Walmart

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday it has reorganized reporting relationships, putting its U.S. marketing team under the leadership of the chief merchandising officer. Marketing currently operates as a separate group and the move, said Wal-Mart, is designed to improve shopper communication.

The new plan will have U.S. chief marketing officer Stephen Quinn reporting to U.S. chief merchandising officer Duncan Mac Naughton. Before the change, Quinn reported to Bill Simon, Wal-Mart U.S. president and CEO.

Walmart opened its second supercenter in Chicago this week, and the only thing missing from the press release announcing the new store was a quote from President Obama praising the company as a job creator.

Instead, Walmart had to settle for some kind words from Chicago mayor and former Obama chief of staff Rohm Emanuel.

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.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart announced that it is expanding its Race Time 2012 program to give fans more accessibility to discounted race tickets, driver appearances and fan events at stores, a greater selection of authentic NASCAR merchandise and a special sponsorship of Bill Elliott at the Coke Zero 400.

Asda, Walmart’s U.K. subsidiary, has big plans for 2012 that include investing more than £500m ($784 million) in its stores in 2012.

The company said it will invest the money in opening 25 new stores and three depots, as well as expanding and remodeling 43 of its existing stores. According to the company, this investment will create up to 5,000 new jobs in the United Kingdom. The company noted that current Asda associates would have the opportunity to enhance their careers through the company’s apprenticeship program.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Wednesday opened its second supercenter and fifth location overall in Chicago.

Matt Kistler is in a relatively new role at Walmart as SVP of merchandise execution and to explain what that means he is on the agenda for an upcoming event presented by Doing Business in Bentonville.

Kistler is scheduled to speak on February 8 at the DBB event which runs from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and will be held at the John Q. Hammons Center. He is expected to provide an overview of Walmart’s merchandise services unit that was created last year.