Walmart

New York City -- While it may take some to fully assess the damage, the impact of Hurricane Irene on retail sales is likely to split among retail sectors: Home-improvement stores selling emergency preparation products and clean-up items are likely to benefit the most from the storm, while apparel retailers and department stores selling non-essential items are likely to take a hit.

It is hard to overstate the significance of Target’s entry into Canada in terms of the impact it will have on the company’s growth and the marketplace overall. You would have to go back to 1992 and Walmart’s acquisition of 122 Woolco stores to find an event of similar magnitude, and even that deal comes up short compared with Target’s plans to open as many as 150 stores beginning in early 2013.

Target failed to crack a ranking of the top 10 most effective back-to-school ads compiled by Ace Metrix that was dominated by retail competitors and technology companies.

New York City -- Many New Yorkers remain at home on Monday, as Irene -- though not the monster it first appeared to be -- left widespread flooding and power outages in its weekend wake.

Johannesburg -- Massmart Holdings Ltd., the South African retailer controlled by Wal-Mart Stores, announced Thursday it will up its store counts in fiscal 2012 by 8.6% to 340 stores. The company will open 27 new stores during the period, mostly in South Africa and two in Nigeria.CEO Grant Pattison said the accelerated pace is to keep the company in front of its competitors.

Also on Thursday, Massmart reported an 11.6% rise in total sales for the year ended June 26 to $7.29 billion, and upped its forecast for the remainder of 2011.

NEW YORK — A recent consumer survey released by AlixPartners found that a little more than half of all consumers (51%) identify a traditional grocery retailer as their point of destination when making a grocery trip. Such mass merchants as Walmart are capturing 30% of those trips, and the continued emphasis on fresh in the drug channel has drawn 5% of those trips into the mainstream pharmacy.

Dollar stores, another channel that has in the past few years made a significant push into food items, also draws 5% of all grocery trips.

By Howard Paster, [email protected]

The world is full of powerful women, but a recent listing of the 100 most powerful by Forbes indicates that, with a few exceptions, they don’t think many are involved in the retail and consumer packaged goods world.