Walmart

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores announced that Enrique Ostale, president and CEO of Walmart Chile, formerly D&S, has been named EVP, president and CEO of Walmart Latin America, where he will oversee Walmart's operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.

Walmart has committed $670,000 to help fund a first-of-its-kind program in its home state known as the Arkansas Payment Improvement Initiative (APII).

More than a dozen executives in Walmart’s merchandising organization will begin the new fiscal year with different responsibilities following a restructuring announced on Thursday.

An internal announcement from Duncan Mac Naughton, Walmart’s chief merchandising and marketing officer detailed the moves involving executives with responsibilities for food, consumables, health and wellness, general merchandise, merchandise execution and private label.

Rockbridge Growth Equity has acquired Triad Retail Media, a 300 person digital retail media agency founded by former Procter & Gamble executive Greg Murtagh.

The acquisition is expected to be transparent to Triad’s retail clients such as Walmart, Sam’s Club, eBay, Toys "R" Us and CVS, but is expected to bring to Triad new capabilities as it benefits from Rockbridge’s ownership interest in other companies.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart and Sam's Club are introducing a new contact lens program for 2013, the retailers said.

The new program will allow customers to visit Walmart's or Sam's Club's website or call a toll-free number to place contact lens orders and have them delivered to their homes, with free shipping available for orders of more than $50. In addition, the two are offering low prices for certain Acuvue, Air Optix and Biofinity lenses, while Walmart is planning to launch its private-label Equate brand in February.

Little Rock, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Arkansas governor Mike Beebe announced Thursday that Wal-Mart will join an Arkansas program intended to change the way that private insurers and Medicaid pay for services. Wal-Mart’s Arkansas employees’ insurance plans, which cover about 57,000 workers, will become a part of the statewide program.

The retailer has committed $670,000 toward a tracking system to measure the program’s success as well as distribute information about the reforms.

New York -- According to multiple reports on Thursday, congressmen Henry Waxman (D-Rep., Calif.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Rep. Md.) have said that Wal-Mart Stores CEO Mike Duke and other senior-level officials at the retailer were informed about allegations of bribery in the retailer’s operations in Mexico in 2005.

The two congressmen cited documentation obtained by their staffs, which discussed allegations of corruption regarding a store in Teotihuacan.

An iPhone 5 with a $45 unlimited talk, text and data plan is being characterized as an industry game changer by Walmart and its prepaid cell phone service provider Straight Talk Wireless.

Las Vegas -- Walmart and Straight Talk Wireless, America's largest no-contract cell phone provider, announced that starting on Jan. 11, customers in more than 2,000 Walmart stores and online at Walmart.com will have access to the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4 on Straight Talk's $45 no contract unlimited talk, text and data plan. In addition, Walmart will be offering customers who purchase the phone in the store, a no interest fixed-monthly payments special financing offer for only $25 a month with a Walmart credit card.

With all of the pre-holiday buzz and widely optimistic sales projections, anything other than a blockbuster 2012 holiday shopping season was bound to be a letdown. Few expected the numbers that came out just before Christmas: Both MasterCard and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) reported that sales for the holiday season at that point were up just 0.7%. This was far below the robust predictions that many analysts and observers made before the shopping season was underway (most often between 3%-6%).