The Curated Designer Project has expanded to highlight eight independent jewelry designers during CBG’s Las Vegas show.
Omnichannel is the ‘new reality’ for retailers
Stores magazine’s annual list of the U.S.’s largest retailers shows that the chains that are faring best are those that have learned to connect with customers both online and off.

Washington--While Amazon.com is still growing, it seems that brick-and-mortar retailers are learning how to keep pace.
For the first time last year, the Seattle-based e-tailer cracked the top 10 in Stores magazine’s annual list of U.S.’s 100 largest retailers, coming in at No. 9.
And it is at No. 9 that Amazon.com stayed this year, in a top 10 that is little changed from last year.
Wal-Mart Stores still ranks as the largest retailer in the United States in terms of sales.
No. 2 is The Kroger Co., followed by Costco, The Home Depot, Walgreens, Target, CVS Caremark, Lowe’s Companies, Amazon.com and Safeway, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based grocery store chain.
What all these stores, all well as other big gainers on the list have in common, is that they have embraced a customer-centric, omnichannel-focused business model, an analysis of the list states.
RELATED CONTENT: What’s ailing the Internet giants?
Brick-and-mortar retailers that are growing are those with a strong digital presence, while pure-play online retailers, including Amazon.com and Blue Nile, which recently opened its own “web showroom” at a mall in New York, are finding ways of meeting shoppers face-to-face.
“Omnichannel is the new reality for all retailers whether they engage or not. If you’re available where and when consumers look for you, great. If you’re not, you lose to someone who is,” Marge Laney, president of Alert Technologies, told Stores magazine for its analysis of the Top 100 list.
Other notable shifts on the list include:
--Signet Jewelers, the only specialty jeweler to make the list, moved up from 99 last year to 77 this year following its acquisition of Zale Corp. The Akron, Ohio-based company saw its sales almost double year-over-year because of the acquisition; and
--Toronto-based Hudson’s Bay Co. made the list for the first time, landing at No. 80 because of its purchase of Saks Inc. and Lord & Taylor.
Stores magazine’s annual list of the Top 100 Retailers ranks them by U.S. sales. It may include estimates for private or closely held companies. Retailers included are either U.S.-based companies or foreign entities with significant operations in the U.S.
Stores Media is the publishing group of the National Retail Federation, a retail trade association.
A PDF of the complete list as well as the analysis is available on NRF.com.
The Latest

The trade show’s education series returns, with sessions on retail trends, AI, watches, marketing, corporate responsibility, and more.

Bring a cool tone to your summer jewelry with these white metal pieces.

As gold prices rise, today’s retailers are looking for alternatives at prices that will appeal to wider audiences.

Buying discipline at trade shows starts with clarity about your inventory levels, Smith writes.


The deal closed this week, which means Instore will produce the JA NY show slated to take place this fall.

The company’s jewelry sales were up in Q4 and the fiscal year, with Richemont raising prices in part because of the cost of gold.

With the trade and customer trust in mind, GIA® developed NextGem™ – on-demand training designed specifically for retail.

The “Bauble” capsule collection of colorful one-of-a-kinds includes our Piece of the Week, the “Bauble” earrings, featuring rose zircon.

The updated catalog has a newly dedicated section for gift wrapping.

Everett covers colored stones’ surging popularity, the mellow return of the “Mellon Blue,” and his “The Devil Wears Prada” doppelgänger.

Fourth-generation CEO Lilly Mullen wants to emphasize experience, connection, and personalized service.

The new award, created in partnership with Henne Jewelers, honors the late designer’s legacy through supporting jewelry education.

The addition of the diamond-producing countries as nation affiliated members broadens the federation’s global representation, WFDB said.

The NYPD is warning elderly New Yorkers to keep their jewelry hidden when walking outside to avoid being a target.

Designer Viviana Langhoff has realized her dream of owning a space for her Chicago jewelry store that looks and feels like her brand.

The sessions will run from Friday, May 29, to Sunday, May 31, with one being a live taping of an episode of Couture’s podcast.

Former Stephanie Gottlieb Fine Jewelry executive Morgan P. Richardson is joining the lab-grown diamond jewelry brand.

The $400 pocket watch is a blend of Audemars Piguet’s iconic eight-sided Royal Oak and Swatch’s unserious Pop watches from the ‘80s.

With gold prices on the rise, the “Modern Electrum” collection uses an alternative, non-tarnishing metal alloy composed of gold and silver.

Fruchtman Marketing has new owners, Erin Moyer-Carballea and Manuel Carballea, and will relocate to Miami.

In a column for the 2026 State of the Majors issue, Smith lists 10 time-tested principles about sales that still ring true.

In a column for the 2026 State of the Majors issue, Golan spells out how the growing economic divide in the U.S. is reshaping the market.

The “Limitless Expansion of Joy and Hope” collection evokes summer through colored gemstones and motifs of butterflies and florals.

The jewel, circa 1890, is from the late Victorian era and was owned by descendants of the last high king of Ireland.

This is what the nine recipients plan to do with the funds.

The Western star’s 14-karat gold signet ring sold for six times its low estimate following a bidding war at U.K. auction house Elmwood’s.
























