Walmart

CHICAGO — Consumers are better able to make informed decisions when it comes to grocery shopping, meaning new strategies are needed in order to reach them, according to a new report from SymphonyIRI Group.

LOS ANGELES — A new line of nutrition bars for dogs is on its way to Walmart.

Though the manufacturer, The All American Pet Co., did not mention the retailer by name, it did say that its three SKUs of NutraBars were on their way to "the world's largest retailer" for its first purchase order.

"We can get the retailer, but we can't write the retailer's purchase order," AAPT CEO Barry Schwartz said. "We created the bar and have the capabilities to meet the demand."

Walmart’s efforts to gain share in California’s grocery market continued this week with the opening of another Neighborhood Market in San Jose.

The 41,000-sq.-ft. store is Walmart’s second Neighborhood Market in San Jose and third in the San Francisco area and could be a sign of more to come. Since opening it first Neighborhood Market in California last summer, the format has quickly grown to approximately 20 locations. And there are likely more to come as Walmart looks to accelerated expansion of smaller format stores nationwide in the coming years.

Organized labor was dealt a setback in its attacks on Walmart on Thursday when the National Labor Relations Board sided with the retailer in a dispute involving the United Food and Commercial Workers.

The UFCW reached a settlement with Walmart stemming from demonstrations the union organized at various Walmart stores on Black Friday. The protests received considerable media attention at the time as the union sought to persuade Walmart employees to walk off the job on the busiest day of the year.

A new online destination profiling sustainability innovations and innovators has been created by The Mother Nature Network (MNN) and Walmart.

The Web site is called, "The Leaderboard" and the goal is to showcase the biggest innovations in sustainability and the pioneers who are creating them.

New York -- Labor groups that have long spoken out against Wal-Mart Stores will stop much of their picketing against the world's largest retailer, though they still plan to continue to push the company to improve working conditions.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, or UFCW, and OUR Walmart reached an agreement with the National Labor Relations Board, the groups and Walmart said on Thursday.

Walmart's U.K. chain, Asda, is optimizing its distribution operations by incorporating Isotrak vehicle-tracking, along with Paragon routing and scheduling software.

The new system has enabled Asda to implement a new regional distribution structure.

Atlanta -- Mother Nature Network and Walmart are teaming up to launch an online destination (mnn.com/leaderboard) that profiles the biggest innovations in sustainability – and the pioneers who are creating them.