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Five Smart Retailers

By Jim Cramer
RealMoney.com Columnist

12/7/2007 12:25 PM EST
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Is it so hard? GameStop (GME - commentary - Cramer's Take). Costco (COST - commentary - Cramer's Take). Guess? (GES - commentary - Cramer's Take). J Crew (JCG - commentary - Cramer's Take). Saks (SKS - commentary - Cramer's Take)? I ask you, is it so hard?

 


Here are five companies that have executed perfectly or had the merchandise that people really want. Guess? is aspirational and has a clear growth path. GameStop sells the hottest products in the world and is really the only place to get them.

Costco is the best-run retailer in the world with seemingly the happiest staff and a fantastic treasure-hunt mentality. Better get there fast, might not be there next time.

Saks? The rich are spending, and the stores are looking better than ever by moving up and making the stores' merchandise more expensive than ever.

J Crew? You have to recognize that Mickey Drexler has the best eye in the game, a phenomenal merchant and developer of new properties.

America is overstored. You have a lot of retailers who refuse to recognize this. Go read the Chico's (CHS - commentary - Cramer's Take) conference call. The company seems to be falling apart, and what are they doing? The thing every retailer thinks is the answer: putting up more stores!

These five aren't building stores willy-nilly. They either aren't putting up new stores or are doing so with great thought. It's working.

Retail's becoming like every other business, now that the country is saturated. The trick is to improve productivity of good stores with excellent merchandise.

Not to keep building.

These guys have it all.

Random musings: Don't want to slight Urban Outfitters (URBN - commentary - Cramer's Take). That's a real turn. But it is off of easy compares.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in any of the stocks mentioned.






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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" weeknights on CNBC. To order Cramer's newest book -- "Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)," click here. Click here to order "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get "You Got Screwed!" and click here for Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he appreciates your feedback and invites you to send comments by clicking here.

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