Updated February 24, 2013
More than 30% of the 250 largest retail companies in the world are based in the United States, according to the 2013 Global Powers of Retailing report, which is published each year by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Magazine. Not only is the retail industry the dominant industry in the U.S., retail chains in the U.S. are aggressively working to expand their retail operations overseas and are increasingly becoming more dominant on the global retailing stage.
The U.S. companies ranked on this world’s largest list vary somewhat from the annual Fortune 500 list, which is generally focused on publicly traded U.S. retail companies. Included in this global ranking are privately-held companies, as well as government retail operations. Also, the 2013 Global Powers of Retailing report is based on 2011 revenue figures, so it lags behind the 2012 Retail Fortune 500 rankings. What the annual Global Powers reports do provide, however, is a global ranking number which provides comparative perspective on retailing's trend towards globally.
While the global ranking of the largest U.S. retail chains remains relatively unchanged from year to year, there was an atypical number of shifts, and dramatic moves both up and down the global retailing ranks on the 2013 largest U.S. retailers list.
None of the most dramatic negative changes that were seen on the 2013 Global Powers list are surprising to anyone who follows the U.S. retail industry. These struggling retail chains are trying to remain relevant and appealing to U.S. customers and have little or no global expansion to boost them up.
The most significant changes between the 2012 and 2013 Global Powers reports were:
- Advance Auto Parts rose 48 international rankings, rocketing past O'Reilly Automotive, QuikTrip, Wawa, Sheetz, and RaceTrac
- Bass Pro Shops is new to the Global Powers of Retailing list at a ranking of 232 out of 250 of the largest retail chains worldwide.
- SaveMart fell 31 positions in the international retail rankings, which now means that the Wawa, Sheetz, and WinCo Foods chains are larger than the SaveMart company.
>> 2013 Largest U.S. Retail Chains List >>
