About the Book
No other guide covers the complete retail picture like this exciting new volume. America's retail industry is in the midst of vast changes - superstores and giant discounters are popping up on major corners. Malls are lagging while 'power centers' are surging ahead. Savvy firms are combining bricks, clicks and catalogs into multi-channel retail powerhouses. Which are the hottest retailers? What lies ahead? Our market research section shows you the trends and a thorough analysis of retail technologies, chain stores, shopping centers, mergers, finances and future growth within the industry. Included are major statistical tables showing everything from monthly U.S. retail sales, by sector, to mall sales per square foot, to the 10 largest malls in the US. Meanwhile, the corporate profiles section covering nearly 500 firms gives you complete profiles of the leading, fastest growing retail chains across the nation.From Wal-Mart and Costco to Barnes & Noble and Amazon, we profile the major companies that marketing executives, investors and job seekers most want to know about.
These profiles include corporate name, address, phone, fax, web site, growth plans, competitive advantage, financial histories and up to 27 executive contacts by title. Purchasers of the printed book or PDF version may receive a free CD-ROM database of the corporate profiles, enabling export of vital corporate data for mail merge and other uses.
Table of Contents:
"PLUNKETT'SRETAIL INDUSTRY ALMANAC 2008CONTENTSA Short Retail Industry Glossary iIntroduction 1How To Use This Book 3Chapter 1: Major Trends Affecting the Retail Industry 71) Introduction to the Retail Industry 72) Wal-Mart Dominates as the World's Biggest Retailer (and now America's Biggest Grocer) 83) Department Stores have Evolved into Giant Apparel, Cosmetics and Accessories Stores 104) Name Changes, Buyouts and Consolidation Alter the Department Store Landscape 125) Discounting and Discount Stores Evolve 136) Category-Killers and Big Box Retailers Struggle to Keep Up With Discounters 147) Sophistication and Success for Direct Marketers 158) China Opens up to Direct Sellers including Avon and Mary Kay 189) Rise of Showcase Stores and Super-Merchandisers 1810) Bricks, Clicks and Catalogs Create Synergies While Online Sales Boom 2011) Retail Technologies Leap Ahead 2012) Self Service Technologies Take Off 2413) Retailers Find New Markets in China While India's Retail Industry is Poised for Enormous Growth 2514) Yahoo!, eBay and Amazon Create New Ways of Retailing 2615) Entertainment-Based Retailing, including Power Towns 2716) Shopping Centers Continue to Develop and Expand 2817) Malls Morph to Stay Afloat 3018) Kids' Items Spark New Store Concepts 3119) Luxury Items Move for Big Bucks 3120) How to Interpret Reports of Retail Sales 32Chapter 2: Retail Industry Statistics 34U.S. Retail Industry Overview 35Exports, General Imports & Trade Balance in Goods, U.S.: 1980-2nd Quarter 2007 36Total U.S. Retail Sales & Annual Percent Change: 1994-2007 37Retail & Food Services Sales by Kind of Business, U.S.: 2001-2006 38Retail & Food Services Sales by Kind of Business, U.S.: Monthly, through September 2007 40Estimated Quarterly U.S. Retail Sales, Total & E-Commerce: 1st Quarter 2001-2nd Quarter 2007 42Total U.S. Disposable Income, Expenditures & Gross Domestic & National Product Per Capita:1960-2007 43Average Annual U.S. Household Expenditures: 2000-2006 44Distribution of Total U.S. Annual Household Expenditures, by Major Category: 2007 (Estimates) 45Resident Population Estimates by Age, U.S.: 2000-2010 46Twenty Largest Shopping Centers, U.S.: November 2007 47Top 20 Websites, U.S.: October 2007 48Top 20 Retail Websites, U.S.: November 17, 2007 49Employment in the Retail Industry, U.S.: 2001-2007 50Chapter 3: Important Retail Industry Contacts 51Addresses, Telephone Numbers and World Wide Web SitesChapter 4: THE RETAIL 500:Who They Are and How They Were Chosen 75Industry List, With Codes 76Index of Rankings Within Industry Groups 79Alphabetical Index 92Index of Headquarters Location by U.S. State 96Index of Non-U.S. Headquarters Location by Country 101Index by Regions of the U.S. Where the Firms Have Locations 103Index by Firms with Operations Outside the U.S. 119Individual Profiles on each of THE RETAIL 500 122Additional IndexesIndex of Hot Spots for Advancement for Women/Minorities 628Index of Subsidiaries, Brand Names and Selected Affiliations 630"
About the Author :
Jack W. Plunkett is CEO & Publisher of Plunkett Research, Ltd., a Houston-based provider of market research and industry information in printed and electronic formats. Plunkett's client list includes 5,000 leading corporations, universities and government agencies worldwide. Plunkett's research products are distributed electronically through subscriptions to its website, www.plunkettresearch.com, and around the globe by major booksellers and news distributors. Jack Plunkett's work has been widely covered by hundreds of magazines, newspapers and broadcast stations, including stories in USA Today and Inc. Magazine. Plunkett is frequently interviewed as an expert source by publications such as Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal. The New York Times and Investor's Business Daily, media outlets such as NPR's Marketplace, ABC, and CBS Marketwatch, as well as local and regional newspapers and national columnists.
Review :
"The Retail Industry Almanac is especially recommended for the most dedicated business, governmental and college libraries. Those with strong business references will consider it an important acquisition: the only complete reference to the American retail industry's trends and leading companies, from chain stores to specialty stores. The contact names of executives, phone numbers, and corporate analysis details on each Retail 500 firm will prove invaluable."Deja.com"In this retail trade guide, Plunkett covers the retail industry in detail. The introductory chapter contains an overview of the retail industry with trends and statistics. Chapters 2 through 5 discuss useful retail industry contact sources with World Wide Web addresses; online retailing and nonstore retailers; retail sites on the Web by broad subject and Web addresses; malls, superstores and shopping centers; and employment, careers, earnings and job outlook in the retail trade.""Chapter 6, the main section of the book, provides profiles ... store data; types of business; brands, divisions, and affiliates; chief officers to contact, telephone and fax numbers; address and Internet address; financial information; salaries and benefits information; competitive advantage; locations; and growth plans and special features. Appendix 1 contains monthly sales and inventory statistics, explanatory material on terms, information on reliability of data, factors for adjusting seasonal variations, and Standard Industrial Classifications. In the back of the book, a helpful combined index lists companies by store name, subsidiaries, brand names, and selected affiliations to provide a variety of access.""The detailed and varied information found here on retail trade is difficult to easily access elsewhere in one volume. The almanac should be a welcome addition to business and large public and academic libraries that deal with the retail trade side of business."American Reference Books Annual "...This audience should consider this reference essential: it analyzes the latest statistics on retail industry growth and trends, covering everything from malls and superstores to mail-order businesses, and presents in-depth profiles on companies which provide keys to overall industry operations. An important reference."Midwest Review of Books "Large discounters like Wal-Mart that offer customers a wide array of low-priced merchandise in one convenient location dominate today's retail scene. One might guess that Plunkett's aspires to a similar niche in the business reference market as a convenient one-stop source of information about the American retail industry. Included in this premier edition are an overview of the retail industry; a chapter on careers in retailing; lists of retail industry contacts, selected retailing sites on the World Wide Web, shopping center and outlet center mall owners and managers; and profiles of ... companies selected for 'their prominence in retail fields and related support industries... Plunkett's is recommended for libraries with demand for information about the retail industry."CHOICE magazine of the American Library Association
