Walmart

If there was a bright spot to Walmart’s fourth-quarter results it was the international division where sales increased in every country, expansion surged and operating profits increased 9.7% to $5.4 billion on sales that increased 7.6% to $104.8 billion. Those results are on a constant currency basis that assumes foreign exchanges rates are consistent year over year and present a more accurate view of country-by-country performance.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Jan. 29 rose 11% to $1.04 billion, helped by improved revenues and fewer write-offs of bad credit-card debt.

Retail sales increased 2.8% in the fourth quarter to $20.3 billion, from $19.7 billion in the year ago period. Same-store sales rose 2.4%. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast $20.76 billion in revenue.

Providence, R.I. -- DijiPOP, a leading provider of on-demand digital shopper marketing technology solutions, announced that Walmart Canada has selected the company to power the digital shelf space monetization efforts of its rapidly growing Walmart.ca online property.

As a complement to Walmart Canada’s current advertiser program, DiJiPOP’s technology will integrate deeply with Walmart Canada’s existing proprietary vendor portal, allowing Walmart.ca vendors to reserve premium shelf space.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores reported Tuesday that earnings for the quarter ended Jan. 31 jumped 27% as its international stores posted strong results. In the United States, however, the retailer posted its seventh straight quarterly sales decline, falling short of its own projections for the holiday period.

The retail world takes center stage this week as financial markets are poised to dissect a slew of earnings reports from major retailers who will be sharing details on the profitability of holiday sales, perspective on the state of the economic recovery and the outlook for consumer spending during the remainder of 2011.

BENTONVILLE, Ark.  -- Walmart announced a new relationship with NASCAR to give Walmart customers and race fans new NASCAR branded merchandise and special savings on race tickets available on Walmart.com/NASCAR for select races.  The new retail program, branded "Race Time", is the largest retail promotion in NASCAR's history, according to Walmart, and launches in 1,500 Walmart stores just in time for the start of the season with the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 (FOX, Sunday, Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. ET).

Borders Group on Thursday won bankruptcy court approval to liquidate approximately 200 stores in a deal that may bring in $175 million to creditors. The sales will begin Feb. 19, allowing Borders to take advantage of the President’s Day holiday, typically a major shopping weekend.

Hilco Merchant Resources LLC, SB Capital Group, Tiger Capital Group LLC and Gordon Brothers Group won the bidding to handle the liquidation sales, according to Bloomberg.

Okay, stop snickering. Target this week revealed that the name of its new small format stores would be CityTarget. The company offered that nugget in connection with news that it would open a small-format store in downtown Chicago at the Sullivan Center development located in the heart of downtown at South State Street and Madison.

Global supply chains in an Ayn Rand World is the theme of the 10th annual Supply Chain Management Research Center spring conference to be held Thursday, March 17 at the University of Arkansas Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development. The event will last from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. with industry leaders slated to share their views on a wide range of supply chain topics.

Walmart earlier this week named Cindy Davis EVP of a newly created global consumer insights business unit. She will be responsible for understanding broad consumer trends world wide and creating advanced analytical tools to support Walmart’s business, a sizeable task considering Walmart’s expanding global empire and the diversity of markets being served.