If we’d told you 10 years ago that Borders and Circuit City would vanish off the face of the planet and Blockbuster Video would be auctioned off to a satellite TV provider for pocket change, many people would have expressed disbelief. But those once-great stores have had their heyday in history, so now it’s time to look into the magic 8 ball to see if doom lies ahead for other major retailers.

Over at MSNBC, they took a look at sales numbers from the last half decade to find the largest retailers with the steepest drop in sales between 2005 and 2010. With two clothing-centric department stores (J.C. Penney and Dillard’s) and two clothing retailers (Gap, Foot Locker), apparel dominates the list. Two of the three largest office supply chains (Office Depot and OfficeMax) both make the list, as does hardware biggie Home Depot and the store that once represented American retailing: Sears.

8. J.C. Penney
2005 sales: $18.8 billion
2010 sales: $17.7 billion
Drop in sales: -5.9%

7. The Gap
2005 sales: $16 billion
2010 sales: $14.5 billion
Drop in sales: -9.4%

6. Foot Locker
2005 sales: $5.7 billion
2010 sales: $5.0 billion
Drop in sales: -12.3%

5. The Home Depot
2005 sales: $81.5 billion
2010 sales: $68.0 billion
Drop in sales: -16.6%

4. Office Depot
2005 sales: $14.3 billion
2010 sales: $11.9 billion
Drop in sales: -16.8%

3. OfficeMax
2005 sales: $9.2 billion
2010 sales: $7.1 billion
Drop in sales: -22.8%

2. Dillard’s
2005 sales: $7.8 billion
2010 sales: $6.0 billion
Drop in sales: -23.1%

1. Sears
2005 sales: $54 billion
2010 sales: $41.3 billion
Drop in sales: -23.5%

Eight major retailers taking a major beating [MSNBC]

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