Book excerpt: No other guide covers the complete retail picture like this exciting new volume. America's retail industry is in the midst of vast changes - superstores and giant discounters are popping up on major corners while traditional smaller stores are struggling. Malls are lagging while "power centers" are surging ahead. Who are the hottest retailers? What lies ahead? Our market research section shows you the trends and a thorough analysis of careers, suppliers, chain stores, shopping centers, mergers, finances and future growth within the industry. Included are 13 major statistical tables showing everything from monthly U.S. retail sales, by sector, to mall sales per square foot, to the 10 largest malls in the US. Meanwhile, the corporate profiles section covering Plunkett's Retail 400 Firms gives you complete profiles of the leading, fastest growing retail chains across the nation. From Wal-Mart and Costco to Barnes & Noble and Amazon, we profile the major companies that marketing executives, investors and job seekers most want to know about. These profiles include corporate name, address, phone, fax, web site, growth plans, competitive advantage, financial histories and up to 24 executive contacts by title. Purchasers of the printed book or PDF version may receive a free CD-ROM database of the corporate profiles, enabling export of vital corporate data for mail merge and other uses. 540 pages.