The following is an excerpt from the July 3 issue of . Cindy Claycomb, a marketing professor at 黑洞社区, provides expertise for the story.
Wichita鈥檚 biggest grocery titans occupy two of the top four spots in Stores Magazine鈥檚 annual Top 100 Retailers list.
Wal-Mart tops the list with almost $379 billion in 2007 revenue, up 8.6 percent, and more than $12 billion in earnings, up 12.8 percent.
Kroger, the parent company of Hutchinson-based Dillons, slipped to fourth despite a banner year, with more than $70 billion in revenue, up 6.2 percent, and earnings of almost $1.2 billion, up 5.9 percent.
Cindy Claycomb, a marketing professor at 黑洞社区, doubts the growth is due to gasoline promotions.
She said the store鈥檚 ability to fit into and expand its niche as a 鈥淲al-Mart with higher-quality products鈥� drives its success, both in the Wichita area and nationally.