Walmart

Purchase, N.Y. — Hobby Lobby, Marshall’s and Home Goods have leased more than 98,000 sq. ft. of space at 562,000-sq.-ft. Pohatcong Plaza power center in Phillipsburg, N.J., according to National Realty & Development Corp.

The retailers will occupy a redeveloped building where Wal-Mart operated before expanding to a Supercenter early last year — in NRDC’s adjoining Pohatcong Plaza II.

When Walmart lowered its full year sales forecast last month the company said customer were being cautious with their spending. Maybe so, but that wasn’t the case in new car showrooms were automakers reported record sales and in the process created new holiday headwind for Walmart and other retailers.

BOSTON — Shoebuy.com, a leading global online retailer of shoes and clothing, has expanded its marketing leadership team with the appointments of Heather Adams as SVP of marketing and Kavita Baball as SVP of customer experience and retention. 

New York -- Drugstore operator Duane Reade in late August passed an important milestone: It surpassed 1 million Twitter followers. The drugstore chain, which is owned by Walgreens, is most-followed retailer on Twitter in the food, drug and mass arena.

Duane Reade has garnered five times more Twitter followers than its parent company Walgreens (180,390 followers), the second-most followed drug store retailer. CVS/pharmacy, No. 3, is followed by 117,931 Twitter followers.

Top executives from Walmart will be sharing insights into the company’s strategies this fall by participating in a wide range of conferences and investor event.
First up is Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon who is scheduled as the featured luncheon speaker on September 11, at the Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference in New York. Simon also spoke at the event in 2010 and 2012 and this year he will be fresh off of headlining Walmart’s U.S. manufacturing summit in Orlando in late August.

As if competing against Target, Best Buy and Amazon.com isn’t challenging enough, nationwide the fast-food “strike” which took place Thursday offered a glimpse of the type of headline-grabbing, disruptive activities Walmart can expect from its opponents this holiday season.

Walmart will be making a progressing move and extending health insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners of its U.S. employees starting next year, according to a Reuters report. 

The report stated that the retailer will also offer vision care to its eligible employees and their dependents.

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores will offer health insurance benefits to its U.S. workers' domestic partners, including those of the same sex, starting Jan. 1, 2014. Wal-Mart sent a postcard to its associates on Monday to tell them about the change. The chain also informed workers that it plans to begin offering vision care to its eligible employees and their dependents.