Study Sees Wal-Mart in India's Future

(NEWSER) - Helicopters dropped food today to some two million Indian villagers left stranded by heavy monsoon rains, the AP reports. Floods in South Asia have driven 19 million from their homes and left hundreds dead. Villagers have been killed by collapsing houses, violent waters and even panicked rhinos as neck-deep water forced them out of game preserves. More»

It didn't go well for David Sherman, 49

(NEWSER) - We don’t want to imply that there’s a right time to shoplift, but there’s definitely a wrong one, and that wrong one is on "Shop With a Cop" night. David Sherman, 49, tried to make off with a $79 DVD player from a Nebraska Walmart on Wednesday, apparently unaware that more than two dozen cops were in the store, WFIE 14 reports. More»

Execs admit retail giant lost its way

(NEWSER) - Walmart is suffering its worst-ever slump in US sales and is widely expected to post more disappointing figures when it reports earnings today. Analysts say the retail giant's woes are the result of its failure to follow founder Sam Walton's formula of providing ordinary Americans with "every day low prices." Instead, the chain—facing stiff competition from rivals like Target—chose to offer "rollback" discounts on some products while hiking the price of others. More»

As in Eat Real Food, writes Mark Bittman

(NEWSER) - America's taking baby steps toward eating a diet of real food, writes Mark Bittman in the New York Times. He rounds up a trio developments—the USDA urging people to eat less , Michelle Obama teaming up with Walmart , and Oprah challenging her staff to go vegan for a week. All are admirable to a certain extent, but they still tend to push pseudo-healthy versions of bad food instead of challenging us to eat better food altogether. More»

Annoyed by crying, Ga. shopper pledged to 'shut her up for you'

(NEWSER) - A Georgia man is being held on charges of felony cruelty to children after he slapped a stranger’s crying child in Wal-Mart, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Roger Stephens, 61, approached the mother and said, “If you don’t shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you.” When the 2-year-old didn't desist, he found them in another aisle, picked up the child, and slapped her across the face multiple times. “See, I told you I would shut her up,” he said. More»