Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Retail Best of Breed

Wagering With Penney's

Even though it's been ages since he's set foot into one of its stores, Cramer said that he likes J.C. Penney(JCP Quote) because it does the only thing that matters for a mature retail company. Its stock consistently moves higher.

The company just added Sephora cosmetics counters to its stores, providing customers with a one-stop shop for all of their beauty and makeup needs, more evidence that management knows what it's doing, Cramer said.

The stores have the brands most consumers want and consistently delivers. If the company drops the ball, it's very likely that it's a one-off incident and that could be a buying opportunity.

Coldwater Creek Runs Hot

Cramer's No. 8 pick, Coldwater Creek(CWTR Quote), however, is not about consistency, he said.

"It's a regional-to-national story with a ton of momentum," he said, and that growth is what makes it so attractive.

Coldwater began as a direct-sales company, but now it has 175 stores, most of which are concentrated in the Northeast.

Starbucks Trend

Starbucks(SBUX Quote) was Cramer's No. 9 retailer because, he said, it has managed to do the impossible.

"This is a company that, simply put, can do the impossible. It can charge $5 for a cup of coffee and get away with it," he said.

But he wouldn't "pay Starbucks prices for this stock," suggesting to viewers that they buy it only on weakness.

The company succeeds where others fail because it creates ambience, Cramer said, a feat that he believes could be attributable to its relatively happy workforce. Starbucks pays its employees a decent wage, and their better attitude encourages people to come back to its stores, he said.

The company also aspires to be a big CD retailer, which he said it can pull off because "this place be yuppie heaven."

And even though it is basically done growing in America, he said, this is not cause for worry. Usually when a retailer stops growing in the U.S., Wall Street turns its back because it doesn't care about international growth, he said. That is, unless the growth happens to be in China. And this is where Starbucks is growing like mad.

Retail Bank Shot

Cramer's final top retailer wasn't a traditional retail company at all, but rather a bank -- Commerce Bancorp(CBH Quote), which he once owned for Action Alerts PLUS.

CEO Vernon Hill runs the bank like a retailer, going so far as to call the branches "stores," Cramer said. Plus, he measures the performance of each store on a same-store-sales basis, just like a traditional retail play.

Commerce has survived the good and bad times, as well as really high interest rates, Cramer said, and he believes that the company is "ready to rock with earnings."

Moreover, he said that Commerce is a coiled spring that will explode the minute the Federal Reserve eases up on its latest monetary-tightening campaign.

Want more Cramer? Check out Jim's rules and commandments for investing from his latest book by clicking here.