• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, August 3, 2011

While Internet-based retailers are still among the fastest-growing, a new ranking from The National Retail Federation shows that some specialty chains are also flying high.

In fact, grabbing the No. 1 spot is Ascena Retail Group, which owns women's budget apparel chains DressBarn and Maurices, as well as Justice, which targets teens and tweens. (The company acquired Tween Brands in 2009, which helped propel sales up 59% last year to $2.4 billion.)

Amazon came in No. 2 on this year's Hot 100 Retailers list, published by the trade association's Stores magazine, while Tesco's Fresh & Easy came in third.

Consumer electronics and appliance retailer Hhgregg shot from No. 25 last year to No. 4, as it scooped up market share from the now-kaput Circuit City, with sales jumping 36% in 2010 to $2.1 billion.

Rounding out the top 10 fastest-growing are Grocers Tops Market, Bodega Latina, Apple Stores/iTunes, Netflix, H&M (marking the first time the Swedish fast-fashion giant has made the list) and Overstock.

The annual list highlights retail companies that reported the greatest increase in domestic sales between 2009 and 2010. All public and private companies with more than $300 million in sales are eligible for the list, which was compiled by Kantar Retail.

The NRF says 13 stores have made the list in each of the last six years, when it began the rankings. Listed in order of average annual growth, they include Amazon.com (#2), O'Reilly Automotive (#32), Ascena Retail Group (formerly Dress Barn) (#1), Urban Outfitters (#18), Aéropostale (#54), JoS. A. Bank Clothiers (#21), J.Crew Group (#53), Tractor Supply Company (#19), Dollar Tree (#45), Dick's Sporting Goods (#99), Walgreens (#71), Ross Stores (#73) and PetSmart (#74).

The group also ranked the fastest-growing restaurants, based on year-over-year change from 2009 to 2010: Five Guys, Jimmy John's, Chipotle Mexican Grill, BJ's Restaurants, Wingstop Restaurants, Panda Restaurant Group (Panda Express), Bojangles Restaurants, Buffalo Wild Wings, Cheddar's Casual Cafe, Focus Brands (e.g., Moe's Southwestern Grill, Auntie Anne's, Seattle's Best, Carvel) and Chick-fil-A.