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Today I wanted to continue my top 5 lists by looking at the top 5 retail stocks. Retail is not necessarily an area I would be pouring money into right now, given the possibility that consumers will slowdown quite significantly on their spending, but the names presented below have a far better chance of coming out of a recession strong than most names.

1. Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE)- The company has accelerated its growth in the past couple years and trades at a very reasonable PEG ratio of 1.24. Recent goodwill efforts continue to contribute to the strong brand name of Nike.
2. Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN)- This company has a fantastic balance sheet and has always had some of the best key financial ratios in the industry. Nordstrom has amazing returns on investment and equity and has proven strong through all environments.
3. Abercrombie and Fitch (NYSE:ANF)- The one company who has shown themselves able to be consistent in the always-changing teen apparel market. The company has the right stuff to sway the very fickle teen consumer toward their stores.
4. JC Penney (NYSE:JCP)- JC Penney has successfully executed a rather amazing turnaround from a few years ago. The stock doesn't seem to have fully reflected the great turnaround, as it trades at a PEG ratio of just 0.75.
5. Coach Inc. (NYSE:COH)- Coach has a great brand name that high-end consumers absolutely love. The company has been growing at 20% annually for quite a while now. The company has virtually no debt and lots of cash in its balance sheet.

These five names are long-term buys on the retail side in my opinion. I wouldn't be rushing out to buy these names now since I don't believe the next few months will be the best for retail stocks, but I do believe these stocks will hold up nicely as compared to their peers during any possible recessions. Strong balance sheets and a strong brand name are essential in weathering the storm that occurs occasionally in the retail space.

Please use this list as a guide to your own investment research and not as a simple buy list.