Walmart

On shelf availability at Walmart and the retailer’s newest technology tool will be the topic of discussion next week when Doing Business in Bentonville hosts an event on October 16 featuring a panel of speakers that includes Walmart’s director of supplier innovations Mike Graen.

The focus of the 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. breakfast session will be Walmart’s SPARC program, an initiative born out of the desire to improve the on shelf availability of products by creating a Supplier Portal Allowing Retail Coverage (SPARC).

Walmart and its joint venture partner in India, Bharti Enterprises, are parting ways after six years, the companies announced.

Plans call for Walmart to acquire Bharti’s 50% stake in their joint venture begun in 2007 to operate cash and carry wholesale stores branded as Best Price Modern Wholesale. At the time, that was the only sector of retail where Indian law allowed for foreign direct investment. The first Best Price store opened in 2009 and today there are 20 units spread throughout India.

Miami Gardens, Fla. — The owners of Palmetto Gardens Plaza, a 7.1-acre center in Miami Gardens, have reached a settlement with PNC Bank, secured a new loan with Hudson Financial Services and signed a lease with Wal-Mart for a Neighborhood Market Store as its anchor tenant.

In January of 2010, PNC Bank filed a foreclosure action against Palmetto Design Center, the property owner. That action has been settled.

New York -- Walmart and Lowe’s have joined the Pacific Business Group on Health Negotiating Alliance (PBGH-NA) to launch the national Employers Centers of Excellence Network that will offer no-cost knee and hip-replacement surgeries for employees at four highly regarded hospitals in the United States.

Dallas — Jones Lang LaSalle Retail will lease seven shopping centers in the Dallas region for American Retail Management LLC and Inland Diversified. The properties total more than one million sq. ft. and are nearly 95% occupied. The assignments include:

With the implementation of Obamacare mired in controversy, two of the nation’s largest retailers are backing an innovative Employers Centers of Excellence Network that will offer no-cost knee and hip-replacement surgeries at four highly regarded hospitals.

Walmart and Lowe’s issued a joint statement that they and other large employers had joined the Pacific Business Group on Health Negotiating Alliance (PBGH-NA) to launch the national Employer’s Centers of Excellence Network.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization’s CEO Summit is winding down in Bali, Indonesia and Walmart Asia CEO Scott Price used the event as a platform to share progress the company has made on a variety of fronts.

Price, who serves as chairman of the National Center for APEC, was among a roster of high level business executive and global political leaders to attend the event which ran from October 1-8. Notably absent was U.S. President Barack Obama who had canceled his visit at the last minute due to the U.S. government shutdown.

A manufacturing facility in Rogers, Ar., operated by Redman & Associates plans to hire 74 new workers as it increases domestic sourcing of ride-on toys sold at Walmart.