BBB and Kohl's strong across the board

NEW YORK — Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl's repeated their 2002 performances by making the list of all four top performance measurements among the Top 50 Retail Giants.

Anna's Linens and Pottery Barn made the Top 10 rankings in three of the four growth criteria, while seven other retailers among the Top 50 achieved two of the four growth rankings.

For Union, N.J.-based Bed Bath, the top honors came in net sales growth, repeating its No. 1 performance from 2002, an increase of $276 million, or 13.7 percent. Despite a challenging year, Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Kohl's held on to its fifth place slot in net sales growth with an increase of $92 million or 14.5 percent.

The performance measures — percent sales growth, net sales growth, percent unit growth and net unit growth — follow the Top 50 retail rankings that appeared in Home Textiles Today last week.

Anna's Linens, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., hit No. 1 in percent sales growth with an increase of $47 million or 40.9 percent, while also repeating its 2002 No. 1 performance in percent unit growth with 34 new units, a gain of 38.6 percent. The company also joined the Top 10 in net sales growth at No. 8.

Pottery Barn, based in San Francisco, moved to third place in percent sales growth with a 28.2 percent gain. It held on to the No. 6 slot in net sales growth with an $84 million gain. Pottery Barn fell to No. 6 from No. 2 in percent unit growth with 35 new stores.

Once again, Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., with 6,700 stores took top honors in net unit growth with 587 new units.

For Bed Bath, 2003 saw its ranking in net unit growth move up a notch to No. 4 with 109 new stores. It held at No. 3 in percent unit growth with 22.2 percent and slipped to No. 8 from No. 5 in percent sales growth with a 13.7 percent gain.

Kohl's held on to its No. 7 ranking in percent sales growth with a 14.5 percent increase. The company held on to fifth place in percent unit growth with an 18.6 percent increase and moved up a slot to No. 7 in net unit growth with 85 new stores.

Corte Madera, Calif.-based Restoration Hardware continued its strong home textiles sales increases with a 33.3 percent jump, an increase of $22 million. This gain follows the dramatic increase on 2002 of 164 percent which reflected the specialty chain's renewed emphasis on the home textiles business.

All of the percent sales gains in the Top 10 were double digits ranging from Addison, Texas-based Tuesday Morning at No. 10 with a 12.6 percent increase to a 40.9 percent increase for No. 1 Anna's Linens. Among the others with double-digit increases were Costco; Lowe's, based in Mooresville, N.C.; Ross Stores, based in Newark, Calif.; and HomeGoods, based in Framingham, Mass.

In net sales growth, Minneapolis, Minn.-based Target came in second behind BBB, with a $240 million increase, followed by Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., with a gain of $135 million.

Others in the top net sales group were JCPenney, based in Plano, Texas, Linens 'n Things, based in Clifton, N.J., Ross Stores and Family Dollar, based in Matthews, N.C.

In net unit growth, another "dollar store," Family Dollar, was in second place behind Dollar General, with a 422 unit increase, bringing its store count to 5,175. Wal-Mart ranked third with 123 new units, bringing its total to 2,949 units. Others in this Top 10 were Pier 1, based in Fort Worth, Texas; Target; T.J.Maxx/Marshalls, based in Framingham, Mass.; and Tuesday Morning.

In percent unit growth, HomeGoods, with 40 new stores, ranked second with a 28.2 percent increase behind Anna's Linens. Ikea, based in Plymouth Meeting, Penn., added three units for a 20 percent gain. Bloomingdale's New York added five units for a 16.1 percent increase. Others on the list were QVC, based in West Chester, Penn., which added one unit, bringing the total to eight; Burdines-Macy's, Miami, with an increase of seven units and Linens 'n Things with 46 new stores, bringing its total to 423.