1.   Analysts attributed the gains at discounters and specialty chains to efforts by those companies to focus on a core customer group or product category.

2.   Analysts attributed the gains at discounters and specialty chains to efforts to focus on a core customer group or product category.

3.   And many department stores could slash prices as they face more pressure from discounters and specialty chains.

4.   And several specialty apparel chains such as the once venerable AnnTaylor Stores Inc. now seem vulnerable.

5.   And they are likely to keep their edge right through the Christmas and Hanukkah frenzy, at the expense of old-line department stores and some specialty chains.

6.   As shopping malls became fixtures on the U.S. landscape, Petrie Stores spread its tentacles across the country, acquiring regional specialty store chains.

7.   Besides its cornerstone five-and-dime stores, the company has a host of specialty store chains, ranging from Accessory Lady to Northern Traditions to Foot Locker.

8.   -- The Federated-Macy merger spells potential trouble for I. Magnin, the tony but anachronistic specialty chain.

9.   A solid holiday for department stores may come at the expense of the specialty chains such as Limited and Talbots.

10.   But such specialty apparel chains as the Limited, AnnTaylor, and Hingham, Mass.-based Talbots Inc. reported declines.