Walmart

Consistent with Walmart’s drive toward every day low prices, January saw the company run fewer, but larger advertising inserts, according to the latest information from marketing intelligence firm Market Track. To see how Walmart’s advertising activity stacked up to other top retailers, click here.

Hong Kong -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Tuesday it has named Greg Foran as president and CEO of Walmart China. Foran, who joined Walmart last October, is a long-time veteran of Australian retailing group Woolworths, where his areas of experience included operations, merchandising, marketing and replenishment.

Foran succeeds Ed Chan, who resigned last year after a food scandal that involved mislabeled pork and the forced temporary closures of a dozen stores in central China.

Mississauga, Ontario -- Wal-Mart Stores isn’t about to let the grass grow under its feet in Canada. The discounter plans to spend about $753 million this fiscal year to expand its store presence in Canada, before rival Target Corp. begins its push in the country.

New York City -- Kohl’s Department Stores and Walmart rank among the nation’s top purchasers of power according to the EPA’s most recent Green Power Partnership report. Kohl’s placed second in the ranking, while Walmart came in at third, followed by Whole Foods Market. Intel Corp. maintained its long-held top spot. Other retailers in the top 10 included Starbucks (No. 7) and Staples (No.9).

Oakbrook, Terrace, Ill. -- A report released Monday by Mid-America Real Estate Corp. suggested that new shopping center construction in and around Chicago could ramp up significantly after this year.

According to the 2011-12 Chicagoland Shopping Center Report, with a 13.4% decrease in new shopping center GLA in Chicagoland last year, 2011will likely mark the bottom of a four-year decline in retail center construction. After a flat 2012, shopping center development could double in 2013, according to Andy Bulson, author of the report.
 

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. -- Redbox Automated Retail, a division of Coinstar, announced Tuesday it has renewed its agreement with Walmart to continue featuring Redbox kiosks at more than 3,700 Walmart locations nationwide.

The agreement extends the availability of Redbox kiosks and builds upon the companies' more than five-year relationship, said Redbox.

The first Redbox kiosks were installed in Walmart stores in 2006.
 

It was a record year for online sales this past holiday season, but Target saw others experience stronger growth, according to the most recent site visitation statistics from online measurement firm comScore.

As previously reported, the size of the prize this holiday season was $37.2 billion. That’s the volume of online sales comScore recorded during November and December, which was a 15% increase from the prior year.

New York City -- In a break with longstanding company tradition, Walmart is moving its greeters from its lobbies into the stores near the cash registers, Bloomberg reported.

In their new location, the greeters will be able to direct shoppers to products they are looking for, and also to shorter checkout lines, the report said.

Walmart will report fourth-quarter and full-year results in a few weeks, and the numbers, while they are sure to be extraordinarily large, will pale in comparison to the superlative-defying figures that Apple posted earlier this week.

JCPenney got a lot of love this week from investors and the media after the company’s senior leadership unveiled a simplified pricing and promotional strategy that sounded an awful lot like another well-known retailer’s success formula.