Posted Tuesday, July 1, 2008, 4:00 p.m., EST

Despite 2007 revenues growth of more than 10 percent, Petsmart of Phoenix ranked No. 72, down from No. 71 last year, on the National Retail Federation’s annual Top 100 Retailers list released this morning.

The slight slip was largely due to the trade association expanding its definition of retailers to include technology and entertainment companies, three of which debuted ahead of Petsmart: Apple Stores/iTunes (No. 52), Dell Retail (No. 56) and Verizon Wireless (No. 61).

Not surprisingly, Walmart remained No. 1. In 2007, the chain saw revenues increase 11.7 percent to $348.6 billion and its store count climbed 10.6 percent to 6,779. Its earnings, however, were up only 0.5 percent to $11.3 billion.

By comparison, Petsmart increased revenues by 10.4 percent to $4.7 billion, earnings 39.8 percent to $258.9 million and store count by 11 percent to 1,008.

Other ranked retailers with significant pet sections included Kroger (No. 4), Target (No. 6), Sears/Kmart (No. 8), Supervalu (No. 10), Safeway (No. 11), Publix (No. 15) and Ahold USA (No. 17). <HOME>