Walmart

Walmart chief merchandising officer Duncan Mac Naughton was back in Canada earlier this week at the CIBC World Markets Retail and Consumer Conference in Toronto sharing a message of improved traction and accelerating momentum.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, the nation's second largest tax preparation firm, has been named Supplier of the Year by Walmart's financial services division. Jackson Hewitt was recognized for: its aggressive expansion into over 750 new Walmart locations for the 2012 tax season, which increased its nationwide kiosk coverage in Walmart U.S.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday it will reduce prices on groceries by $1 billion in 2012, in hopes to draw customers in and encourage them to cross-shop in other areas of the store.

Wal-Mart had $145 billion in grocery sales last year in the United States, making it the largest player in terms of domestic grocery sales. It says the price reductions in food and consumables are an investment and won’t impact margins especially if shoppers respond as planned with additional traffic and loyalty.

In honor celebration of Women's History Month, The Huffington Post's Nell Merlino has penned a column highlighting some successful businesswomen. Among them is Rosalind Brewer, who in February was named president and CEO of Sam's Club, and is the first woman, and the first African American to hold a CEO position at one of Walmart's divisions. Other women on the list include Spanx creator Sara Blakely and financial guru Suze Orman. Read the full article here.

MONTREAL — Walmart Canada and Breakfast Clubs of Canada, an organization that provides breakfast to Canadian school children, have raised $2.9 million through their Help Them Shine Campaign.

The money raised will help launch 125 new in-school breakfast programs and increase its training programs with a specific focus on nutrition, youth self-esteem and volunteerism, according to a press release.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Parents of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" fans may soon be heading to Walmart to snatch up items from the retailer's exclusive children's line from Fox Consumer Products. The launch of the collection coincided with the Blu-ray and DVD release of "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" in Walmart stores on March 27.

Walmart took a chance on unemployed welfare recipient Girshriela Green when it hired her for a part-time job in the low-income Los Angeles neighborhood of Crenshaw. Now she’s out of work, in pain, on government assistance and being held up by as an example of Walmart bad behavior in an article that doubles as a union recruitment tool.

Surging gas prices this spring could jeopardize Walmart’s tenuous same-store sales recovery as consumers have less disposable income and opt to shop at outlets closer to home. At least that was how the situation played out in the recent past when gas prices surged above $4. Are things different now?