Walmart

Columbus, Ohio -- Kantar Retail said Thursday that same-store sales got a big lift to 6% growth in November from a strong promotional environment, as well as from an easy year-ago comparison period and shifting shopper spending intentions.

The sales-weighted composite for the 30 retailers reporting -- most of them apparel retailers -- was better than the 1.7% same-store sales gain last month and the 0.9% gain in November of 2009 for the same measure. (The calculations don’t include Walmart, which stopped reporting monthly results in April 2009.)

Tucson, Ariz. -- Commercial Retail Advisors said Tuesday that water purification retailer Water Mart has signed a lease for a new store in Orange Grove Village, in Tucson, Ariz.

The retailer is relocating from its current site in the local Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market Center to the new 1,200-sq.-ft. space.

The new store is slated to open in mid-December.

Tokyo - A report released Tuesday said that Japanese prosecutors will launch an investigation into possible insider trading involving shares of Wal-Mart's Japanese subsidiary Seiyu.

According to Reuters, which cited the Nikkei business daily website, the trading is suspected to have occurred when Wal-Mart turned Seiyu into a fully owned unit in 2007.

In early November, Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission began an investigation into possible insider trading. Wal-Mart has said it would cooperate with authorities.

Bentonville, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores announced Monday that it is buying a controlling stake in South Africa's Massmart in an approximately $2 billion deal. The investment gives the discounter a substantial presence in South Africa and paves the way for further expansion across the continent.  Wal-Mart International president and CEO Doug McMillon made clear his company is pursuing a regional strategy.

New York - The holiday shopping season got off to a positive if unspectacular start, according to preliminary results from the Black Friday weekend.  The number of people who shopped at stores and online between Thursday and Sunday was up 8.7% to 212 million shoppers, according to a National Retail Federation survey of 4,306 shoppers conducted by BIGresearch. The total amount spent during the four-day weekend reached an estimated $45 billion, with the average spending rising 6.4% to $365.34, the survey showed.

New York - Wal-Mart Stores sees more opportunity in emerging markets than in Europe, the company’s International Chief Executive Officer, Doug McMcMillion, told Bloomberg.

“China is top of the list, and Brazil is not far behind” to make deals, McMillon said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness With Margaret Brennan.” The retailer is being “patient” about finding the right way to expand in Russia, McMillon said.