In order to keep you ahead of the curve during earnings season, the Motley Fool's retail sector will give you a preview of the companies reporting in the upcoming week (Nov. 13 to Nov. 17). In the process, we'll tell you what happened last quarter, so that you'll know what to expect from this one.

We'll see an interesting assortment of companies reporting their quarterly performance this coming week. The names are big, the companies are great, and next week, we'll find out how well they performed during the latest quarter.

Fashion retailers American Eagle Outfitters (NASDAQ:AEOS) and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) will continue to battle for supremacy of teenagers' closets. (Given what my closet used to look like, is that really such a coveted prize?) Both stores have been performing quite well recently, so I can't wait to find out whether the good times will keep rolling.

We'll also hear from two of the biggest names in big-box retailing, Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT). Wal-Mart has been on the warpath lately to bring more customers into its stores. Given how crowded my local Wal-Mart stores usually are, I wonder whether that's even possible. I also wonder where we'll find the Target bulls-eye logo next during its holiday commercials.

The Big Orange Machine, home-improvement retailer Home Depot (NYSE:HD), will let us know whether people are still buying hardware, or whether customers are putting the clamps on their wallets amid fears of a housing slowdown. I said my piece about this giant here, and I encourage you to share your own opinions in our new ratings service, Motley Fool CAPS.

Pet lovers out there probably can't wait to find out how PetSmart (NASDAQ:PETM) fared this quarter. We'll see whether the Halloween fun it had providing costumes for pooches and kitties translated into fiscal performance, and we'll hopefully find out a bit about what to expect for the upcoming holidays.

In case you missed what we Fools were saying over the past few days -- perhaps you were still recovering from too many treats -- here's a summary of this week's highlights from the world of retailing. Stay tuned next week to see what the Fool's best and brightest analysts say about the companies we've discussed here.

American Eagle and PetSmart are Motley Fool Stock Advisor selections, while Wal-Mart and Home Depot are both Inside Value picks. Follow the links to try either newsletter free for 30 days.

Retail editor and Inside Value team member David Meier is ranked 58 out of 12618 and does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned. You can view his TMF profile here. The Fool takes its disclosure policy very seriously.