1.   But none of them have really rattled the big chains until Food Giant came along.

2.   They used to have big chains right round, fore and aft to keep them together.

3.   But the big three supermarket chains deny their high court action is to kill off Costco.

4.   Although Internet-only retailers disagree, big chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. believe they can catch up and dominate Web sales after late starts.

5.   Although Nob Hill is profitable, fighting the big chains was becoming increasingly difficult, said Trelut.

6.   An end to the price-fixing, booksellers say, would expose them to a price war in which only big chains could survive.

7.   Amazon will market automobiles through an alliance with Greenlight.com, a privately held online company owned by several big chains of auto dealerships and by various venture capitalists.

8.   Analysts have said that successful efforts to reduce rising Medicare costs will accelerate consolidation of the hospital industry, with big chains such as Columbia gobbling up weakened competition.

9.   And among the big national chains reporting results, only Sears showed significant strength in the period, analysts said.

10.   Analysts attributed gains at big chains like May Department Stores, Dillard Department Stores and Federated Department Stores in large part to a rise in apparel sales.