Walmart

The spiffy new look Walmart store associates are sporting these days is drawing complaints from some quarters who think the company went too far in striving for a modest degree of uniformity in the appearance of employees.

Apparently, it is now too much for Walmart to require employees to dress a certain way while they are at work with the dispute centering on what constitute a uniform versus a dress code and whether Walmart should pay for the clothes employees wear to work.

Walmart has been on a building boom in Northwest Arkansas. Small-format Express stores have been open now for several years, the new convenience concept Walmart To Go opened earlier this year and the latest development is a hybrid concept that allows online grocery orders to be picked up at a dedicated drive-through facility.

Walmart already offers a prepaid debit card, credit card, check cashing and money transfers, but it’s expanding its financial services to include an exclusive checking account called GoBank, with Green Dot Corp., a prepaid-cards specialist.

The checking account is linked to MasterCard debit cards. GoBank, which will be available nationwide by the end of October, doesn’t charge overdraft fees or minimum balance fees and waives the monthly membership cost of $8.95 with qualifying direct deposits of $500 a month.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores is moving deeper into financial services. The retailer is launching an exclusive checking account product, called GoBank, with Green Dot Corp., a prepaid-cards specialist that has a subsidiary bank. Wal-Mart already offers a prepaid debit card, credit card, check cashing and money transfers.

New York -- Target Canada is aggressively repositioning to drive its price value, according to a basket pricing study by Kantar Retail.

“Target’s price leadership in Canada has clearly shifted,” noted Robin Sherk, director of retail insights, Kantar Retail, and contributor to the study. “We found that the price of Target Canada’s overall basket was 3.9% less expensive than Walmart’s. In our initial study, the retailers’ basket values were effectively even.”

By Dov Cohn, Bronto Software

Two acquisitions in two years blended with organic growth have allowed Boot Barn to nearly double in size and lay claim to being America’s largest western and work wear retailer.

Tractor Supply with its more than 1,300 stores and Walmart might dispute that assertion — depending how western and work wear are defined — but there is no denying that Boot Barn is a retailer on the move with backing from growth oriented private equity owners.

McLean, Va. - Digital identity solution provider ID.me has unveiled its new retail rewards marketplace, which helps retailers hyper-target influencers and consumer segments with exclusive offers that are protected from fraud. The new product extends ID.me’s coverage from niche affinity groups like the military and students to all consumers.