In the midst of economic and political uncertainty, perhaps there’s some comfort in a “relatively static” retail environment. In many ways, the 2025 NRF Top 100 Retailers list is a picture of ongoing, steady trends and few real surprises. Compiled by Kantar, it ranks the industry’s largest companies according to 2024 U.S. sales.
“I would say you could take last year’s list and just flip it over for 2025,” says David Marcotte, senior vice president of global retail and technology for Kantar. The predictability of the list isn’t exactly a problem. Things are evolving so quickly in other areas such as trade policy, he says, that “it seems like every few hours, something changes that’s significant.”
NRF's Top 100 Retailers ranks the industry’s largest companies according to sales.
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The 2025 Top 100 list, in the meantime, sports the same companies in the leading 13 spots as it did in 2024, with a few in different order.
Naturally, the list continues to be topped by Walmart, with 2024 U.S. retail sales of $568.70 billion, representing 7% growth. Worldwide, Walmart’s retail sales reached $675.58 billion; the number of U.S. stores remained level at 5,315.
Amazon.com has once again claimed the second slot, with $273.66 billion in U.S. retail sales, representing 9% growth. The retailer grew its U.S. stores by 2.8%, now at 584.
Each year, the Top 100 also explores Power Players in a handful of categories: big box and mass; apparel and jewelry; home goods; leisure; hardware and home improvement; electronics and telecom; and supermarkets. Leaders in each of these categories include Walmart, TJX Companies, Sherwin-Williams, Dick’s Sporting Goods, The Home Depot, Apple Stores/iTunes and The Kroger Co.
Within the ranks, some individual retailers stand out for their climb up or their fall behind. Target dropped from No. 7 to No. 8 in the overall list, allowing Walgreens Boots Alliance to move up to No. 7. Target experienced 1% U.S. sales growth between 2023 and 2024, and a 1.1% growth in U.S. stores.
Rite Aid, No. 29 on the 2024 Top 100, dropped to No. 40 on the most recent list. The company saw a 22% decline in U.S. sales in 2024 vs. 2023, and a 25.5% decline in U.S. stores.
“Because of the weakness of the channel overall and the format, it’s difficult for them to sell property to other drug store companies, so they have to sell leases and not stores,” Marcotte says. In addition, some smaller pharmacy companies have gone out of business altogether.
In 2019, prior to COVID, “everyone expected chain drug stores would be the most resilient, and probably the most guaranteed to have moderate growth, due to the aging of the population and such. Collectively, it turned out we were wrong.”
These businesses took a big hit during COVID, he says, and when they recovered, it was almost entirely through providing vaccinations rather than the front store.
These challenges were heightened by the “outflow of pharmacists and pharmacist technicians,” he says.
CVS was able to keep some of the momentum thanks to its investment in health services and reimbursement. Walgreens remains in the midst of significant changes.
There’s a cycle of innovation, Marcotte says. “People are holding on to smartphones and TVs longer and are not as motivated to go buy like they used to.”
Best Buy (No. 18) dropped two places on the most recent Top 100 list. It also saw a 5% decrease in U.S. sales ($38.19 billion) and a 0.8% decrease in U.S. stores (955). Its comp store sales decreased 2.3%.
In the discount arena, Dollar General (No. 17) has been “very aggressive” in terms of store growth, Marcotte says. The company increased its U.S. stores by 3% from 2023 to 2024, landing at 20,586, and increased its U.S. sales growth by 5% to reach $40.56 billion. At the same time, Dollar Tree (No. 19) has not performed as well. (In March, Dollar Tree ended its decade-long ownership of Family Dollar, selling it to two private equity firms.)
Dollar General has surged ahead. Dollar General and Family Dollar are proximity stores, mostly shopped by people in a neighborhood, he says. Dollar General shoppers tend to have a higher income; it increased its U.S. sales by 3% in 2024, landing at $31.11 billion.
Remember during the pandemic, when everyone seemed to add dogs and/or chickens to their household? Discretionary spending went toward making these creatures more “official” members of the family.
More recently, Marcotte says, people aren’t investing in their pets (or high-margin pet toys) in the same way. According to the National Pet Owner Survey from the American Pet Products Association, pet ownership levels are stabilizing post-pandemic; it’s not so much a decline as it is going back to what normally would have been seen in trending data.
PetSmart (No. 52) has seen a 1% increase in U.S. retail sales and a 3% decrease in U.S. stores. Petco (No. 75) experienced a 2% decrease in U.S. retail sales and a 2% decrease in U.S. stores. Chewy.com (No. 42) saw a 6% increase in U.S. retail sales and moved up from No. 44 on the 2024 list; Marcotte notes that the company was strong coming out of its IPO. Tractor Supply Co. (No. 32) continues to do well with chickens and horses, as well as with “picking up a non-ranch, non-farm clientele.”
Habits have also changed when it comes to jewelry and alcohol, Marcotte says. Buying has changed when it comes to jewelry and affordable luxury goods for the middle class. Signet Jewelers (No. 69) saw a 5% decline in U.S. retail sales at $6.21 billion. Further, strategies related to lab-grown, natural zircon diamonds and natural mined diamonds are cutting into margins and volumes.
There’s also a general movement away from alcoholic beverages, particularly in younger generations; Marcotte sees Total Wine & More (No. 74) as a bellwether to watch.
As for office supplies, Staples keeps making the list. It was No. 70 on the 2024 list; it now sits at No. 73 with $6 billion in U.S. sales, marking a 5% drop.
Finally, he says, hardware and home improvement are soft. The Home Depot (No. 5) has done well by pushing more into pro services; the company has seen a 5% increase in U.S. sales to reach $148.21 billion.
No. 9 Lowe’s Companies saw a 3% decrease in U.S. sales, has focused more on do-it-yourself, home furnishings and garden. The housing market is an important factor in how this sector performs.
