Our sister publication, Dealerscope magazine recently released their annual list of the top 101 CE retailers in the U.S. and Canada. While the list is dominated by the usual suspects, the large big box chains and super stores, several familiar imaging retailers dotted the list as well.
The first name on the list from that category, and 37th overall, was Ritz Camera, checking in at over $635 million in total sales – a 9.48 increase over 2007. These numbers would appear to cast an even brighter light on the troubles the chain’s Boaters’ World stores created in 2008, contributing mightily to the Chapter 11 filing several weeks ago.
Up next was B&H, checking in 43rd overall with $380 million in total sales, a number that was approximately the same in 2007 – not bad for a one-store operation out of Manhattan, New York.
Ritz showed up again on the list, only this time it was the independently run RitzCamera.com, showing up on the list at 79. The e-tailer took in just over $95 million in total sales – up just over 1% from their 2007 take.
We’ll list Spokane, WS-based OneCall here, though they are more of a CE retailer, photography is a major part of their business. 2008 saw them take in over $81 million, a 5.8% drop from their 2007 numbers.
The final imaging retailer on the Dealerscope list was Adorama, another New York, one-location phenom that took in over $53 million – a 1.9% increase from 2007.
The companies listed in Dealerscope’s annual Top 101 rankings (PDF link) of the largest CE retailers in the U.S. and Canada rang up $204.76 billion in 2008, a 3.9 percent increase over 2007’s $197.03 billion. It wasn’t much, but it was still an increase. Many companies will be happy if this year’s losses total the low double digits.
Despite the increase, last year was far from pretty, with major players —The Sharper Image, PC Club, Tweeter, Circuit City, CompUSA, Harvey—leaving the game or undergoing major restructuring. In all, 26 retailers showed decreases in CE sales. There were no major or unexpected position changes in this year’s list, but there were some bright spots.
Among the independent retailers, hhgregg (#29) had one of the strongest showings with 2008 CE sales, increasing to $854 million from $738 million, for an overall jump of 15.7 percent. P.C. Richard & Son (#34) saw a modest $5 million increase in CE sales, to $705, and the company is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary, proving that it knows how to survive the downturns and leverage the upswings.
Ultimate Electronics added major appliances to most of its stores last year. While its CE sales increased $5 million in 2008, overall product sales jumped to $420 million from $355 million. New York City’s venerable J&R Music and Computer World opened up a music instrument division, while CE sales rose slightly to $339 million.
Conn’s continued pushing its new stores in the Oklahoma and Dallas/Fort Worth markets, and realized a four-percent increase in CE sales to $284 million from $273 million.
The existing big boys showed only moderate growth, with CE sales at Dell (#1) essentially flat at about $36 billion, Best Buy (#2) showing a five-percent increase to about $32 billion, and Walmart (#3) inching up about seven percent with $25.4 billion in CE sales.
In other trends, some non-traditional retailers increased sales. Walgreen’s saw a nine-percent increase to $254 million, although the company does plan to slow expansion to concentrate on existing stores. Staples rose 11.5 percent to $7.35 billion, and GameStop posted an impressive 23-percent increase to $7 billion, chocking up an enviable 10-percent gain in comps during the brutal holiday season. Costco continued its CE push, increasing sales by about 17 percent to $5.25 billion, while Amazon maintained its juggernaut, posting a 27-percent increase to almost $5 billion in CE sales, up from just under $4 billion in 2007. But that was then.
Most retailers, in the early months of this year, reported lower-than-expected earnings. Companies scrambled to cope in the new economy. Office Depot announced plans to shut 112 stores, while ShopNBC parent ValueVision cut 60 more jobs at the beginning of the year and Petters Group Worldwide, a minority shareholder of Fingerhut, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Smart retailers are now revising their business models by leveraging untapped Internet sales, improving supply-chain efficiencies, chopping dead wood, honing advertising and marketing to fit the right consumer, trimming their vendor partners, and increasing training. The numbers in next year’s Top 101 list may not look good, but the smart retailers will.
Methodology
Dealerscope researched virtually all large electronics retailers in the United States and Canada—as well as hardware manufacturers selling direct to consumers—in order to compile its Top 101 registry. Information on electronics sales, total sales, store counts, etc., was gleaned from readily available sources, including SEC filings, Hoovers listings, corporate press releases, corporate homepages, various electronic business databases, as well as the local press covering the businesses in question.
Dealerscope contacted each retailer, giving it the opportunity to confirm or contest initial figures. Many confirmed sales estimates. However, some privately held companies refused to disclose sales information. Other companies, both public and private, could not or would not break out CE sales from their overall merchandise mixes.
Finally, some companies did not return telephone calls or e-mails. In these cases, Dealerscope chose to publish its best estimates.
All sales listed are reported on a calendar year, rather than fiscal year. When listing CE sales, we included electronics sales generated by companies’ corporate sales, as well as government and education sales.
When listing overall sales, we have excluded revenues generated by the credit offerings at some chains, and other revenues only peripherally related to retail sales. Finally, again to the best of our ability, we have excluded sales to regions other than the United States and Canada.
Store counts cover only those venues in the United States and Canada that actually sell consumer electronics. CE estimates include sales of pre-recorded media. All sales and store count information should be considered Dealerscope estimates.
