Walmart

Executive compensation has always been a hot topic in corporate America — and the retail industry is no exception. These days, two trends are upping the attention paid to pay at the top: the ongoing move to performance-based equity, and the scrutiny compensation packages are receiving from increased SEC regulations and shareholder involvement.

CARY, N.C. — The Pantry, an independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States, announced that Joe Venezia is joining the executive leadership team as SVP operations.

Venezia joins The Pantry from TitleMax. In his new role at The Pantry, he will lead the company’s store operations and be focused on driving sales, improving store productivity, and leading a great store operations team.

Talk about an uphill battle. Walmart is trying to educate shoppers about eating healthy on a limited budget and the importance of understanding unit prices when evaluating purchase decisions.

Widespread media reports have Walmart discontinuing the sale of Amazon’s popular Kindle devices, which begs the questions what took so long and will we ever see a Walmart tablet.

Walmart’s decision to begin selling the Kindle was one of the more wrong-headed moves the company has ever made. A Kindle is Amazon’s version of a Gillette razor, essentially a device that provides consumers a portal to purchase Amazon’s other inventory, or in Gillette’s case, more blades. Target wisely gave Kindle the boot earlier this year.

Eighty percent of smarthphone users access retail content on their devices and Walmart is the third most popular destination, according to research from comScore Mobile Metrix 2.0.

The firm’s study found that 4 in every 5 smartphone users – 85.9 million in total – accessed retail content on their device in July. That figure is only going to increase, especially in the coming months as this year promises to be the most mobile Christmas yet.

Cary, N.C. -- C-store operator The Pantry said Thursday it has named Joe Venezia as senior VP operations for the chain.

Venezia most recently worked at TitleMax, and before that served in regional general manager positions at Wal-Mart.

Chicago -- A real estate report released Wednesday by Mid-America Real Estate Corp.’s Urban Team found that much of Chicago lacks the type of product that today’s downsized big-box retailers are looking for.

Walmart and HumanaVitality have developed a unique way to incent people to eat healthier while promoting increased customer traffic at Walmart stores.

The companies on Wednesday morning launched a first-of-its-kind program called Vitality HealthyFood whereby Walmart offers a 5% discount on produce items to HumanaVitality members. The discount is loaded on a card in the form of a credit within five business days that can be redeemed on a subsequent trip to Walmart.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys"R"Us revealed its 2012 hot toys list Wednesday, but not before Walmart did the same, giving the discounter a head start and the opportunity to poke fun at the toy retailer's earlier announced toy reservation program.

Reston, Va. -- Four in every five smartphone users – 85.9 million in total – accessed retail content on their device in July, according to a study by comScore. Amazon sites led as the top retailer with an audience of 49.6 million visitors, representing 46.6% of smartphone owners, followed by eBay with 32.6 million visitors and Apple with 17.7 million visitors.