Ubiquitous Wal-Mart

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February 2008
- Slow Jan. Sales Worry Retailers
  
  Wall Street Journal | Feb 7, 08 8:46 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Winter storms and lagging gift-card redemption iced Wal-Mart’s January same-store sales growth, the retailer said, raising concerns the US is in a recession, reports the Wall Street Journal . Wal-Mart expected 2% sales growth in stores open more than a year, but saw sales bump just 0.5%. Its 1.4% rise in same-store sales for the fiscal year was the lowest in 30 years. More »
January 2008
- Wal-Mart Stores Going Green
  
  New York Times | Jan 24, 08 3:55 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Retail giant Wal-Mart has launched an ambitious blueprint to go green, with plans to cut energy use of many of its products by 25%, and may even begin to sell hybrid cars and provide sustainable energy to charge them, reports the New York Times . Wal-Mart has already sold 145 million energy-reduction light bulbs, saving electricity equivalent to the amount created by three coal-fired power plants, according to executives. More »
- Retail Sales In Surprise Swoon
  
  Bloomberg | Jan 15, 08 8:42 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Retail sales fell 0.4% in December, an unexpected drop that capped off retailers’ worst year since 2002 and is sure to fuel rampant recession fears. “Consumer spending slowed down pretty dramatically,” one economist tells Bloomberg. “We are kind of flying very close to a stall speed.” Prognosticators had expected sales to hold steady after November’s revised 1% gain; the lag suggests that gas prices, the housing slump, and the weak job market may be catching up with consumers. More »
December 2007
- Retailers Put Brakes on Expansion
  
  CNN | Dec 7, 07 2:15 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - America's biggest retailers are beginning to ease up on the construction of new stores, reversing the if-we-build-it-they-will-come trend of recent years, CNNMoney reports. Faced with decreasing sales in a slowing economy, chains such as Wal-Mart, Target, Starbucks, McDonald's, and Walgreen either have cut back on new stores or are considering doing so. More »
November 2007
- Wal-Mart Shops for Green Cred
  
  Washington Post | Nov 25, 07 6:16 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Hoping to soften its image, Wal-Mart is going green, the Washington Post reports. The retail giant is now donating to environmental groups, improving its energy efficiency, and creating the first hybrid shipping truck. Yet some critics say it's a mere cover. "Wal-Mart is willing to spread its money wherever it thinks it can buy protection for its poor business practices," said one. More »
October 2007
- Wal-Mart Cuts Prices to Boost Holiday Sales
  
  Reuters | Oct 18, 07 2:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Wal-Mart is slashing prices on 15,000 more items this week in an effort to capture sales during the holiday shopping season, Reuters reported today. The nation's largest retailer reduced prices two weeks ago on popular toys, and has now discounted 20% more items than in the previous holiday season. New discounts go beyond the toy department to home and apparel items. More »
- Wal-Mart Era Reaching Its End
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 3, 07 8:27 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Wal-Mart may be king, but its throne is shrinking: A judge awarded $62.3 million to underpaid workers today, yet another blow to the mega-seller. Big-name brands like PepsiCo are opting for companies like Whole Foods, as rivals lure American buyers and the Internet dwarfs Wal-Mart's 142,000-item stock, reports the Wall Street Journal . More »
September 2007
- Wal-Mart Expands $4 Drug Program
  
  St. Petersburg Times | Sep 28, 07 2:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A year after launching its $4 prescription drug program, Wal-Mart yesterday added 24 names to its list of 361 generic medications. The company boasts that it now covers more than 95% of treatable common diseases, the St Petersburg Times reports, but critics call the program a publicity stunt and say Wal-Mart is using it as a loss leader. More »
- America, as Defined by Wal-Mart
  
  ABC News | Sep 13, 07 4:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Wal-Mart knows a lot about Americans, courtesy of the 208 million US consumers who shop there every year. ABC News takes a look at the superstore's sales figures and finds a portrait of the nation's changing face and taste. Some highlights: Boxers are tied with briefs; Ohio buys the most TVs; and the top-selling Wal-Mart item? Bananas. More »
August 2007
- Wal-Mart Owns Up to Melamine in Dog Treats
  
  Associated Press | Aug 22, 07 10:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Two Chinese brands of dog treats sold at Wal-Mart contain a toxic chemical, the discount giant confirms. Customer complaints about the products prompted the company to quietly pull them from its shelves last month as it waited for further tests. The results confirmed the presence of melamine, the chemical at the center of another recall in March. More »
- Wal-Mart Moves to Take a Bite Out of Apple
  
  The Motley Fool | Aug 21, 07 5:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Seeking to wrest control of the market from Apple, Wal-Mart today launched an online music store that undercuts iTunes by 5 cents per song. More important, the retail behemoth has dropped DRM copyright protection, which means customers can burn as many CDs as they like and play songs on any MP3 player, the Motley Fool reports. More »
- CIA, Wal-Mart, Fox News Purge Wiki Entries
  
  Wired | Aug 14, 07 1:33 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A new data-mining tool has tracked the identities of the anonymous users who make edits to Wikipedia entries—and revealed that Wal-Mart, voting-machine magnate Diebold, and even Fox News have tried to bowdlerize or spin their appearances in the online encyclopedia. And they're not the only ones, Wired reports. More »
- Weak Wal-Mart Profits Turn Smiles Upside-Down
  
  Bloomberg | Aug 14, 07 10:28 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Wal-Mart stock saw its biggest dip in five years in early trading this morning, after Q2 profits rose less than analysts had expected. The Arkansas-based behemoth says full-year profit will total $3.13 a share, 3 cents lighter than its projections: Bloomberg reports that surging gas prices, faltering home sales and steepening mortgage rates kept customers out of the retailer's labyrinthine isles. More »
- Wal-Mart Hits Facebook
  
  Reuters | Aug 9, 07 6:57 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Wal-Mart is launching a back-to-school marketing campaign using Facebook, Reuters reports. The megachain has created a "Roommate Style Match" Facebook group to give college students a chance to coordinate decorating before moving in—and then browse an array of "recommended" Wal-Mart goods, including many the retailer promotes as "earth-friendly." More »
- Wal-Mart Sets Sights on India
  
  Times (UK) | Aug 7, 07 3:18 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Wal-Mart will set up shop in the lucrative Indian market for the first time, the Times of London reports. In collaboration with Indian mobile phone company Bharti, the American retail giant will sell wholesale goods to small shops, restaurants, and other businesses. The first "Bharti Wal-Mart" stores are expected to open by 2009 and are already drawing fire. More »
- Wal-Mart Mexico Pays Teen Baggers Nada
  
  MSNBC | Aug 1, 07 4:54 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Wal-Mart has 4,300 teenagers bagging merchandise for free in its Mexican stores, Newsweek reports. The retail giant isn't doing anything illegal, since the kids aren't technically workers but "volunteers" who donate their time in exchange for gratuities from customers. But labor activists say the notoriously bottom-line-minded company is nefariously exploiting local customs. More »
July 2007
- Look Out, Barbie: Here Comes Moses
  
  BBC | Jul 30, 07 4:05 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Faith-based action figures will soon compete with the latest Bratz and Transformers dolls on the shelves of a Wal-Mart near you. Tales of Glory figurines, including Samson, Jesus and Daniel (complete with the Lions’ Den), are being promoted as "God-honoring toys" in a market full of figures that "glorify evil, destruction, lying, cheating." More »
- Judge Tries Shame on Shoplifters
  
  BusinessWeek | Jul 25, 07 3:42 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A local Alabama judge has teamed with Wal-Mart to punish shoplifters with shame, making them don sandwich-boards reading “I am a thief; I stole from Wal-Mart” and parade in public, BusinessWeek reports. More than 20 culprits have received the sentence in recent months; the world’s largest retailer sees about $3 billion of merchandise leave the stores illegally each year. More »