Retail Industry

World's Largest U.S. Retail Chains in 2015

World's Largest U.S. Retail Chains 2015, All Biggest American Retailers
••• Creative Commons public domain photo
Updated February 19, 2019

The annual list of World's Largest Retail Chains always contains all of the biggest and most recognized American retailers. But even though the U.S. is considered to be the dominant country in the global retail industry, the 2015 list of Largest U.S. Retail Chains is shorter, compared to the 2014 Largest U.S. Retail Chains list. With 12 U.S. retail chains falling off, and just four new qualified additions, the 2015 World's Largest U.S. Retail Chains list is a little less U.S. dominant. 

Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Home Depot and Target remain the leaders of the U.S. retail industry. Overall, 76 of the 250 retail chains with the largest annual revenue in the world are American retailers. That means that 30% of the global retail chains that qualified for the 2015 Word's Largest Retail Chains list are based in the U.S. That's down from 33% from the 2014 global retail revenue rankings. 

All of this is according to the 2015 Global Powers of Retailing report, which is published each year by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Magazine. The 2015 Global Powers list includes privately-held U.S. retail companies as well as U.S. government-run military retail organizations, which will make it significantly different from the 2015 Fortune 500 list. Also, the 2015 Global Powers of Retailing report is based on 2013 revenue figures, so it lags behind and is a little less relevant to those interested in the U.S. retail industry than the annual Retail Fortune 500 rankings.

What the annual Global Powers reports do provide, however, is a global ranking number which provides a comparative perspective on retailing trends worldwide. While the global ranking of the largest retail chains in the world usually remains relatively unchanged from year to year, there were big shifts in the rankings of the 2015 World's Largest Retailers on the Global Powers list.
None of the most dramatic year-over-year changes for U.S. retailers on the 2015 Global Powers list will be surprising to anyone who closely followed the U.S. retail industry in the 2013 calendar year.

But the value of the Global Powers list each year is in having an easy reference which reveals how changes in the U.S. retail industry compare to changes with retail industries in countries around the world.

Significant Changes Between the 2014 and 2015 Global Powers Reports

  • Costco became the second largest retail chain in the world. Although the annual revenue of the #1 Walmart retail chain is still four times higher than Costco's annual revenue, having U.S. retail chains in the top two positions is historically significant. 
  • Albertson's made a meteoric rise from #240 on the 2014 list to #43 on the 2015 list after the acquisition of 870 stores caused the chain to grow 489.7%.
  • The largest U.S. convenience store chains - Sheetz, the Pantry, Casey's General, Wawa, QuikTrip, and RaceTrac - fell off the list of largest U.S. retail chains. This was not because of revenue drops, but because the Global Powers list makers determined that retail operations which derive a majority of retail revenue from fuel would not be included on the 2015 list, which is a reversal of its 2014 parameters and methodology.  
  • Radio Shack and Dell didn't qualify for the 2015 largest U.S. retailer list, which is a reflection of nothing more than a struggle with maintaining retail relevance and a shrinking customer base.

This is a list of the 2015 Top 100 U.S. based retail companies included on the World's Largest Retailers list published each year by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Magazine. This list of the largest U.S. retail chains is arranged according to the ranking each of the biggest and best U.S. retail companies received on the 2014 Global Powers of Retailing report, which is based on retail sales revenue for FY 2013.

The number in the left column is the global ranking number assigned to the company, compared to the 250 largest retail chains and companies worldwide. Use the links to find out more about the news, jobs, and retailing information for each of these Top 100 U.S. based retail companies. More rankings of the largest U.S. retail chains are also included on the next page. 

2015 Top 100 Largest U.S. Based Retail Companies on World’s Largest Retailers List

 

1      Wal-Mart

2   Costco

6   The Kroger Company

9  Home Depot

10  Target

11  Walgreens

12  CVS Caremark

15  Amazon.com

20  Lowe's

25  Best Buy

29  Sears Holdings

30  Safeway

34  Macy's

36  TJX

37  Rite Aid

43 Albertson's

45  H.E. Butt Grocery Company

46 Apple Retail

51  Kohl's

56  Dollar General

61  The Gap

64  Meijer

73 Whole Foods Market

77  Toys 'R Us

80 Nordstrom

76  Staples

82  JCPenney

90 Bed Bath and Beyond

93 L Brands (Limited Brands)

96 Family Dollar

99 Liberty Interactive Corporation (QVC)

100 Ross Stores

106 Giant Eagle

110  Menard, Inc.

114 AutoZone

115 GameStop

118  SuperValu

126 Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES)

130 Hy-Vee

133 Dollar Tree

139 Wegmans Food Markets

140 PetSmart

145 O'Reilly Automotive

146 Dillard's

147 Foot Locker

154 Advance Auto Parts

158  Office Depot

159 Sherwin-Williams

160 Defense Commissary Agency (DECA)

161 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company

165 WinCo Foods

171 Big Lots

175 Tractor Supply Company

191 Harris Teeter (Ruddick Co.)

193 Neiman Marcus