Walmart

In its seventh year, the annual Top Redevelopers survey took a little turn. Chain Store Age’s coverage of the prior year’s redevelopment highlights has been expanded to include an additional six-month period in order to make the results as current as possible. So, instead of covering redevelopment projects that occurred during calendar year 2010, this year’s results include the first six months of 2011, as well.


Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart on Monday said it will offer shoppers gift cards if they buy items and then see lower prices at other stores during the holiday season.

The chain’s "Christmas Price Guarantee" will apply to good purchased Walmart stores in the United States from Nov. 1 to Dec. 25. Under the program, shoppers who buy a product at Walmart and then find the identical item listed for a lower price at another store can receive a gift card for the difference.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores is cutting back healthcare coverage for new part-time workers and significantly raising premiums for many new full-time associates, the New York Times reported. It is a major turnaround for the retailer which, a few years back, under heavy criticism that many of its 1.4 million workers could not afford or did not qualify for coverage, expanded coverage for employees and their families. The move generated of flurry of positive publicity.

NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores is cutting back healthcare coverage for new part-time workers and significantly raising premiums for many new full-time associates, the New York Times reported. It is a major turnaround for the retailer which, a few years back, under heavy criticism that many of its 1.4 million workers could not afford or did not qualify for coverage, expanded coverage for employees and their families.

Dollar stores get a lot of the credit for negatively impacting Walmart’s U.S. sales the past few years and it’s no wonder. The big three – Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree – have grown rapidly and collectively operate more than 20,000 conveniently located units that offer sharp prices on an expanding assortment of food and consumables.

Walmart’s deeper affiliation with NASCAR continued this week as the good old boys headed to Alabama’s Talladega super speedway for the Good Sam Club 500 where race fans were provided the opportunity to participate in Race Time at Walmart activities.

It looks like there are going to be some unhappy folks in Walmart’s supplier community later today. That’s because there are only a few seats remaining for the Emerging Trends in Retail conference that is organized each fall by the Center for Retail Excellence in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

No one said being an international retailer was easy, a lesson Walmart continues to learn the hard way on distant shores. This time the country in question is China, a market where despite having a long history and extensive operations, the company managed to run afoul of local officials who temporarily closed 13 stores because, according to media, reports, some pork products were incorrectly labeled as organic. Walmart has been in China for about 15 years and currently operates 349 stores, consisting of 245 Walmart stores and 104 units that are still branded as Trust-Mart.