Retail

Walmart continues to press on the mobile phone front with an exclusive deal with Virgin Mobile. As of Saturday, June 21, Virgin Mobile’s payLo will offer customers domestic unlimited voice or unlimited texting for $20 per month.

For budget-conscious consumers who don’t need a smartphone, payLo offers affordable devices and value-driven monthly plans. Customers who purchase a Kyocera Kona or Samsung Montage in participating Walmart stores or at Walmart.com can choose between two exclusive $20-per-month offers:

Mississauga, Ontario -- Walmart Canada has appointed an executive from Delhaize Group, Dirk Van den Berghe, as president and CEO, effective Aug. 1.

Van den Berghe, who has 30 years of international business experience, most recently served as CEO of Delhaize’s Belgium and Luxembourg operations. His appointment at Walmart was seen as a way for the discounter to strengthen its grocery business in Canada.

Matthews, N.C. – Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, who recently engaged in a high-profile effort to force EBay to separate its PayPal business, is now demanding that Family Dollar sell itself. Icahn, who recently disclosed he has a 9.4% stake in the discount retailer, sent an open letter to Family Dollar chairman Howard Levine saying that it is imperative the company be put up for sale immediately.

Dublin, Calif. -- dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, will open its first store in New Jersey, in the town of Ewing, on June 28.

Including this new location, dd’s Discounts will operate approximately 140 locations in 11 states. The company is on schedule to complete its expansion plan to open approximately 20 locations in 2014.

Together, Ross Dress for Less and dd’s Discounts currently operate over 1,300 off-price apparel and home fashion stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

London – Three-quarters of online shoppers have shopped online for groceries and 40% of these do so on a regular basis, but only one-third of grocery shoppers rate their experience as “easy.” And only one-in-five (19%) of those surveyed by EDigitalResearch are delighted with their online grocery experience.

Mark Phillips was elevated to the role of VP of pharmaceutical merchandising at Walmart after previously serving as the retailer’s senior director of merchandising for small formats.

Boston – The Massachusetts House of Representatives has approved a bill that would gradually raise the state’s minimum wage from its current hourly rate of $8 to $11 by 2017, which would make it the highest state minimum wage in the country.

The state Senate has already approved the bill, which is expected to be approved by Gov. Deval Patrick (D) after a procedural Senate vote. Under the legislation, the minimum wage would rise to $9 per hour on Jan. 1, 2015; to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016; and finally to $11 on Jan. 1, 2017.

Gamers who can’t make it to Anaheim, California, this fall for GameStop’s third annual Expo will still be able to participate in the retailer’s event thanks to a new relationship with Twitch, the world’s leading online gaming community.

GameStop and Twitch, a video platform with a massive audience, reached an agreement in which Twitch will broadcast live from GameStop’s annual video gaming show known as Expo. The event will be held September 10 and occupies 300,000 sq. ft. at the Anaheim Convention Center.