 334 Convenience/Forecourt Store 1 38.0%
125 Esselunga S.p.A. Italy 7,741e
7,741e
283 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
1 7.6%
126 Massmart Holdings Limited S. Africa 7,589 7,589 132 Cash & Carry/Warehouse Club 14 12.1%
127 S.A.C.I. Falabella Chile 7,473e
8,359 907 Home Improvement 4 14.8%
128 Etn. Fr. Colruyt N.V. Belgium 7,428 9,634 447 Supermarket 3 8.6%
129 Organización Soriana, S.A.B.
de C.V.
Mexico 7,425 7,425 260 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
1 14.1%
130 Hudson’s Bay Trading
Company, L.P.
U.S. 7,400e
7,400e
n/a Discount Department Store 2 ne
131 Globus Holding GmbH & Co. KG Germany 7,270e
7,270e
Superstore
3 7.6%
132 The Pantry, Inc. U.S. 7,265 7,265 -166 Convenience/Forecourt Store 1 10.4%
133 Pick n Pay Stores Limited S. Africa 7,140e
7,212 109 Supermarket 8 8.2%
134 China Resources Enterprise,
Limited
Hong Kong
SAR
7,089 11,164 855 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
2 27.9%
135 Barnes & Noble, Inc. U.S. 6,999 6,999 -74 Other Specialty 1 7.0%
136 dm-drogerie markt GmbH +
Co. KG
Germany 6,922e
6,922e
n/a Drug Store/Pharmacy 11 9.9%
137 Hy-Vee, Inc. U.S. 6,900 6,900 n/a Supermarket 1 6.9%
138 Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. U.S. 6,881 6,881 -70 Supermarket 1 -0.9%
139 FDB (Coop Danmark A/S) Denmark 6,822 6,850 52 Supermarket 1 ne
140 Bic Camera Inc. Japan 6,702 6,752 67 Electronics Specialty 1 7.1%
141 Dalian Dashang Group China 6,613e
n/ae
n/a Department Store 1 13.2%
142 Fa. Anton Schlecker Germany 6,580e
6,580e
n/a Drug Store/Pharmacy 12 -2.2%
143 AutoZone, Inc. U.S. 6,483 7,363 738 Other Specialty 3 5.4%
144 Dirk Rossmann GmbH Germany 6,148 6,148 n/a Drug Store/Pharmacy 6 14.0%
145 Sonae, SGPS, SA Portugal 6,144 7,853 265 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
3 3.6%
146 Tokyu Corporation Japan 6,031 13,480 483 Department Store 1 -5.3%
147 Katz Group Inc. Canada 6,020e
6,020e
n/a Drug Store/Pharmacy 1 0.0%
Retail
sales
rank
Country
of origin
2010
retail
sales
(US$m)
2010
group
revenue*
(US$m)
2010
group net
income*
(US$m)
format 2010
#countries
of
operation
2010
2005-2010
retail sales
CAGR**

operations
n/a = not available
e = estimate
148 Dillard’s, Inc. U.S. 6,020 6,254 180 Department Store 1 -4.5%
149 Dollar Tree, Inc. U.S. 5,882 5,882 397 Discount Store 2 11.6%
150 Don Quijote Co., Ltd. Japan 5,879 6,117 159 Discount Store 2 13.8%
151 Defense Commissary Agency
(DeCA)
U.S. 5,844 5,844 n/a Supermarket 14 1.7%
152 PetSmart, Inc. U.S. 5,660 5,694 240 Other Specialty 2 8.5%
153 Casey’s General Stores, Inc. U.S. 5,635 5,635 95 Convenience/Forecourt Store 1 9.9%
154 Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. U.S. 5,600 5,600 n/a Supermarket 1 8.2%
155 Groupe Galeries Lafayette SA France 5,444e
6,507 n/a Department Store 4 2.5%
156 Life Corporation Japan 5,411 5,573 39 Supermarket 1 3.8%
157 O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. U.S. 5,398 5,398 419 Other Specialty 1 21.4%
158 Lojas Americanas S.A. Brazil 5,359 5,359 195 Discount Department Store 1 27.7%
159 Kojima Co., Ltd. Japan 5,236e
5,259 24 Electronics Specialty 1 -2.0%
160 H2O Retailing Corporation Japan 5,163 5,441 36 Department Store 1 ne
161 Shimamura Co., Ltd. Japan 5,101 5,101 272 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 2 4.0%
162 NorgesGruppen ASA Norway 5,062 9,231 234 Supermarket 1 13.6%
163 Foot Locker, Inc. U.S. 5,049 5,049 169 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 29 -2.2%
164 QuikTrip Corporation U.S. 5,000e
8,770e
n/a Convenience/Forecourt Store 1 4.0%
165 WinCo Foods LLC U.S. 5,000e
5,000e
166 Save Mart Supermarkets U.S. 4,985e
4,985e
167 Next plc U.K. 4,976 5,329 619 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 64 1.9%
168 Big Lots, Inc. U.S. 4,952 4,952 223 Discount Store 1 2.3%
169 Joshin Denki Co., Ltd. Japan 4,940e
5,092 72 Electronics Specialty 1 7.9%
170 FEMSA Comercio, S.A. de C.V. Mexico 4,933 4,933 n/a Convenience/Forecourt Store 2 16.7%
171 Bauhaus GmbH & Co. KG Germany 4,905e
4,905e
172 Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. U.S. 4,871 4,871 182 Other Specialty 1 13.2%
173 Celesio AG Germany 4,804 30,910 352 Drug Store/Pharmacy 9 4.2%
174 DCM Japan Holdings Co., Ltd. Japan 4,790 4,895 81 Home Improvement 1 ne
175 President Chain Store Corp. Taiwan 4,745 5,395 202 Convenience/Forecourt Store 4 7.4%
176 Luxottica Group S.p.A. Italy 4,729 7,699 541 Other Specialty 25 1.5%
177 MatsumotoKiyoshi Holdings
Co., Ltd.
Japan 4,727 5,010 87 Drug Store/Pharmacy 1 5.8%
178 KF Gruppen Sweden 4,723 5,104 15 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
1 ne
179 The SPAR Group Limited S. Africa 4,722 4,722 123 Supermarket 3 20.7%
180 Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH Germany 4,703e
4,703e
n/a Department Store 1 -6.1%
181 Bass Pro Shops, Inc. U.S. 4,700e
4,700e
n/a Other Specialty 2 12.2%
182 OfficeMax Inc. U.S. 4,668e
7,150 74 Other Specialty 6 -3.7%
183 Jumbo Supermarkten B.V. Netherlands 4,665 4,665 n/a Supermarket 1 34.1%
184 Wawa Inc. U.S. 4,630e
6,990e
185 Compagnie Financière
Richemont SA
Switzerland 4,591 9,120 1,428 Other Specialty 55 14.5%
186 Coop Norge, the Group Norway 4,581e
4,653 35 Supermarket 1 ne
187 Praktiker Bau- und
Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG
Germany 4,579 4,579 -45 Home Improvement 10 2.6%
188 East Japan Railway Company Japan 4,515 29,687 908 Convenience/Forecourt Store 1 0.1%
Retail
sales
rank
Country
of origin
2010
retail
sales
(US$m)
2010
group
revenue*
(US$m)
2010
group net
income*
(US$m)
format 2010
#countries
of
operation
2010
2005-2010
retail sales
CAGR**

189 Deichmann SE Germany 4,515e
4,515e
n/a Apparel/Footwear Specialty 20 9.5%
190 Douglas Holding AG Germany 4,504 4,507 103 Other Specialty 21 6.6%
191 Sheetz, Inc. U.S. 4,500e
4,500e
192 RadioShack Corporation U.S. 4,473 4,473 206 Electronics Specialty 3 -2.5%
193 The Sherwin-Williams Company U.S. 4,381 7,776 462 Home Improvement 6 -2.0%
194 BİM Birleşik Mağazalar A.Ş. Turkey 4,371 4,371 163 Discount Store 2 31.2%
195 Arcadia Group Limited U.K. 4,349 4,349 223 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 42 9.4%
196 Controladora Comercial
Mexicana S.A.B. de C.V.
Superstore
1 6.8%
197 Associated British Foods plc/
Primark
U.K. 4,257 15,852 887 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 7 22.1%
198 Groupe Vivarte France 4,234 4,234 n/a Apparel/Footwear Specialty 66 8.3%
199 Migros Ticaret A.Ş. Turkey 4,232 4,232 28 Supermarket 4 20.1%
200 SUNDRUG Co., Ltd. Japan 4,220 4,220 127 Drug Store/Pharmacy 1 15.5%
201 Heiwado Co., Ltd. Japan 4,214 4,438 55 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
2 -0.4%
202 Valor Co., Ltd. Japan 4,206 4,436 50 Supermarket 1 7.8%
203 CP ALL Public Company Limited Thailand 4,184 4,484 212 Convenience/Forecourt Store 1 10.7%
204 Grupo Comercial Chedraui,
S.A.B. de C.V.
Superstore
2 14.0%
205 Jim Pattison Group Canada 4,123e
6,991 n/a Supermarket 1 3.8%
206 RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. U.S. 4,100e
5,750e
207 Ruddick Corporation / Harris
Teeter
U.S. 4,099 4,400 113 Supermarket 1 9.2%
208 Advance Auto Parts, Inc. U.S. 4,088e
5,925 346 Other Specialty 2 4.4%
209 Michaels Stores, Inc. U.S. 4,031 4,031 98 Other Specialty 2 1.9%
210 Albertsons, LLC U.S. 4,000e
4,000e
n/a Supermarket 1 -37.0%
211 Izumiya Co., Ltd. Japan 3,995 4,027 9 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
1 -0.4%
212 El Puerto de Liverpool, SAB
de CV
Mexico 3,845 4,150 408 Department Store 1 10.6%
213 The Maruetsu, Inc. Japan 3,806 3,851 32 Supermarket 1 0.2%
214 Marui Group Co. Ltd. Japan 3,793 4,756 -276 Department Store 2 -5.8%
215 HORNBACH-Baumarkt-AG
Group
Germany 3,742 3,743 100 Home Improvement 9 4.9%
216 XXXLutz Group Austria 3,718 3,718 n/a Other Specialty 9 5.4%
217 Iceland Foods Group Limited U.K. 3,716 3,716 242 Supermarket 3 9.7%
218 Steinhoff International
Holdings Ltd.
S. Africa 3,701 6,168 766 Other Specialty 15 n/a
219 Neiman Marcus, Inc. U.S. 3,693 3,693 -2 Department Store 1 0.0%
220 Nonggongshang Supermarket
Group Co. Ltd.
China 3,684e
3,684e
Superstore
1 12.5%
221 Burlington Coat Factory
Investments Holdings, Inc.
U.S. 3,670 3,701 31 Department Store 2 1.3%
222 Woolworths Holdings Limited S. Africa 3,666 3,704 236 Department Store 16 12.4%
223 Poslovni sistem Mercator, d.d. Slovenia 3,665 3,694 40 Supermarket 7 10.0%
224 Blokker Holding N.V. Netherlands 3,656 3,656 209 Other Specialty 11 4.0%
225 Agrokor d.d. Croatia 3,654 4,838 29 Supermarket 3 17.3%
operations
n/a = not available
e = estimate
Retail
sales
rank
Country
of origin
2010
retail
sales
(US$m)
2010
group
revenue*
(US$m)
2010
group net
income*
(US$m)
format 2010
#countries
of
operation
2010
2005-2010
retail sales
CAGR**

operations
n/a = not available
e = estimate
226 Tractor Supply Company U.S. 3,638 3,638 168 Other Specialty 1 12.0%
227 Coach, Inc. U.S. 3,622 4,159 881 Other Specialty 6 17.6%
228 GS Holdings Corp./GS Retail S. Korea 3,614 36,775 1,304 Convenience/Forecourt Store 1 7.8%
229 Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc. U.S. 3,610e
3,800e
230 Stater Bros. Holdings Inc. U.S. 3,607 3,607 25 Supermarket 1 2.0%
231 Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd. Japan 3,602 3,643 357 Other Specialty 2 15.1%
232 Liquor Control Board of
Ontario
Canada 3,569e
4,478 1,525 Other Specialty 1 4.4%
233 Norma Lebensmittelfilialbetrieb
GmbH & Co. KG
Germany 3,561e
3,561e
234 TSURUHA Holdings, Inc. Japan 3,520 3,535 93 Drug Store/Pharmacy 1 13.8%
235 RONA Inc. Canada 3,519 4,661 144 Home Improvement 1 4.5%
236 Belk, Inc. U.S. 3,513 3,513 128 Department Store 1 3.4%
237 Williams-Sonoma, Inc. U.S. 3,504 3,504 200 Other Specialty 5 -0.2%
238 Sugi Holdings Co., Ltd. Japan 3,502e
3,532 104 Drug Store/Pharmacy 1 19.7%
239 The Golub Corporation/Price
Chopper Supermarkets
U.S. 3,500e
3,500e
240 Arcs Co., Ltd. Japan 3,469 3,519 63 Supermarket 1 6.4%
241 Abercrombie & Fitch Co. U.S. 3,469 3,469 150 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 9 4.5%
242 Signet Jewelers Limited Bermuda 3,437 3,437 200 Other Specialty 3 1.7%
243 Axfood AB Sweden 3,373 4,770 120 Supermarket 1 3.8%
244 Systembolaget AB Sweden 3,357 3,357 42 Other Specialty 1 5.9%
245 Lagardère Services SA France 3,355 4,753 100 Other Specialty 30 1.3%
246 Fuji Co. Ltd. Japan 3,329 3,329 9 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore
1 -1.3%
247 Komeri Co., Ltd. Japan 3,320 3,494 67 Home Improvement 1 4.3%
248 Debenhams plc U.K. 3,319 3,319 152 Department Store 26 5.7%
249 Kintetsu Department Store
Co., Ltd.
Japan 3,292 3,428 21 Department Store 1 -1.7%
250 Izumi Co., Ltd. Japan 3,292e
Superstore
1 -0.5%
Retail
sales
rank
Country
of origin
2010
retail
sales
(US$m)
2010
group
revenue*
(US$m)
2010
group net
income*
(US$m)
format 2010
#countries
of
operation
2010
2005-2010
retail sales
CAGR**

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. 241
Advance Auto Parts, Inc. 208
Aeon Co., Ltd. 17
Agrokor d.d. 225
Albertsons, LLC 210
Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG 10
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. 43
Alliance Boots GmbH 77
Amazon.com, Inc. 28
Apple Inc./Retail (Apple Stores) 95
Arcadia Group Limited 195
Arcs Co., Ltd. 240
Army and Air Force Exchange
Service (AAFES) 113
AS Watson & Company, Ltd. 51
Associated British Foods
plc/Primark 197
AutoZone, Inc. 143
Axfood AB 243
Bailian (Brilliance) Group 66
Barnes & Noble, Inc. 135
Bass Pro Shops, Inc. 181
Bauhaus GmbH & Co. KG 171
Bed Bath and Beyond Inc. 107
Beisia Group Co., Ltd. 110
Belk, Inc. 236
Best Buy Co., Inc. 19
Bic Camera Inc. 140
Big Lots, Inc. 168
BİM Birleşik Mağazalar A.Ş. 194
BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. 87
Blokker Holding N.V. 224
Burlington Coat Factory
Investments Holdings, Inc. 221
C&A Europe 108
Canadian Tire Corporation,
Limited 118
Carrefour S.A. 2
Casey’s General Stores, Inc. 153
Casino Guichard-Perrachon S.A. 26
Celesio AG 173
Cencosud S.A. 78
Centres Distributeurs E. Leclerc 23
China Resources Enterprise,
Limited 134
Coach, Inc. 227
Compagnie Financière
Richemont SA 185
Conad Consorzio Nazionale,
Dettaglianti Soc. Coop. a.r.l. 74
Controladora Comercial
Mexicana S.A.B. de C.V. 196
Coop Group 48
Coop Italia 52
Coop Norge, the Group 186
Co-operative Group Ltd. 69
Costco Wholesale Corporation 7
CP ALL Public Company Limited 203
CVS Caremark Corp. 13
Daiei, Inc. 90
Dairy Farm International
Holdings Limited 116
Dalian Dashang Group 141
Dansk Supermarked A/S 89
DCM Japan Holdings Co., Ltd. 174
Debenhams plc 248
Defense Commissary Agency
(DeCA) 151
Deichmann SE 189
Delhaize Group SA 37
Dell Inc. 73
Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. 172
Dillard’s, Inc. 148
Dirk Rossmann GmbH 144
Dixons Retail plc (formerly DSG
International plc) 71
dm-drogerie markt GmbH + Co.
KG 136
Dollar General Corp. 68
Dollar Tree, Inc. 149
Don Quijote Co., Ltd. 150
Douglas Holding AG 190
East Japan Railway Company 188
Edeka Zentrale AG & Co. KG 16
Edion Corporation 109
El Corte Inglés, S.A. 47
El Puerto de Liverpool,
SAB de CV 212
Empire Company Limited/Sobeys 53
Esselunga S.p.A. 125
Etn. Fr. Colruyt N.V. 128
Fa. Anton Schlecker 142
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. 121
Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. 102
FDB (Coop Danmark A/S) 139
FEMSA Comercio, S.A. de C.V. 170
Foot Locker, Inc. 163
Fuji Co. Ltd. 246
GameStop Corp. 97
Gap, Inc. 62
Giant Eagle, Inc. 105
Globus Holding GmbH & Co. KG 131
Golub Corporation/Price Chopper
Supermarkets 239
Gome Home Appliance Group 75
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea
Company, Inc. 115
Groupe Adeo SA 58
Groupe Auchan SA 15
Groupe Galeries Lafayette SA 155
Groupe Vivarte 198
Grupo Comercial Chedraui,
S.A.B. de C.V. 204
Grupo Eroski 98
Grupo Pão de Açúcar 45
GS Holdings Corp./GS Retail 228
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB 57
H.E. Butt Grocery Company 50
H2O Retailing Corporation 160
Heiwado Co., Ltd. 201
Home Depot, Inc. 8
Home Retail Group plc 106
HORNBACH-Baumarkt-AG
Group 215
Hudson’s Bay Trading Company,
L.P. 130
Hy-Vee, Inc. 137
ICA AB 70
Iceland Foods Group Limited 217
IKEA Group (INGKA Holding B.V.) 30
Inditex S.A. 49
Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. 64
ITM Développement
International (Intermarché) 27
Izumi Co., Ltd. 250
Izumiya Co., Ltd. 211
J Sainsbury plc 29
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. 46
J. Front Retailing Co., Ltd. 94
Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A. 81
Jim Pattison Group 205
John Lewis Partnership plc 80
Joshin Denki Co., Ltd. 169
Jumbo Supermarkten B.V. 183
Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH 180
Katz Group Inc. 147
Kesa Electricals plc 119
Kesko Corporation 91
KF Gruppen 178
Kingfisher plc 59
Kintetsu Department Store Co.,
Ltd. 249
Kohl’s Corporation 44
Kojima Co., Ltd. 159
Komeri Co., Ltd. 247
Koninklijke Ahold N.V 25
Kroger Co. 5
K’s Holdings Corporation 103
Lagardère Services SA 245
Liberty Media Corp./QVC, Inc. 123
Life Corporation 156
Limited Brands, Inc. 96
Liquor Control Board of Ontario 232
Loblaw Companies Limited 39
Lojas Americanas S.A. 158
Lotte Shopping Co., Ltd. 79
Louis Delhaize S.A. 63
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. 20
Luxottica Group S.p.A. 176
“LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis
Vuitton” 56
Macy’s, Inc. 36
Marks & Spencer Group Plc 55
Maruetsu, Inc. 213
Marui Group Co. Ltd. 214
Massmart Holdings Limited 126
MatsumotoKiyoshi Holdings Co.,
Ltd. 177
Meijer, Inc. 54
Menard, Inc. 112
Mercadona, S.A. 42
Metro AG 4
Metro Inc. 86
Michaels Stores, Inc. 209
Migros Ticaret A.Ş. 199
Migros-Genossenschafts Bund 40
Neiman Marcus, Inc. 219
Next plc 167
Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd. 231
Nonggongshang Supermarket
Group Co. Ltd. 220
Nordstrom, Inc. 101
NorgesGruppen ASA 162
Norma Lebensmittelfilialbetrieb
GmbH & Co. KG 233
Office Depot, Inc. 111
OfficeMax Inc. 182
Open Joint Stock Company
“Magnit” 124
O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. 157
Organización Soriana, S.A.B.
de C.V. 129
Otto (GmbH & Co KG) 67
Oxylane Groupe 117
Pantry, Inc. 132
PetSmart, Inc. 152
Pick n Pay Stores Limited 133
Poslovni sistem Mercator, d.d. 223
PPR S.A. 60
Praktiker Bau- und
Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG 187
President Chain Store Corp. 175
Publix Super Markets, Inc. 35
QuikTrip Corporation 164
RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. 206
RadioShack Corporation 192
Reitan Group 99
Rewe Group 12
Rite Aid Corporation 33
RONA Inc. 235
Ross Stores, Inc. 122
Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc. 229
Ruddick Corporation/
Harris Teeter 207
S Group 85
S.A.C.I. Falabella 127
Safeway Inc. 24
Save Mart Supermarkets 166
Schwarz Unternehmens
Treuhand KG 6
Sears Holdings Corp. 22
Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. 14
Sheetz, Inc. 191
Sherwin-Williams Company 193
Shimamura Co., Ltd. 161
Shinsegae Co., Ltd. 82
Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation 93
Shoprite Holdings Ltd. 92
SHV Holdings N.V./Makro 120
Signet Jewelers Limited 242
Sonae, SGPS, SA 145
SPAR Group Limited 179
SPAR Österreichische
Warenhandels-AG 76
Staples, Inc. 61
Stater Bros. Holdings Inc. 230
Steinhoff International
Holdings Ltd. 218
Sugi Holdings Co., Ltd. 238
SUNDRUG Co., Ltd. 200
Suning Appliance Co. Ltd. 84
SuperValu Inc. 31
Systembolaget AB 244
Système U, Centrale Nationale 41
Takashimaya Company, Limited 100
Target Corp. 11
Tengelmann
Warenhandelsgesellschaft KG 88
Tesco PLC 3
TJX Companies, Inc. 38
Tokyu Corporation 146
Toys “R” Us, Inc. 65
Tractor Supply Company 226
TSURUHA Holdings, Inc. 234
UNY Co., Ltd. 72
Valor Co., Ltd. 202
Walgreen Co. 9
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 1
Wawa Inc. 184
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. 154
Wesfarmers Limited 21
Whole Foods Market, Inc. 104
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. 237
WinCo Foods LLC 165
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. 138
WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC 32
Woolworths Holdings Limited 222
Woolworths Limited 18
X5 Retail Group N.V. 83
XXXLutz Group 216
Yamada Denki Co., Ltd. 34
Yodobashi Camera Co., Ltd. 114
Top 250 global retailers 2010 alphabetical listing

Walgreen joins Top 10 leader board
The share of total Top 250 retail sales accounted for by the
Top 10 retailers slipped again in 2010 to 29.4 percent, down from
30 percent in 2009 and a high of 30.2 percent in fiscal 2008.
The Top 10’s 5 percent composite year-over-year sales growth, while
a significant improvement over 2009’s meager 0.2 percent increase,
lagged the 5.3 percent sales gain for the Top 250 as a whole.
The leader group’s top-line performance in 2010 was dragged down
by Wal-Mart’s 3.4 percent sales increase. Despite strong growth
in international sales, stagnant sales in the U.S. division, which
accounted for more than 60 percent of Wal-Mart’s total sales, led to
overall inferior growth.
All 10 companies on the leader board saw an increase in retail sales
in 2010, led by Schwarz and Costco. Tesco, Walgreens and Kroger
also outpaced the Top 250’s composite growth rate.
The makeup of the Top 10 changed slightly for the first time since
2007. Walgreens continued its steady climb up the Top 250 ranking
to become one of the world’s 10 largest retailers in 2010, displacing
Target, which fell to 11th place. A weaker euro against the U.S.
dollar had an impact on the European retailers, causing some to
drop in the dollar-denominated rankings despite solid growth.
Profitability for the world’s Top 10 retailers also underperformed
the Top 250 group as a whole. The eight Top 10 companies that
disclosed their bottom-line profits generated a composite net profit
margin of 3 percent, compared with 3.8 percent for the Top 250.
Although Top 10 sales growth and profitability lagged the larger
group, the retail leaders were more productive than the group as
a whole, as reflected by the Top 10’s superior return on assets and
asset turnover ratio.
Top 250
rank
Name of company Country of origin 2010
retail sales
(US $mil)
2010 retail
sales growth
2010
net profit
margin
2010
return on
assets
2010 asset
turnover
1 Wal-Mart U.S. 418,952 3.4% 4.0% 9.4% 2.3
2 Carrefour France 119,642 4.8% 0.6% 1.1% 1.7
3 Tesco U.K. 92,171e
6.7% 4.4% 5.7% 1.3
4 Metro Germany 88,931 2.8% 1.4% 2.7% 1.9
5 Kroger U.S. 82,189 7.1% 1.4% 4.8% 3.5
6 Schwarz Germany 79,119e
9.4% n/a n/a n/a
7 Costco U.S. 76,255 9.1% 1.7% 5.6% 3.3
8 The Home Depot U.S. 67,997 2.8% 4.9% 8.3% 1.7
9 Walgreen Co. U.S. 67,420 6.4% 3.1% 8.0% 2.6
10 Aldi Germany 67,112e
5.2% n/a n/a n/a
Top 10* $1,159,788 5.0% 3.0% 6.4% 2.1
Top 250* $3,940,747 5.3% 3.8% 5.8% 1.5
Top 10 share of total 29.4%
*Sales-weighted, currency-adjusted composite growth rate
Source: Published company data and Planet Retail
Economic concentration of top 10 retailers, 2010

Europe, U.S. shares of Top 250 fall
Composite sales growth for the European retailers outpaced the
Top 250 retailers as a whole in 2010. Nevertheless, for the second
year in a row, the number of European companies among the Top
250 declined, from 92 in 2009 to 88 in 2010. That is partly due
to the exchange rate effects of a weaker euro relative to the U.S.
dollar in 2010; it is also the result of several significant divestments
by European retailers, which resulted in fewer European companies
meeting the 2010 sales threshold for inclusion in the Top 250. Among
the “Big 3” European economies, sales growth and profitability of the
German companies lagged their counterparts in France and the U.K.
Since 2007, the Asia/Pacific region has gained as a share of the
Top 250. In 2010, as in prior years, however, the region’s statistical
gains are mostly the result of the growing strength of the Japanese
yen against the U.S. dollar, allowing more Japanese retailers to move
into the Top 250. Composite sales growth among the Japanese
companies was a sluggish 1.5 percent in 2010, far below the
region’s overall 4.7 percent growth rate and, by far, the lowest of all
regions and countries analyzed. Excluding Japan, composite sales for
the 15 other Asia/Pacific retailers grew a robust 10.3 percent, and
this group’s 4.6 percent composite net profit margin was more than
double that of the Japanese retailers.
Below-average composite retail sales growth for the North American
retailers led to a decline in the region’s share of Top 250 companies
and sales in 2010. This was especially true for U.S retailers, as
consumer pessimism returned amid continued high unemployment
and growing fears of a double-dip recession. The region’s
profitability was strong, however: With a composite net profit
margin of 4.1 percent, North American retailers outperformed the
Top 250 as a whole. Productivity, as measured by return on assets
and asset turnover, was also well above average.
Share of Top 250 sales by region/country, 2010
1.2%
8.8%
5.4%
9.5%
11.1%
1.8%
6.5%
11.6%
41.7%
2.6%
Africa/Middle East
Japan
Other Asia/Paciﬁc
France
Germany
U.K.
Other Europe
Latin America
U.S.
Canada
Global Powers of Retailing geographical analysis
For purposes of geographical analysis, companies are assigned to a region based on
their headquarters location, which may not always coincide with where they derive the
majority of their sales. Although many companies derive sales from outside their region,
100 percent of each company’s sales are accounted for within that company’s region.
Share of Top 250 retailers by region/country, 2010
3.2%
15.2%
6.0%
5.2%
7.6%
6.0%
16.4%
4.0%
4.0%
32.4%
Africa/Middle East
Japan
Other Asia/Paciﬁc
France
Germany
U.K.
Other Europe
Latin America
U.S.
Canada

2010
composite
asset
turnover
2010
composite
return on
assets
Top 250 1.5 5.8%
Africa/Middle East 1.7 6.8%
Asia/Pacific 1.2 3.7%
Japan 1.2 2.4%
Europe 1.3 5.0%
France 1.2 3.8%
Germany 2.0 2.7%
U.K. 1.5 5.4%
Latin America 1.0 4.7%
North America 1.9 7.6%
U.S. 1.9 7.7%
Asset turnover and ROA by region/country
Results reflect Top 250 companies headquartered in each region/country
Sales growth and profitability by region/country (%)
2005-2010 composite retail sales CAGR* 2010 composite retail sales growth 2010 composite net profit margin
Results reflect Top 250 retailers headquartered in each region/country
*Compound Annual Growth Rate
0
5
10
15
20
Top250
5.7
15.4
9.3
7.6
4.7
3.0 3.5
5.5 5.6
3.7 4.2
3.3
4.4 4.9
1.3
7.4
5.2
3.7
14.8
18.0
4.7 4.1
5.0 4.94.7 4.7
4.1
1.5
5.6
2.1
5.3
3.8 4.0
Africa/MiddleEast
Asia/Pacific
Japan
Europe
France
Germany
U.K.
LatinAmerica
NorthAmerica
U.S.
Strong growth and profitability continued in the Latin America and
Africa/Middle East regions. Latin American retailers, in particular,
outperformed their counterparts around the globe. Seven of the
10 Top 250 Latin American retailers posted double-digit sales increases,
resulting in a composite regional growth rate of 18 percent, and the
region’s composite net profit margin of 4.7 percent led the industry.
Top 250 retailers based in Africa and the Middle East also enjoyed
robust growth in 2010, and they generated the highest compound
annual growth rate over the 2005-2010 period of all regions.
Top 10 retailers by region
Europe’s top 10 retailers in 2010 remained the same as in 2009 except
for two changes in the order. Tesco overtook Metro to once again
secure second place in the region by virtue of consistently solid sales
growth over the past few years. Auchan and Edeka also traded places.
In North America, Walgreens, which has outperformed Target on the
top line for several consecutive years, finally moved past the discounter
into fifth place. Home Depot and Lowe’s, both of which fell in the
ranking in 2009 as home improvement sales declined in the United
States, maintained their positions in 2010 with modest sales gains.
The only change to the top 10 Asia/Pacific retailers occurred at the
bottom of the list. Double-digit growth propelled China’s Gome Home
Appliance Group to the number 10 spot, displacing Daiei, as sales
continued to decline for the struggling Japanese retailer.

In Latin America, a region represented by 10 Top 250 companies,
Brazil’s Grupo Pão de Açúcar, the largest retailer, acquired a majority
share in Casas Bahia, the number three retailer in 2009, removing the
latter from the list as a separate entity. Other changes include Chile’s
Falabella, which surpassed Mexican hypermarket chain Soriana, and
Mexico’s FEMSA Comercio, operator of the OXXO convenience store
chain, which overtook Comercial Mexicana. Falabella and FEMSA both
were propelled up the ranking by strong, double-digit growth.
The most changes in the regional rankings occurred in Africa/Middle
East. South Africa’s Pick n Pay was the only retailer in the region to
experience a sales decline in 2010, which dropped it from second
place to third. Despite strong growth, Migros fell behind another
prominent Turkish retailer, BİM, which reported even stronger growth.
SPAR moved from number five to number four on the strength of the
South African rand in addition to solid growth. Metcash, which has
been undergoing a restructuring process to refocus the company’s
core business, fell out of the Top 250 in 2010. Joining the Top
250 for the first time is another South African company, Steinhoff
International, a vertically integrated retailer of furniture and household
goods. Shoprite Holdings, Africa’s largest food retailer, remained
solidly in first place.
Top 10 retailers by region, 2010
Region
rank
Top
250
rank Company
Retail
sales
(US$ mil)
Country
of origin
Top 10 European Retailers
1 2 Carrefour $119,642 France
2 3 Tesco $92,171e
UK
3 4 Metro $88,931 Germany
4 6 Schwarz $79,119e
Germany
5 10 Aldi $67,112e
Germany
6 12 Rewe $61,134e
Germany
7 15 Auchan $55,212 France
8 16 Edeka $54,072 Germany
9 23 E. Leclerc $41,165e
France
10 25 Ahold $39,213 Netherlands
Top 10 North America Retailers
1 1 Wal-Mart $418,952 U.S.
2 5 Kroger $82,189 U.S.
3 7 Costco $76,255 U.S.
4 8 Home Depot $67,997 U.S.
5 9 Walgreen $67,420 U.S.
6 11 Target $65,786 U.S.
7 13 CVS Caremark $57,345 U.S.
8 19 Best Buy $50,272 U.S.
9 20 Lowe’s $48,815 U.S.
10 22 Sears Holdings $43,326 U.S.
Top 10 Asia/Pacific Retailers
1 14 Seven & i Holdings $57,055 Japan
2 17 Aeon $53,458 Japan
3 18 Woolworths $51,771 Australia
4 21 Wesfarmers $47,631 Australia
5 34 Yamada Denki $25,193 Japan
6 51 AS Watson $15,857 Hong Kong
SAR
7 64 Isetan Mitsukoshi
Holdings
$13,933 Japan
8 66 Bailian $13,344e
China
9 72 UNY $12,635 Japan
10 75 Gome Home Appliance $12,042e
China
Top 10 Latin America Retailers
1 45 Grupo Pão de Açúcar $18,318 Brazil
2 78 Cencosud $11,791 Chile
3 127 Falabella $7,473e
Chile
4 129 Soriana $7,425 Mexico
5 158 Lojas Americanas $5,359 Brazil
6 170 FEMSA Comercio $4,933 Mexico
7 196 Comercial Mexicana $4,348 Mexico
8 204 Comercial Chedraui $4,142 Mexico
9 212 El Puerto de Liverpool $3,845 Mexico
10 242 Signet Jewelers $3,437 Bermuda
Top Africa/Middle East Retailers
1 92 Shoprite Holdings $10,279e
S. Africa
2 126 Massmart $7,589 S. Africa
3 133 Pick n Pay $7,140e
S. Africa
4 179 SPAR $4,722 S. Africa
5 194 BİM $4,371 Turkey
6 199 Migros Ticaret $4,232 Turkey
7 218 Steinhoff $3,701 S. Africa
8 222 Woolworths Holdings $3,666 S. Africa

France, Germany most globally active; Japan least active
The level of globalization among the Global Powers of Retailing, as
measured by foreign operations as a share of total Top 250 retail
sales, rebounded to 23.4 percent in 2010 from 22.2 percent in 2009.
European retailers remain, by far, the most globally active. They have
reduced their dependence on their home markets, where sales have
stagnated in recent years, and made expansion into more attractive
foreign markets a priority growth strategy. Nearly 40 percent of
their 2010 sales were generated by operations outside their home
countries. For Top 250 retailers based in France and Germany,
foreign operations generated more than 40 percent of overall sales.
This high level of globalization accounts for the significantly larger
average size of the French and German retailers.
Among all Top 250 retailers, 40 percent were single-country
operators in 2010. By contrast, less than 20 percent of European
Top 250 retailers operated exclusively within their national borders.
All 13 French companies operated internationally, most expanding
well beyond their home country as evidenced by an average 30.3
countries with retail operations. As a group, the European retailers
averaged 14.9 countries, the most of any region. Their large and
expanding global presence is being driven, in part, by a growing
number of franchised and licensed stores being opened around the
world by top European fashion and luxury goods retailers.
With a vast domestic market to serve, North American retailers
remain the largest, with an average size in excess of $19 billion.
In 2010, more than half of the region’s Top 250 retailers continued
to operate only within their domestic borders; nine of the 10
Canadian companies did business only in Canada. Just 14.3 percent
of Top 250 North American retail sales came from foreign operations
in 2010. Still, this was an increase of 1 percentage point from the
prior year. This trend is expected to continue, especially as more
U.S. retailers move into Canada or Mexico.
# companies Average 2010 retail
sales (US$mil)
% retail sales from
foreign operations 2010
Average
# countries 2010
% single-country
operators 2010
Top 250* 250 $15,763 23.4% 8.2 40.4%
Africa/Middle East 8 $5,713 15.0% 9.8 0.0%
Asia/Pacific 53 $10,527 10.4% 3.3 58.5%
Japan 38 $9,090 6.7% 2.6 68.4%
Europe 88 $17,296 38.9% 14.9 18.2%
France 13 $28,783 44.6% 30.3 0.0%
Germany 19 $22,969 42.6% 13.6 10.5%
U.K. 15 $16,980 24.1% 16.6 20.0%
Latin America 10 $7,107 19.3% 2.1 50.0%
North America* 91 $19,165 14.3% 7.0 53.8%
U.S.* 81 $20,266 14.3% 7.6 49.4%
Region/country profiles
Results reflect Top 250 retailers headquartered in each region/country
* Average number of countries excludes Dell (U.S.), whose near-global coverage would skew the average
It should be noted that the average number of countries with
retail operations includes the location of franchised, licensed
and joint venture operations in addition to corporate-owned
channels of distribution. Where information was available,
the number of countries reflects non-store sales channels,
such as consumer-oriented e-commerce sites, catalogs and
TV shopping programs, as well as store locations. For the
Top 250 as a whole, retailers operated in an average of 8.2
countries in 2010, up from 7.7 countries in 2009. This does not
include Dell, which is truly global in scope, doing business with
consumers in 180 countries.
Within the Asia/Pacific region, Japanese retailers remained quite
insular: they did business in an average of only 2.6 countries, with
just 6.7 percent of sales coming from foreign operations. More than
two-thirds were single-country operators in 2010. Excluding Japan
from the analysis, the other Asia/Pacific retailers were much larger,
averaging $14.2 billion in 2010 retail sales, and much more likely
to operate internationally. This group operated in an average 4.9
countries and derived 16.6 percent of combined retail sales from
foreign operations. Only one-third had yet to expand beyond their
home country.
All eight of the Top 250 retailers based in Africa or the Middle East
operated outside their home country in 2010, doing business in an
average of 9.8 countries, but 85 percent of their combined sales still
came from domestic operations.
Five of the 10 Latin American companies in the Top 250 operated
only within their domestic borders in 2010. While this region had the
smallest global presence, operating in just 2.1 countries, on average,
foreign operations accounted for nearly 20 percent of total sales.
This is largely due to rapid expansion within South America by two
multi-format Chilean retailers: Cencosud and Falabella.

Top 250 new market entries by sub-region, 2010
*Includes franchised, licensed, and other partnership or distribution
arrangements
Excludes companies entering a new country through e-commerce or other
non-store methods
Source: Published company data
0 5 10 15 20
North America
Africa
Middle East
Central America
& Caribbean
Central Asia
Oceania
Southeast Asia
East Asia
Eastern Europe
Central Europe
Western Europe
8 64
1
1
1
1
3 2
3 2
3
3 2
5 9 5 1
2
1
2 1 1
10 3 1
7 2 1
3
Franchising/licensing*
Acquisition Joint venture
Organic growth
Top 250 raise exposure in foreign markets
To get a better picture of the geographic distribution and global
expansion of the Top 250, companies also were assigned to one of
12 sub-regions based on their headquarters location, and their retail
activity in each sub-region was tracked.
Following a slowdown in international expansion in 2009, the world’s
largest retailers raised their exposure in foreign markets in 2010.
Sixty percent (149) of the Top 250 retailers operated in more than
one country in fiscal 2010, and nearly 80 percent of them (118 of
149) operated in more than one sub-region.
Four methods of market entry were tracked for this analysis:
organic growth, franchising/licensing, joint ventures and acquisitions.
The predominant method employed in 2010 was franchising,
licensing or some other form of partnership, which was used for
almost half (43 of 88) of the new international market entries
recorded. About one-third of new market activity involved organic
growth (27 times). Acquisition activity heated up in 2010, with
15 of the 88 new market entries resulting from Top 250 companies
acquiring an existing retailer. Joint ventures were established as the
market entry method on only three occasions.
Retailers that entered Western European countries in 2010 did so
mostly through organic growth (nine of 20 times). In Central Europe,
the predominant market entry method was franchising/licensing
(eight of 18 times). For expansion into Middle Eastern (10 of 14)
and African (seven of 10) countries, the primary mode of market
entry also was franchising/licensing.
These data indicate that in smaller or culturally different markets,
retailers are more likely to enter with a partner – at least initially.
In some countries, retail businesses cannot be foreign-owned.
Compared with a wholly owned venture, combining capabilities
and resources with a local franchise or joint venture partner can
substantially reduce risk and time to market given the cultural,
political, economic, legal, regulatory and labor considerations of
doing business in a foreign market.
As a result, owned expansion is sometimes used as the second
phase of a company’s market entry strategy. Once a retailer has
had time to prove the concept in the new market and gain market
knowledge, it may prefer to consolidate its interests and operate the
business independently. This provides more control, greater flexibility
and the ability to ensure a global image in the eyes of its customers
around the world.
Forty retailers began operations in a new country in 2010, with
a combined total of 88 new market entries involving 57 countries
located in 11 of the 12 sub-regions. It should be noted that these
numbers reflect new “bricks-and-mortar” retail activity only.
Nearly half the time, in 43 of the 88 international market entries
recorded, the new country was located in Europe, primarily in
Western Europe (20 times – particularly in southern Europe and
Scandinavia) and in Central Europe (18 times – mostly countries on
the Balkan Peninsula or in the Baltic region). A disproportionate share
of new market activity also took place in the Middle East
(14 times – primarily Turkey, the UAE and Syria) and in Africa
(10 times – especially Egypt and other countries in northern Africa).

Global Powers of Retailing product sector analysis
The Global Powers of Retailing analyzes retail performance by primary retail product
sector as well as by geography. Four sectors are used for analysis: Fast-Moving Consumer
Goods, Fashion Goods, Hardlines & Leisure Goods and Diversified. A company is
assigned to one of three specific product sectors if at least half of its sales are derived
from that broadly defined product category. If none of the three specific product sectors
account for at least 50 percent of a company’s sales, it is considered to be diversified.
Specialty retailers advance as global economy emerges
from recession
Retailers of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) represent the
largest product sector, accounting for more than half of all Top
250 retailers and two-thirds of Top 250 sales in 2010. This sector
continued to gain ground among the Top 250 in 2008 and 2009,
during the height of the global recession. In 2010, however, as
the global economy emerged from recession and began to stage a
sporadic recovery, specialty retailers – both Fashion Goods retailers
and Hardlines & Leisure Goods retailers – outperformed the food,
drug and mass merchandise sector.
Nevertheless, both sales and profits were up for FMCG retailers
compared with 2009, even as the number of companies
representing the sector fell to 133 in 2010 from 139 the year
before. In addition to fallout from slower sales relative to the
specialty retailers, four former FMCG retailers were reassigned to the
Diversified group, as none of the other three primary product sectors
accounted for at least 50 percent of total company sales in 2010.
As a result of both of these factors, the sector’s share of the
Top 250 eroded.
Fashion Goods retailers saw sales rebound from a dismal 2009 to
lead the Top 250 in 2010 with composite retail sales growth of
7.4 percent. Healthy sales also boosted the ranks of Top 250 fashion
retailers to 38 companies from 35 in 2009, which allowed the sector
to increase its share of both Top 250 companies and Top 250 sales.
Profitability remained strong, and the fashion sector enjoyed an
industry-leading 7.7 percent net profit margin. This contributed to
the highest return on assets among the four product groups.
The Hardlines & Leisure Goods sector also staged a comeback in
2010 following two years of depressed sales. Composite sales
growth of 6 percent was almost a return to 2007 pre-recession
levels, when sales increased 6.7 percent. The sector’s net profit
margin rose more than two percentage points to 5.9 percent from
3.8 percent in 2009. The group’s share of Top 250 companies and
sales were both up slightly from 2009.
Share of Top 250 retailers by product sector, 2010
15.2%
10.0%
53.2%
21.6%
Fashion
FMCG
Hardlines & leisure
Diversiﬁed
Share of Top 250 sales by product sector, 2010
8.0%9.8%
66.6%
15.6%
Fashion
FMCG
Hardlines & leisure
Diversiﬁed

In 2010, a rising tide lifted all boats. The Diversified group, the
only sector to experience declining sales in 2009, posted a sales
gain of 3.5 percent as well as improved profitability. Nevertheless,
it remained as the poorest performing of the four product sectors.
Although diversification can be key to spreading risk and helping
to maintain an aggressive growth trajectory, there are dangers
associated with excessive diversification. Retailers operating too
many concepts or formats can experience diseconomies of scale
resulting from increased marketing and operational complexity.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
DiversifiedHardlines
& Leisure
Goods
Fast-moving
Consumer
Goods
Fashion
Goods
Top 250
Sales growth and profitability by product sector (%)
2005-2010 composite retail
sales CAGR*
5.7
5.3
3.8
4.2
7.7
6.4
5.2
4.7
3.9
3.5
2.8
6.0 5.9
2.8
7.4
2010 composite retail
sales growth
2010 composite net profit margin
*Compound annual growth rate
2010 composite
asset turnover
2010 composite
return on assets
Top 250 1.5% 5.8%
Fashion Goods 1.1% 8.4%
Fast-Moving Consumer Goods 1.8% 4.8%
Hardlines & Leisure Goods 1.4% 8.0%
Diversified 1.2% 3.6%
Asset turnover and ROA by product sector
Number of
companies
Average
2010
retail sales
(US $mil)
% retail
sales from
foreign
operations
2010
Average
number of
countries
2010
% single-
country
operators
2010
Top 250* 250 $15,763 23.4% 8.2 40.4%
Fashion Goods 38 $8,253 27.7% 19.3 23.7%
Fast-Moving
Consumer
Goods
133 $19,737 22.7% 4.7 51.1%
Hardlines &
Leisure Goods*
54 $11,382 25.1% 9.0 29.6%
Diversified 25 $15,499 21.9% 8.1 32.0%
Product sector profiles
* Average number of countries excludes Dell (Hardlines), whose near-global
coverage would skew the average
Fashion retailers bank on global consumer
Fashion Goods retailers are the most global of the product groups
analyzed. In 2010, more than three-quarters operated outside their
home country, engaging consumers in an average of 19.3 countries.
Not surprisingly, they derived a larger share of sales from foreign
operations (27.7 percent) than the other product sectors. Yet, it
might be expected that foreign operations would account for an
even larger share of the sector’s combined sales given this group’s
wide geographic reach. Although retailers of fashion goods see
the opportunity, they are being very deliberate in their approach to
foreign markets, testing the water with a small number of stores or
a single flagship location.
On average, retailers of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods remain the
least global, operating in the fewest countries (4.7). More than half
were single-country operators. In particular, FMCG retailers based
in North America have not ventured outside their home country.
For many retailers that have ventured globally, however – especially
the Western European hypermarket, supermarket and discount store
retailers – sales from foreign operations have become the lifeblood
of their business, accounting for 50 percent or more of total
company sales.
More retailers in the Hardlines Leisure Goods sector expanded
beyond their domestic borders in 2010. Among the 54 companies in
this product sector, only 30 percent did not operate internationally.
Bucking this trend were the 11 Japanese retailers in this group; only
two had retail operations outside Japan.
Diversified retailers were among the least geographically diverse,
perhaps because their multiple formats allow them to continue to
find growth at home.

Top 10 retailers by product sector, 2010
Sector
rank
Top
250
rank Company
Retail
sales
(US$ mil)
Country of
origin
Top 10 fast-moving consumer goods retailers
1 1 Wal-Mart $418,952 U.S.
2 2 Carrefour $119,642 France
3 3 Tesco $92,171e
UK
4 5 Kroger $82,189 U.S.
5 6 Schwarz $79,119e
Germany
6 7 Costco $76,255 U.S.
7 9 Walgreens $67,420 U.S.
8 10 Aldi $67,112e
Germany
9 12 Rewe $61,134e
Germany
10 13 CVS Caremark $57,345 U.S.
Top 10 fashion goods retailers
1 36 Macy’s $25,003 U.S.
2 38 TJX $21,942 U.S.
3 44 Kohl’s $18,391 U.S.
4 46 J. C. Penney $17,759 U.S.
5 49 Inditex $16,343 Spain
6 56 LVMH $15,085e
France
7 57 HM $15,051 Sweden
8 62 Gap $14,664 U.S.
9 64 Isetan Mitsukoshi
Holdings
$13,933 Japan
10 96 Limited Brands $9,613 U.S.
Top 10 hardlines and leisure goods retailers
1 8 Home Depot $67,997 U.S.
2 19 Best Buy $50,272 U.S.
3 20 Lowe’s $48,815 U.S.
4 28 Amazon.com $33,251 U.S.
5 30 IKEA $31,642 Sweden
6 34 Yamada Denki $25,193 Japan
7 58 Groupe Adeo $15,005e
France
8 59 Kingfisher $14,846 UK
9 60 PPR $14,803 France
10 61 Staples $14,696e
U.S.
Top 10 diversified retailers
1 4 Metro $88,931 Germany
2 11 Target $65,786 U.S.
3 22 Sears Holdings $43,326 U.S.
4 40 Migros $20,937e
Switzerland
5 47 El Corte Inglés $17,336 Spain
6 55 Marks Spencer $15,157 UK
7 67 Otto Group $13,203 Germany
8 79 Lotte Shopping $11,487e
S. Korea
9 85 S Group $11,007 Finland
10 91 Kesko $10,356 Finland
The top 10 Fast-Moving Consumer Goods retailers remained the
same in 2010 as the year before but with a slight change in the
order. Kroger pulled ahead of Schwarz strictly on the basis of a
weaker euro against the dollar. Better sales performance in addition
to a stronger dollar helped Walgreens surpass Aldi.
In the Fashion Goods sector, U.S. mid-market department store
retailers Kohl’s and J.C. Penney traded places as Kohl’s continued
to move up the overall Top 250 ranking while Penney continued
to drop. The Gap and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings both lost ground
in 2010, outperformed by LVMH and HM. Double-digit sales
growth put Limited Brands in the sector’s top 10 for the first time,
displacing CA Europe.
Home Depot, Best Buy, and Lowe’s remained secure in the top
three spots in the Hardlines Leisure Goods sector due to their
sheer size, although 2010 sales growth for all three companies was
in the low single digits. Amazon.com jumped seven places to 28th
overall in the Top 250 ranking, taking the number four spot among
the sector’s top 10. France’s Groupe Adeo, another up-and-coming
retailer, continued to expand its presence around the globe as
a major player in the DIY market, boosting the retailer into 7th
position from 10th in 2009. PPR sold a controlling stake in furniture
chain Conforama to South Africa’s Steinhoff International, dropping
the French retailer to 9th position.
Changes among the top 10 Diversified retailers primarily have to do
with two retailers – Migros of Switzerland and Finland’s S Group
– that were reclassified from the FMCG sector to the Diversified
sector in 2010. The addition of these companies knocked J. Front
Retailing of Japan and Hudson’s Bay Trading Company, based in the
United States, off the top 10 Diversified retailer list. Sales soared
18 percent for South Korea’s Lotte Shopping Company in 2010,
moving it ahead of Finland’s Kesko.

Top 250 newcomers
Fourteen retailers joined the ranks of the Top 250 in 2010, nine for
the first time. Most debuted near the bottom of the list, but there
were three notable exceptions. Karstadt Warenhaus (180), the
German department store retailer, was sold by insolvent Arcandor
to private investor Nicolas Berggruen in April 2010. Ranking 183rd,
Netherlands-based Jumbo Supermarkten launched itself into the Top
250 with the December 2009 acquisition of rival Dutch chain Super
de Boer. British apparel retailer Arcadia Group (195) returned to the
Top 250 following a big jump in fiscal 2010 sales as a result of the
integration of Bhs (British Home Stores) in July 2009.
Perhaps the most striking feature of the 2010 “newcomers” list is
that six of the retailers are Japanese. Strong sales lifted most of these
companies, assisted by a favorable exchange rate.
Composite sales for the newcomers grew more than three times
as fast (16.6 percent) as the Top 250 overall in 2010, which
allowed them to displace slower-growing companies that were
near the bottom of last year’s list. Nevertheless, only five of the
newcomers were also among the 50 fastest-growing retailers on
the Top 250 list, which is ranked on the basis of sustained growth
over a five-year period.
Top
250
rank
Name of company Country of
origin
Dominant format
180 Karstadt Warenhaus
GmbH
Germany Department Store
183 Jumbo Supermarkten
B.V.
Netherlands Supermarket
195 Arcadia Group Limited U.K. Apparel/Footwear
Specialty
200 SUNDRUG Co., Ltd. Japan Drug Store/Pharmacy
218 Steinhoff International
Holdings Ltd.
South Africa Other Specialty
225 Agrokor d.d. Croatia Supermarket
228 GS Holdings Corp./GS
Retail
South Korea Convenience/
Forecourt Store
231 Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd. Japan Other Specialty
234 TSURUHA Holdings, Inc. Japan Drug Store/Pharmacy
240 Arcs Co., Ltd. Japan Supermarket
241 Abercrombie Fitch Co. U.S. Apparel/Footwear
Specialty
247 Komeri Co., Ltd. Japan Home Improvement
248 Debenhams plc U.K. Department Store
250 Izumi Co., Ltd. Japan Hypermarket/
Supercenter/
Superstore
Top 250 newcomers, 2010

Accelerated organic growth, acquisitions fuel
Fastest 50
Retailers made the most of a fragile and uneven economic recovery
in 2010. Despite the uncertainty, expansion plans accelerated and
acquisitions heated up. Both growth strategies yielded results,
particularly for the 50 fastest-growing retailers. In 2010, composite
retail sales for the group rose 14.6 percent, more than double the
growth rate for the Fastest 50 in 2009. From 2005 through 2010,
sales increased at a compound annual rate of 20.6 percent.
These retailers also stand out for their bottom-line performance:
the composite net profit margin of 6.7 percent beat the Top 250 by
nearly three percentage points.
Of the seven retailers that joined the ranks of the Fastest 50 in 2010,
five were also new to the Top 250: Jumbo Supermarkten (primarily
on the basis of an acquisition); Agrokor, Croatia’s leading retailer
(acquisition); SUNDRUG (acquisition) and TSURUHA (acquisition),
both Japanese drug store retailers; and Nitori Holdings, a Japanese
home furnishings retailer (organic growth). The other two are Swiss
luxury goods company Richemont (organic growth and acquisition),
and RaceTrac Petroleum, a U.S. operator of convenience stores
(organic growth).
Not surprisingly, retailers from fast-growing emerging markets are
well represented, accounting for 19 of the Fastest 50. Included are
five Chinese companies, four from South America, three each from
South Africa and Mexico, two from Turkey and one each from Russia
and Croatia.
1 21 Wesfarmers Limited Australia 47,631 Convenience/Forecourt
Store, Discount Department
Store, Home Improvement,
Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore, Other Specialty,
Supermarket
62.3% 5.4% 3.6%
2 124 Open Joint Stock Company
“Magnit”
Russia 7,776 Convenience/Forecourt
Store, Drug Store/Pharmacy,
Superstore
38.0% 45.4% 4.3%
3 84 Suning Appliance Co. Ltd. China 11,170 Electronics Specialty, Other
Specialty
36.5% 29.5% 5.4%
4 183 Jumbo Supermarkten B.V. Nether-
lands
4,665 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
Superstore, Supermarket
34.1% 123.8% n/a
5 95 Apple Inc./Retail (Apple
Stores)
U.S. 9,798 Electronics Specialty 33.0% 47.2% 21.5%
6 28 Amazon.com, Inc. U.S. 33,251 Non-Store 32.1% 39.4% 3.4%
7 194 BİM Birleşik Mağazalar A.Ş. Turkey 4,371 Discount Store 31.2% 23.5% 3.7%
8 134 China Resources Enterprise,
Limited
Hong
Kong
SAR
7,089 Convenience/Forecourt Store,
Department Store, Drug Store/
Pharmacy, Hypermarket/
Supercenter/Superstore, Other
Specialty, Supermarket
27.9% 51.4% 7.7%
9 158 Lojas Americanas S.A. Brazil 5,359 Discount Department Store,
Non-Store
27.7% 12.6% 3.6%
10 97 GameStop Corp. U.S. 9,474 Other Specialty 25.1% 4.4% 4.3%
11 31 SuperValu Inc. U.S. 28,911 Discount Store, Supermarket 22.1% -8.6% -4.0%
12 197 Associated British Foods plc/
Primark
U.K. 4,257 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 22.1% 18.0% 5.6%
13 75 Gome Home Appliance
Group
China 12,042e
Electronics Specialty, Other
Specialty
21.8% 21.5% n/a
14 157 O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. U.S. 5,398 Other Specialty 21.4% 11.4% 7.8%
Growth
rank
Top 250
rank
Name of company Country
of origin
2010
retail sales
(US $m)
Operational formats 2005–2010
retail sales
CAGR*
2010
retail sales
growth
2010
net profit
margin
50 fastest-growing retailers 2005-2010

15 179 The SPAR Group Limited S. Africa 4,722 Convenience/Forecourt Store,
Drug Store/Pharmacy, Home
Improvement, Other Specialty,
Supermarket
20.7% 9.0% 2.6%
16 78 Cencosud S.A. Chile 11,791 Cash Carry/Warehouse
Club, Department Store, Drug
Store/Pharmacy, Electronics
Specialty, Home Improvement,
20.2% 18.0% 4.9%
17 199 Migros Ticaret A.Ş. Turkey 4,232 Discount Store, Hypermarket/
Supercenter/Superstore,
Supermarket
20.1% 11.4% 0.7%
18 69 Co-operative Group Ltd. U.K. 12,957 Convenience/Forecourt
Store, Drug Store/Pharmacy,
Supermarket
20.1% 0.4% 1.7%
19 238 Sugi Holdings Co., Ltd. Japan 3,502e
Discount Store, Drug Store/
Pharmacy
19.7% 3.7% 3.0%
20 45 Grupo Pão de Açúcar Brazil 18,318 Cash Carry/Warehouse Club,
Convenience/Forecourt Store,
Electronics Specialty, Non-Store,
19.1% 38.0% 2.3%
21 81 Jerónimo Martins, SGPS,
S.A.
Portugal 11,317 Cash Carry/Warehouse Club,
Discount Store, Drug Store/
Pharmacy, Hypermarket/
19.0% 19.7% 3.4%
22 227 Coach, Inc. U.S. 3,622 Other Specialty 17.6% 14.8% 21.2%
23 225 Agrokor d.d. Croatia 3,654 Cash Carry/Warehouse Club,
Superstore, Other Specialty,
Supermarket
17.3% 2.2% 0.6%
24 170 FEMSA Comercio, S.A. de
C.V.
Mexico 4,933 Convenience/Forecourt Store,
Discount Store
16.7% 16.3% n/a
25 92 Shoprite Holdings Ltd. S. Africa 10,279e
Cash Carry/Warehouse Club,
Discount Store, Electronics
Specialty, Hypermarket/
16.7% 7.3% 3.5%
26 102 Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Japan 9,027 Apparel/Footwear Specialty 16.2% 18.7% 7.7%
27 99 Reitan Group Norway 9,420e
Discount Store, Electronics
Specialty
16.2% 2.5% n/a
28 200 SUNDRUG Co., Ltd. Japan 4,220 Drug Store/Pharmacy, Discount
Department Store
15.5% 27.9% 3.0%
29 166 Save Mart Supermarkets U.S. 4,985e
Supermarket 15.5% 1.7% n/a
30 231 Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd. Japan 3,602 Other Specialty 15.1% 9.3% 9.8%
31 165 WinCo Foods LLC U.S. 5,000e
Supermarket 14.9% 16.3% n/a
32 127 S.A.C.I. Falabella Chile 7,473e
Department Store, Home
Improvement, Hypermarket/
Supermarket
14.8% 21.2% 10.8%
33 185 Compagnie Financière
Richemont SA
Switzer-
land
4,591 Apparel/Footwear Specialty,
Non-Store, Other Specialty
14.5% 45.5% 15.7%
34 206 RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. U.S. 4,100e
Convenience/Forecourt Store 14.3% 13.9% n/a
Growth
rank
Top 250
rank
of origin
2010
retail sales
(US $m)
retail sales
CAGR*
2010
retail sales
growth
2010
net profit
margin

35 129 Organización Soriana, S.A.B.
de C.V.
Mexico 7,425 Cash Carry/Warehouse Club,
14.1% 5.7% 3.5%
36 103 K’s Holdings Corporation Japan 9,020 Electronics Specialty, Other
Specialty
14.0% 18.9% 3.0%
37 144 Dirk Rossmann GmbH Germany 6,148 Drug Store/Pharmacy 14.0% 12.5% n/a
38 204 Grupo Comercial Chedraui,
S.A.B. de C.V.
Mexico 4,142 Hypermarket/Supercenter/
14.0% 10.3% 2.7%
39 104 Whole Foods Market, Inc. U.S. 9,006 Supermarket 13.9% 12.1% 2.7%
40 150 Don Quijote Co., Ltd. Japan 5,879 Discount Department Store,
Discount Store, Home
Improvement, Hypermarket/
Supermarket
13.8% 3.8% 2.6%
41 234 TSURUHA Holdings, Inc. Japan 3,520 Drug Store/Pharmacy 13.8% 7.2% 2.6%
42 162 NorgesGruppen ASA Norway 5,062 Convenience/Forecourt Store,
Discount Store, Other Specialty,
Supermarket
13.6% 6.4% 2.5%
43 43 Alimentation Couche-Tard
Inc.
Canada 18,966 Convenience/Forecourt Store 13.3% 15.4% 2.0%
44 172 Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. U.S. 4,871 Other Specialty 13.2% 10.4% 3.7%
45 49 Inditex S.A. Spain 16,343 Apparel/Footwear Specialty,
Other Specialty
13.2% 12.6% 13.9%
46 141 Dalian Dashang Group China 6,613e
Department Store, Electronics
Specialty, Other Specialty,
Supermarket
13.2% 11.8% n/a
47 220 Nonggongshang
Supermarket Group Co. Ltd.
China 3,684e
Discount Store, Hypermarket/
Supermarket
12.5% 6.2% n/a
48 222 Woolworths Holdings
Limited
S. Africa 3,666 Apparel/Footwear Specialty,
Department Store
12.4% 9.4% 6.4%
49 181 Bass Pro Shops, Inc. U.S. 4,700e
Non-Store, Other Specialty 12.2% 5.9% n/a
50 57 H M Hennes Mauritz AB Sweden 15,051 Apparel/Footwear Specialty,
Other Specialty
12.1% 7.0% 17.2%
Fastest 50 sales-weighted, currency-adjusted composite 20.6% 14.6% 6.7%
Top 250 sales-weighted, currency-adjusted composite 5.7% 5.3% 3.8%
* Compound annual growth rate
Growth
rank
Top 250
rank
of origin
2010
retail sales
(US $m)
retail sales
CAGR*
2010
retail sales
growth
2010
net profit
margin

Q ratio analysis of the Top 250
For the last seven years, this report has offered an analysis of the Q
ratios of publicly traded retailers from the Top 250 list. The Q ratios
for this year are a bit lower than last year owing to the weakness in
the global economy in 2011 and the consequent impact on equity
prices. Once again, the star performers were some of the major
emerging markets where Q ratios tended to be better than those in
more affluent markets.
Before examining the results of our analysis, it is worth taking a
moment to understand what the Q ratio is intended to measure.
In the current and anticipated business environment, the world’s
leading retailers will face intense competition, slow growth in major
developed markets, rising input prices yet consumer resistance to
higher retail prices, and excess retail capacity in many developed
markets. All of this implies that, in order for retailers to succeed, they
will have to find ways to distinguish themselves from competitors.
That means having strong brand identity, offering consumers a
superior shopping experience, and being clearly differentiated from
competitors. The latter can entail unique merchandise offerings
including private brands, unique store formats and designs, and
unusual customer experiences. The goal is to have a sufficiently
unique position in the market to generate pricing power and,
consequently, strong profitability. If a publicly traded retailer has
these characteristics, the financial markets are likely to reward such a
retailer. That is where the Q ratio comes in.
The Q ratio is the ratio of a publicly traded company’s market
capitalization to the value of its tangible assets. If this ratio is greater
than one, it means that financial market participants believe that
part of a company’s value comes from its non-tangible assets.
These can include such things as brand equity, differentiation,
innovation, customer experience, market dominance, customer
loyalty, and skillful execution. The higher the Q ratio, the greater
share of a company’s value that stems from such non-tangibles.
A Q ratio of less than one, on the other hand, indicates failure to
generate value on the basis of non-tangible assets. It indicates
that the financial markets view a retailer’s strategy as unable to
generate a sufficient return on physical assets. Indeed it suggests an
arbitrage opportunity. That is, if a company’s Q ratio is less than one,
theoretically a company could be purchased through equity markets
and the tangible assets could then be sold at a profit.
Which companies have high Qs?
This year we analyzed the financial results of 157 publicly traded
companies on the Top 250 list of retailers. This is up from the 144
analyzed last year. The composite Q ratio for all companies was 1.06.
This was slightly off from 2011 when the composite Q was 1.144
yet far better than the very low 0.75 recorded in 2009, a tough year
for the global economy and for retailers. Yet this year’s composite Q
remains far below the 1.57 recorded in 2008 just before the start of
the global economic crisis.
The company with the highest Q ratio was Coach, the U.S.– based
luxury fashion retailer. For the second year in a row the second company
on the list was BIM, the Turkish hard discount retailer. Number three on
the list was Hennes Mauritz, which has been either first or second
on the list in all previous years that this analysis was conducted.
Name of Company Country Q ratio
Coach, Inc. U.S. 7.15
BİM Birleşik Mağazalar A.Ş. Turkey 5.81
H M Hennes Mauritz AB Sweden 5.67
Amazon.com, Inc. U.S. 5.30
Apple Inc. / Retail (Apple Stores) U.S. 4.69
CP ALL Public Company Limited Thailand 4.50
Inditex S.A. Spain 4.15
Dollar Tree, Inc. U.S. 4.05
Woolworths Holdings Limited South Africa 3.69
Tractor Supply Company U.S. 3.61
Dairy Farm International Holdings Limited Hong Kong AR 3.35
Ross Stores, Inc. U.S. 3.30
Shoprite Holdings Ltd. South Africa 3.22
Whole Foods Market, Inc. U.S. 3.00
The TJX Companies, Inc. U.S. 2.89
Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Japan 2.85
Next plc U.K. 2.69
Bed Bath and Beyond Inc. U.S. 2.65
President Chain Store Corp. Taiwan 2.53
Open Joint Stock Company Magnit Russia 2.42
AutoZone, Inc. U.S. 2.41
Compagnie Financière Richemont SA Switzerland 2.39
The SPAR Group Limited South Africa 2.36
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. U.S. 2.29
PetSmart, Inc. U.S. 2.18
Limited Brands, Inc. U.S. 2.02
O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. U.S. 1.98
Massmart Holdings Limited South Africa 1.93
Jerónimo Martins, SGPS, S.A. Portugal 1.91
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. U.S. 1.86
Top 30 retailers by Q ratio

Highlights
As mentioned, emerging market retailers did particularly well for
the year covered in this report. The composite Q ratio for emerging
retailers was 1.22, far lower than last year’s 1.932. The emerging
retailers compared quite favorably to Western European retailers
(0.85), but fared poorly in comparison to U.S.-based retailers (1.47).
Among countries with two or more retailers on the list, Sweden
performed best - its two retailers had a composite Q ratio of 5.21.
The countries with the lowest composite Q ratios were Japan and
Germany.
When measured according to dominant format, the retailers with
the highest composite Q ratio were electronics stores and apparel
specialty stores, while the lowest were convenience and department
stores. When measured according to dominant merchandise
category, the top retailers were those selling hardline and leisure
goods, while the lowest were those for which there was no
dominant category, diversified retailers.
By Format
Electronics 2.86
Apparel 2.66
Discount 1.59
Other specialty 1.45
Home Improvement 1.05
Supermarket 0.84
Drug 0.80
Hyperstore 0.77
Department 0.60
Diversified 0.53
C-store 0.47
By Product
Hardlines 1.74
Fashion 1.62
FMCG 0.76
Diversified 0.57
By Country
Sweden 5.21
Turkey 1.54
U.S. 1.47
Chile 1.42
South Africa 1.26
Russia 1.26
Australia 1.11
Mexico 1.04
Canada 0.82
Portugal 0.76
Brazil 0.73
U.K. 0.68
France 0.67
Japan 0.38
Germany 0.32
By Region
Western Europe 0.85
Latin America 1.10
Emerging 1.22
Composite Q ratios

Study methodology and data sources
Companies are included in the Top 250 Global Powers of Retailing
list based on their non-auto retail sales for fiscal year 2010
(encompasses fiscal years ended through June 2011).
A number of sources were consulted to develop the Top 250
list. The principal data sources for financial and other company
information were annual reports, SEC filings and information found
in companies’ press releases and fact sheets or on their websites.
If company-issued information was not available, other public-
domain sources were used, including trade journal estimates,
industry analyst reports and various business information databases.
Much of the data for non-U.S. food retailers came from Planet
Retail, a leading provider of global intelligence, analysis, news
and data covering more than 9,000 retail operations across 211
markets. Planet Retail has offices in London, Frankfurt, Chicago,
Shizuoka, Japan and Qingdao, China. For more information please
visit www.planetretail.net.
Group Revenue reflects the consolidated net revenues of a retailer’s
parent company, whether or not that company itself is primarily a
retailer. Similarly, the income/loss figure also reflects the results of
the parent organization.
The Retail Sales figures in this report reflect only the retail portion
of the company’s consolidated net sales. As a result, they may
reflect adjustments to reported sales figures to exclude non-retail
operations. Retail Sales exclude separate food service/restaurant
operations and wholesale or other business-to-business revenue
(except where such sales are made from retail stores) where it was
possible to break them out.
Sales figures do not include the retail banner sales of franchised,
licensed, or independent cooperative member stores; they do include
royalties and franchising or licensing fees. Group Revenue includes
wholesale sales to such networked operations – both member stores
and other supplied stores. Sales figures do not include operations in
which the company has only a minority interest.
In order to provide a common base from which to rank companies
by their Retail Sales results, fiscal year 2010 sales (and profits) for
non-U.S. companies were converted to U.S. dollars. Exchange
rates, therefore, have an impact on the results. OANDA.com is
the source for the exchange rates. The average daily exchange
rate corresponding to each company’s fiscal year was used to
convert that company’s results to U.S. dollars. The 2010 year-over-
year growth rate and the 2005-2010 compound annual growth
rate (CAGR) for Retail Sales, however, were calculated in each
company’s local currency.
Group financial results
This report uses sales-weighted composites rather than simple
arithmetic averages as the primary measure for understanding group
financial results. Therefore, results of larger companies contribute
more to the composite than do results of smaller companies.
Because the data has been converted to U.S. dollars for ranking
purposes and to facilitate comparison among groups, composite
growth rates also have been adjusted to correct for currency
movement. While these composite results generally
behave in a similar fashion to arithmetic averages, they provide
better representative values for benchmarking purposes.
Group financial results are based only on companies with data.
Not all data elements were available for all companies.
It should also be noted that the financial information used for each
company in a given year is accurate as of the date the financial
report was originally issued. Although a company may have
restated prior-year results to reflect a change in its operations or
as a result of an accounting change, such restatements are not
reflected in this data.
This study is not an accounting report. It is intended to provide an
accurate reflection of market dynamics and their impact on the
structure of the retailing industry over a period of time. As a result
of these factors, growth rates for individual companies may not
correspond to other published results.

Consumer Business contacts
For Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) and its member firms
Global Industry Leader
Consumer Business
Lawrence Hutter
Deloitte U.K.
lhutter@deloitte.co.uk
Marketing
Karthryn Cordes
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Limited
kcordes@deloitte.com
Deloitte Research
Ira Kalish
Deloitte Services LP
ikalish@deloitte.com
Retail Leaders
Europe, Middle East
and Africa
Pieter Peerlings
ppeerlings@deloitte.nl
Americas
Vicky Eng
Deloitte Consulting LLP
veng@deloitte.com
North America
Canada
Peter Barr
pbarr@deloitte.ca
United States
Alison Paul
Deloitte Consulting LLP
alpaul@deloitte.com
Europe, Middle East and
Africa (EMEA)
Belgium
Koen De Staercke
kdestaercke@deloitte.com
Czech Republic/Eastern
Europe
Aaron Martin
aamartin@deloittece.com
Denmark
Mie Vibeke Stryg-Madsen
stryg-madsen@deloitte.dk
East Africa
John Kiarie
jkiarie@deloitte.co.ke
Finland
Kari Ekholm
kari.ekholm@deloitte.fi
France
Antoine De Riedmatten
aderiedmatten@deloitte.fr
Germany
Peter Thormann
pthormann@deloitte.de
Greece
Dimitris Koutsopoulos
dkoutsopoulos@deloitte.gr
Ireland
Kevin Sheehan
kesheehan@deloitte.ie
Israel
Israel Nakel
inakel@deloitte.co.il
Italy
Dario Righetti
drighetti@deloitte.it
Netherlands
Erik Nanninga
enanninga@deloitte.nl
Nigeria
John Robinson
jerobinson@deloitte.com
Poland
Dariusz Kraszewski
dkraszewski@deloittece.com
Portugal
Luís Belo
lbelo@deloitte.pt
Russia/CIS
Alexander Dorofeyev
adorofeyev@deloitte.ru
South Africa
Rodger George
rogeorge@deloitte.co.za
Spain
Juan Jose Roque
jroque@deloitte.es

Sweden
Lars Egenaes
legenaes@deloitte.se

Switzerland
Howard da Silva
hdasilva@deloitte.ch
Turkey
Cem Sezgin
csezgin@deloitte.com

Ukraine
Andriy Bulakh
abulakh@deloitte.ua

United Kingdom
Nigel Wixcey
nigelwixcey@deloitte.co.uk
West Africa
Alain Penanguer
apenanguer@deloitte.fr
Latin America
Latin America Consumer
Business Leader
Omar Camacho
Deloitte Mexico
ocamacho@deloittemx.com
Argentina/LATCO
Daniel Varde
dvarde@deloitte.com
Brazil
Reynaldo Saad
rsaad@deloitte.com
Chile
Cristian Alvarez
cralvarez@deloitte.com
Mexico
Omar Camacho
ocamacho@deloittemx.com
Asia Pacific
Asia Pacific Consumer
Business Leader
Yoshio Matsushita
Deloitte Japan
yomatsushita@tohmatsu.co.jp
Australia
Andrew Griffiths
andgriffiths@deloitte.com.au
China
Eric Tang
eritang@deloitte.com.cn
India
Shyamak Tata
shyamaktata@deloitte.com
Japan
Yoshio Matsushita
yomatsushita@deloitte.com
Korea
Jae Il Lee
jaeillee@deloitte.com

Malaysia
Yoon Chong Yee
ycyee@deloitte.com
New Zealand
Lisa Cruickshank
lcruickshank@deloitte.co.nz
Singapore
Eugene Ho
eugeneho@deloitte.com
Taiwan
Benjamin Shih
benjaminshih@deloitte.com.tw
Thailand
Montree Panichakul
mpanichakul@deloitte.com

G36 January 2012 www.deloitte.com/consumerbusiness

Ten retail markets
poised for growth.
© 2012 Deloitte LLP. All rights reserved.
Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
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Designed and produced by The Creative Studio at Deloitte, London. 16230A
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Global Powers of Retailing 2012

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