BUSINESS MEMO: NEW TOY SALES LEADER

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., was the nation's biggest toy retailer in 1998, dethroning Toys R Us Inc. for the first time in more than a decade, analysts said.

Wal-Mart's sales accounted for 17.4 percent of the market in 1998, while Toys R Us held a 16.8 percent share last year, according to data released by The NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm.

Wal-Mart's market share rose from 16.3 percent, while Toys R Us fell from 18.3 percent in 1997. NPD does not release dollar figures of sales.