New York —

Between the Covid-19 pandemic , decades-high inflation and unprecedented tariffs , it’s been a tumultuous half-decade for retailers.

Some major chains have done a better job at navigating those challenges than others, a point that Walmart and Target underscored in their quarterly earnings this week. Walmart reported that sales jumped by 4.8% at its US stores that were open for at least a year, although it fell short of profit expectations. Meanwhile, Target saw sales fall for the third straight quarter on top of a CEO shakeup .

Target and Walmart are among the largest department stores in the US, but the latter has surged ahead in the big-box competition. Target’s troubles are the result of years of missteps, from overstocking on home-centric items during th

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