Wal-Mart is kicking major butt in the US retail market. According to the rankings the 2004 gross sales for US retailers, Wal-Mart was a clear #1 at over $288 billion. This was nearly 4 times the total of #2 Home Depot, and exceeded the combined totals of retailers #2 through #6.

Here's the Top Ten according to the National Retail Federation (in billions of $):

1. Wal-Mart $288.2 Bentonville, Ark.
2. Home Depot $73.1 Atlanta
3. Kroger $56.4 Cincinnati
4. Costco $47.1 Issaquah, Wash.
5. Target $46.8 Minneapolis
6. Albertsons $39.9 Boise, Idaho
7. Walgreens $37.5 Deerfield, Ill.
8. Lowe's $36.5 Mooresville, N.C.
9. Sears $36.1 Hoffman Estates, Ill.
10. Safeway $35.8 Pleasanton, Calif.

(Second story down on this page.)

Interested readers can find the full list of the Top 100 here (PDF format, starting page 5). Interestingly enough, one of our favorite stores Trader Joe's (alas not available here in Colorado!) came in at #61, just a couple of slots behind Borders Books at #59. Amazon Books was listed at #40, ahead of both Borders and #50 Barnes & Noble.