Ubiquitous Wal-Mart

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is helping Central American farmers even as the chain threatens to render their mom-and-pop ways outdated, the Los Angeles Times reports. Thousands of small farmers are financially at risk, unable to grow produce that fits the US giant's supply chain—so Wal-Mart, Washington, and a Portland, Ore., relief group have kicked in more than $2 million to help. More »

(Newser) - Big retailers showed unexpected signs of life in February, beating weak sales predictions to inject some hope into the market. Wal-Mart led the way, posting a 2.6% same-store increase, beating its own predictions of flat-to-2% growth. Overall, same-store sales climbed 1.9%, with more than half of retailers beating predictions, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

(Newser) - Tahini, olives and frozen falafel line the shelves in a new Michigan Wal-Mart in Dearborn that caters to local customers: in this case, the nation's largest Arab-American community. The 200,000-square-foot megastore, which opens today, even has a section for Halal meats culled in accordance with Islamic law, Newsweek reports. More »

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is letting its buyers blast or hail store products on a new blog, and do so freely—a shift for the once-strict corporate culture. Posts have so far panned Microsoft's Vista and a "Star Wars" movie, all while revealing favorite books, Bible quotes, and pets. "It puts real personality out there in a real conversation," says a Wal-Mart exec who helped make the blog. More »

(Newser) - Newsweek blogger Daniel Gross asks why Wal-Mart, with its sales increasing, appears to be untouched by the US economic slowdown, and comes up with four answers. One, the behemoth mostly sell necessities. Two, its cheaper-than-thou branding is attracting pinched customers. Three, investors like Wal-Mart's prospects down the line. And four, the store is becoming increasingly international. More »

(Newser) - Be careful letting your kids wander in Wal-Mart—the retail giant and other mainstream stores are devoting more shelf space to sex aids, Newsweek reports, and they aren’t hiding it. Lubricants, oils and even vibrators are increasingly appearing next to contraceptives and pregnancy tests. “Even the more conservative retailers have come over,” says an executive of one sex-aid company. More »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »