NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In a new industry ranking Tuesday, video game specialist GameStop, online merchant Overstock.com and kids' apparel merchant Children's Place took the top three slots in a list of the "Hot 100" retailers with the fastest-growing annual sales.

It's the first year that Stores magazine, a monthly publication of the National Retail Federation (NRF), has put out such a list.

The "Hot 100" ranking considered all public retailers with sales more than $100 million.

"Revenue is frequently a reliable gauge of customer support, while profit is an indicator of how well the store is run," Stores publisher and NRF Vice President Rick Gallagher said in a statement.

"Investors will tell you that smaller companies often have greater potential for growth, and that is certainly reflected throughout the 'Hot 100,'" Gallagher said. "We think the list represents a fresh approach to identifying the retail companies to watch."

Rounding out the top 10 were Federated Department Stores (Charts), owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's chains, at No. 4, teen clothier Abercrombie & Fitch at No. 5, trendy fashion seller bebe Stores at No. 6, upscale casual apparel seller Coldwater Creek at No.7, women's apparel merchant Dress Barn at No. 8, fashion apparel and accessories retailer Urban Outfitters at No. 9 and women's clotheir Chico's FAS at No. 10.

Wal-Mart (Charts), the world's largest retailer, didn't fare as well, ranking at No. 78 with a 9.5 percent year-over-year sales increase.

The report said the top performers achieved impressive year-over-year sales gains in different ways. GameStop (Charts) took in a 67.8 percent year-over-year sales increase in 2005, grew because of its acquisition last year of competitor EB Games.

Children's Place (Charts) saw its year-over-year sales jump 44.2 percent in 2005 because of its purchase of Disney Stores in 2004.

Other retailers experienced substantial sales growth by tweaking their marketing strategy, the report said.

Among them, Abercrombie & Fitch (Charts) integrated its "sexy" and controversial marketing campaigns last year to boost its predominantly college-going customer base, sales and unit growth. Abercrombie's sales grew 37.8 percent year-over-year.

Some companies boosted their sales growth by expanding the number of channels in which they do business. By developing from a catalog merchant to a retailer with a brick-and-mortar and Internet presence helped Coldwater Creek (Charts) to grow its year-over-year sales in 2005 by 35.5 percent, the report said.

Wal-Mart is still No. 1 with total annual revenue of $312 billion, but the retailer's bulky operations have slowed down earnings and same-store sales growth versus its peers.

Wal-Mart: 'Auf Wiedersehen' Germany, Hello India.

8 global giants to watch.