• 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.