Interbrand reveals top U.S. retail brands for 2012

DAYTON, Ohio — While Walmart maintained the No. 1 position on Interbrand's "U.S. Most Valuable Retail Brands" list for 2012, several other retailers are moving up the ranks.

Although Walmart touts a value that's more than $139 billion, this year also marked a 2% decrease for the big box retailer, Interbrand said. Second on this year's list was Target, which holds a value of $23 billion, a 1% increase over last year.

Meanwhile, CVS/pharmacy outshone fellow drug store chain competitor Walgreens, by moving up to the No. 4 spot to more than $17 billion, an increase of 5%. Walgreens held onto No. 6 on Interbrand's list with a 4% increase in brand value to roughly $15 billion.

The list was rounded out by Sam's Club (a 4% increase to $12.9 billion), Amazon (32% increase to $12.8 billion) and eBay (16% increase to $9.8 billion), which captured the No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10 spots, respectively.

Other retailers on this year's list included Publix (No. 12), Dollar General (No. 14), Costco (No. 15), Whole Foods (No. 38), Dollar Tree (No. 39) and Family Dollar (No. 47).

"One of the most compelling lessons from the list is that the best brands didn't stand idly by, waiting for further signs of recovery. They contributed to it by anticipating their customer's desire to return — not to shopping as usual — but to something better," Interbrand Design Forum CEO Bruce Dybvad said. "For the most part, companies have invested in better store experiences and put more capabilities into the hands of their shoppers."

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