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. Malls are lagging while "power centers" are surging ahead. Savvy firms are combining bricks, clicks and catalogs into multi-channel retail powerhouses. Which are the hottest retailers? What lies ahead? Our market research section shows you the trends and a thorough analysis of retail technologies, chain stores, shopping centers, mergers, finances and future growth within the industry. Included are 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 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 27 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.