By Martinne Geller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. retailers lost ground to overseas store chains in terms of total sales in 2007, a trend that is expected to continue with a swift decline in consumer spending habits, according to a new study released on Sunday.

The report by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, which ranked the world's largest retailers according to fiscal 2007 sales, found that several European retailers climbed at the expense of their U.S. peers.

The report identifies the 250 largest retailers around the world based on data for their fiscal 2007 years, which includes fiscal years ended through June 2008.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N> and France's Carrefour SA <CARR.PA> kept their places as the No. 1 and No. 2 retailers, respectively, but Britain's Tesco Plc <TSCO.L> and Germany's Metro AG <MEOG.DE> each climbed a place to become third and fourth, respectively.

Home Depot Inc <HD.N>, which suffered its first-ever annual salesdecline in 2007, dropped two places to fifth.

Other big movers included German discount chain Lidl, which climbed from tenth to seventh place, and rival Aldi, which entered the top ten, replacing Sears Holdings Corp <SHLD.O>.

"In this economic environment we're seeing a very value-oriented and price sensitive consumer, and that will continue as long as the economy remains in poor shape," said Ira Kalish, director of global economics at Deloitte Research.

He discussed the report at a convention in New York hosted by the National Retail Federation.

As U.S. consumers struggle with a year-long recession, lost jobs and falling home values, they have cut back spending on all but essential purchases.

Major retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Macy's Inc <M.N> have cut their profit outlooks, trimmed staff or shuttered stores. Some, like Circuit City Stores Inc <CCTYQ.PK>, have sought bankruptcy protection and Kalish sees more ahead.

INDUSTRY SHAKEOUT

An industry shakeout is a normal consequence of an economic downturn, but Kalish said the current credit crisis will ensure that this time will be different.

Strong retailers will have trouble getting loans to finance acquisitions of ailing chains while bankrupt retailers will face difficulty in financing restructurings and are more likely to end up liquidating, Kalish said.

"So what we're likely to see, particularly in the U.S. but also in Western Europe, will be not only more retail bankruptcies, but also more retail failures," Kalish said. "It will be an unusual shakeout but at the end of the day the survivors will, as always, be in a better position once the economy starts to recover."

Kalish said retail sales continue to grow in emerging markets such as Brazil and China even as they drop in the U.S.

Those economies could slow temporarily, due to a spillover effect from the global downturn, Kalish said, but a shift in consumer spending growth away from the United States toward emerging markets will continue longer term.

"We'll see more, or a disproportionate share of retail spending growth globally coming from places like Brazil, China and India, and less coming from the U.S.," Kalish said.

"That means the U.S. being less of an engine for global economic growth in the future."

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Publié le 11 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Reuters