A key and indisputable metric of how well a store is flourishing is the measure of its sales per square foot. And this continues to be the case, even in spite of the shrinking count of brick-and-mortar-encased square feet to be considered on the retail landscape.

According to data just released from eMarketer Retail, a platform tracking various performance metrics of major US retailers and store brands, Apple leads the pack.

The computer giant outstrips its closest competitor — major American gas and convenience store chain Murphy USA — by a decent margin. In the most recent 12-month period, Apple achieved an average of $4,551 in sales per square foot of retail space.

In an analysis of the results featured in Forbes, eMarketer’s vice president of product marketing Clark Fredricksen speculated that Apple’s winning results are the result of a combination of a demand for its products and the minimalist efficiency of the stores — which feature appointment-only Genius bars and operate without benefit of cash registers in a mobile checkout environment — in which they’re sold.

Small-footprint Murphy — which can credit much of its success to tobacco products — had sales during the same period of $4,221 per square foot.

Number-three-ranked Tiffany & Co. posted sales of $3,043 per square foot for this period. The combined forces of scarcity and rarity, says Fredricksen, drive these results.

The balance of the top 10 in this sales-per-square-foot ranking plays out thus:

4. Michael Kors Holdings: $1,886

5. lululemon athletica: $1,841

6. Coach: $1,532

7. Kate Spade & Co.: $1,280

8. Deckers Outdoor: $1,246

9. Birks Group: $1,224

10. Select Comfort: $1,136.