Walmart

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. — Shopping Center development in Chicagoland has improved significantly in recent years. Activity showed a 98.7% increase in total sq. ft. from 2012 to 1013, according to the “Chicagoland 2014 Shopping Center Report” just issued by Mid-America Real Estate Corp.

In 2013, owners developed approximately 2.26 million sq. ft., compared to 1.14 million sq. ft. in 2012.

Bentonville, Ark. – Major U.S. retailers including Wal-Mart Stores and Kroger reportedly already have hardware to read PIN-and-chip payment cards, which are more resilient against data breaches than the magnetic stripe payment cards commonly used by American consumers. However, according to the Dallas Morning News, the hardware is largely unusable because customers do not have PIN-and-chip cards.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores is eliminating the positions of about 2,300 Sam’s Club employees.  The job cuts represent 2% of Sam’s total workforce. Employees whose jobs are eliminated that cannot find another job with Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club will be eligible for severance.

Revelations of job cuts at leading retailers, the latest involving Sam’s Club, are a reminder that pro-active expense control remains retailers' best friend when it comes to ensuring profitability when faced with a murky outlook for consumer spending.

Sam’s Club on Friday became the latest retailer to disclose plans to eliminate 2,300 hourly and middle management positions. The move was characterized as a rebalancing of resources, according to Sam’s Club spokesman Bill Durling. Other retailers such as Macy’s and Target also recently announced job cuts.

Dollar General chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling was elected chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) to fill a position held the past two years by Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel.

Dreiling’s appointment was announced at RILA’s semi-annual board of directors meeting held Sunday in Naples, Fla. Steinhafel will continue to serve as a member of organization’s executive committee.

Miller Zell, a retail design and implementation firm headquartered in Atlanta, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Harmon B. “Sandy” Miller founded Miller Zell in 1964 as a printing firm focused on point-of-sale promotions and fulfillment. As the retail landscape changed, Miller Zell evolved to offer comprehensive store design services aimed at improving the customer experience, while controlling implementation costs and creating greater efficiency throughout the production, storage and installation process.
 

Walmart’s health and wellness president John Agwunobi shared wide-ranging thoughts earlier this week regarding the state of health care in America and ways in which the evolving marketplace is impacting Walmart customers.
 

Washington, D.C. -- Wal-Mart Stores announced that it has created a $10 million fund to support manufacturing in the United States. In a joint announcement, Kent International, a New Jersey-based bicycle maker and one of the chain’s suppliers, said  that it will move its production from overseas to Clarendon, S.C.