The UPS Store tops the list as the most competitive retailer in 2007, based on the study "New Dynamics that Create and Build Retailer Competitive Advantage 2007".

Top 10 Most Competitive Retailer for 2007:

1. The UPS Store (NYSE: UPS) 
2. Dollar Tree
3. Dollar General
4. Walgreens (NYSE: WAG)
5. Kenneth Cole (NYSE: KCP)
6. Petco
7. Kohl's (NYSE: KSS)
8. Target (NYSE: TGT)
9. Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW)
10. PetSmart (Nasdaq: PETM)

"Investor Warren Buffet coined the term 'moat' to define how companies must create a barrier to entry in order to protect their profits," said Gary A. Williams, President of the KRI. "Our analysis of five years worth of consumer and financial data shows that to achieve an economic moat, companies build a consumer moat first. In fact, one of Mr. Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway companies -- GEICO Insurance -- possesses three of the nine consumer moats our study discovered."

The study found that pricing power for retailers has increased substantially from 2.6%  last year to 6.4% going into 2007. As found with other sectors of the U.S. economy that the KRI studies, pricing power is a leading indicator that innovation is underway.