Wal-Mart Named Most Valuable U.S. Retail Brand
January 16, 2009
Retail brand consultant Interbrand Design Forum recently released its first-ever Most Valuable U.S. Retail Brands. In the rankings, which list the top 50 American retail brands, Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart--with a brand value of $129 million--claimed top honors, followed by popular retailers Best Buy (No. 2), The Home Depot (No. 3), Target (No. 4) and CVS (No. 5). Following the deflated earnings of the 2008 holiday shopping season, shoppers have changed their behavior in response to a downturn economy. Brand now accounts for 25 percent of the decision to shop at a particular store. As a result, the trend toward large, pervasive and impersonal retail spaces is reversing in favor of stores with more emotion, creativity and community. Several non-traditional retailers, such as those with an online-only presence, were included in the ranking, including Dell Company (No. 6), eBay (No. 11), Amazon.com (No. 14) and Netflix (No. 32). Out of the top 50 companies included in the rankings, only six do not have online channels. Amazon, which attracts more than 50 million visitors a month, offers customized service for its simple transactions from start-to-finish, specialized for every person who visits the site. Interbrand Design Forum’s entire Most Valuable U.S. Retail Brands report is available online at
www.interbranddesignforum.com.
