Walmart

Walmart and Target are said to be among major corporations working with the Department of Energy on the development of a new breed of energy-efficient air conditioners. The DOE recently announced that as part of a voluntary program, it worked with members of the DOE Commercial Building Energy Alliances, including Walmart and Target, to develop new performance criteria for 10-ton capacity commercial air conditioners, also known as rooftop units that are 50% to 60% more efficient than existing equipment.

The retail consulting and research firm Customer Growth Partners is out with a new report highlighting the fact that department stores gained market share last year for the first time in nearly three decades. According to CGP’s study, department stores’ share of the U.S. retail market rose for the first time since the 1980’s, fueled both by innovation and superior mall anchor execution combined with top-line weakness at the granddaddy of off-mall big-boxes, Walmart’s U.S. division, which is now suffering through almost two years of lagging sales.

A lack of visibility into Walmart’s sales performance coupled with concerns about the pace of a U.S. sales recovery is contributing to some apprehension on Wall Street regarding the company’s fourth-quarter performance.

Walmart has sold AT&T iPhones in its store for several years now so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the company would be offering the iPhone 4 now that it is available on the Verizon network. The company announced availability of the product at 600 of its stores earlier this week, which is consistent with a broader strategy in the electronics and entertainment category to be a leader or at least a fast follower.

Word out of Minneapolis this week courtesy of a Bloomberg story is that Best Buy plans to emulate Walmart’s pricing model in order to confront the issue of price transparency and simplify its operations. Smartphone wielding shoppers armed with price comparison apps have quickly changed how consumers shop and make purchases of highly considered items, such as those which dominate the product mix at Best Buy or in Walmart’s electronics department.

Wells Fargo retail analyst Matt Nemer put several leading retailers to the test this week with an innovative approach to research. According to Barron’s, he went on a $5,000 shopping spree on the websites of some of the largest Internet-only and traditional retailers. He said Amazon.com offered the best shopping experience, and he rated the retailer at outperform. Walmart.com, was said to have higher prices than Amazon’s, but had strong customer service and didn’t showed up as well in searches.

Crain’s New York Business this week reported on an interesting situation involving Walmart and the hype surrounding the company entry into the city. According to author Greg David, “as the opponents of Walmart continue their campaign to prevent the company from opening stores in New York, it remains a mystery how they intend to do that. David notes that the City Council has no power to intervene in leases signed at existing retail locations, and the company seems more determined than ever to take on the Big Apple.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Walmart announced that iPhone 4 on the Verizon Wireless network will be available in select Walmart stores starting Feb. 10.  

 "We're excited to bring iPhone 4 on the Verizon Wireless network, one the most anticipated mobile phone launches in recent history, to Walmart customers," said Gary Severson, SVP home entertainment for Walmart U.S. "As customers continue to embrace smart phone technology, we've added nearly 20 smart phone models to our assortment, including the new Verizon Wireless iPhone 4."