Walmart

Retailers subject to increasing — and costly — environmental scrutiny

“I’m a retailer, not a hazardous waste producer.” If that’s what you think, you may be wrong.

Japan’s biggest e-commerce player uses third-party marketplace model to expand

Most U.S. consumers, and many retailers for that matter, have probably never heard of Rakuten. But if Japan’s largest e-commerce marketplace has its way, that will soon change: The company has set its sights on becoming a household name in the United States. An even loftier goal: outpacing e-commerce giant Amazon.com.

While we wait for all of the official numbers to come in from the 2013 holiday shopping season — a topic I’ll address in a future column — I thought this might be a good time to expand on one of the points I made about retail downsizing in my 2014 forecast piece.

Camp Hill, Penn. — Rite Aid will assist customers with prescription insurance coverage issues related to the Affordable Care Act which went into effect Jan. 1, 2014 and help ensure they are able to access prescription medications under their new plans. Rite Aid joins other pharmacy retailers including Wal-Mart and Walgreens in offering prescription assistance.

Raj Jain, the former head of a joint venture between Walmart and Bharti Enterprises, has joined Bharti Retail as CEO.

Jain spent six years with the joint venture, Bharti Walmart, most recently serving as president of Walmart India. He left the joint venture in June 2013, four months before Walmart and Bharti announced they would independently pursue retail opportunities in India.

Joining Jain at Bharti Retail is his former joint venture colleague Panka Madan who will serve as CFO. Madan also served as CFO of Bharti Walmart but left the joint venture in 2012.

Bentonville, Ark. — Wal-Mart is reportedly recalling donkey meat it sells in China after testing revealed the meat contained fox DNA. According to Bloomberg, Wal-Mart detected fox DNA in samples of donkey meat from Chinese supplier Dezhou Fujude Food Company Ltd., and has since withdrawn all products from the company from its shelves.

Birmingham, Ala. — Online meal planning service eMeals is offering retailer-specific make-at-home menus of 500 calories or less per serving as part of its new Low Calorie Menu Plan. Consumers can specify a store such as Aldi, Kroger, Publix, Safeway, Target, Walmart or Whole Foods to take advantage of sale prices that help shape eMeals' weekly menus.

The case for domestic sourcing received a boost this week after Walmart was required to recall 73,400 five-piece card table and chair sets sold under its Mainstays brand.

The recall was initiated after Walmart said it received reports of 10 injuries including one instance of a finger amputation and several fingertip amputations. The product was manufactured by the Heshan Camis Industrial Co. Ltd., of Guangdong, China, according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission.