First, I think the debt went down. The high amount for the years you site is $11.161 billion in 2004 and now it's only $10.037 billion. On the other hand, as of Jan. 31, 2007 Wal Mart had $27.22 billion of long-term debt and that doesn't even include short-term debt such as commercial paper and accounts payable. Both Target and Wal Mart are retailers, neither manufactures any product. I can't really tell if you're saying Wal Mart doesn't have any debt or that the comparison isn't valid because Wal Mart is a manufacturer but neither is true. Wal Mart has a ton of debt and ISN'T a manufacturer.

Building and owning those stores is expensive. Since those stores are long-term assets it only makes sense to finance them with long-term debt. Look at the annual report for a more detailed analysis of debt and the uses of debt.