Discount Store

Walmart could be put at a competitive disadvantage in Brazil if a bizarre merger between the company’s two larger rivals proceeds and secures regulatory approval.

The nation’s two largest retailers, Pao de Acucar and France-based Carrefour are attempting to merge their operations in a convoluted deal that has drawn the ire of fellow French retailer Casino, which owns a large stake in Pao de Acucar. 

Walmart doesn’t need a lot of help when it comes to growth, which is why last week’s announcement by Target to sell its larger rival 39 sites in Canada was a surprise. Walmart is on track to end this year with 333 stores, and on Friday Target said it had reached an agreement to transfer to Walmart Canada the rights for leasehold interests in up to 39 sites currently operated by Zellers. The sites are among the up to 220 possible sites whose leasehold interests Target is acquiring as part of a real estate transaction announced in January.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys"R"Us announced that it will offer an exclusive collection of toys based on the animated short Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation, playing in theaters in conjunction with Cars 2.

Examples in the line include:

• Sheriff Woody 16-inch action figure dressed in Hawaiian shirt, straw hat and lei. The toy can say 20 phrases when kids pull the string on his back and plays Hawaiin music.

The most recent iteration of a pricing study conducted by Credit Suisse shows Target was 4.7% more expensive on a basket of items in Chicago and Dallas compared with 4% the prior month. 

MINNEAPOLIS — Target last week announced that Target Canada has reached an agreement to transfer to Walmart Canada the leasehold interests in up to 39 sites, currently operated by Zellers.

Specific locations will be identified later this fall. Terms of this transaction were not disclosed.

Janney Montgomery Scott analyst David Strasser downgraded shares of Target to neutral from buy on Monday. In doing so he cited some familiar concerns about the challenging competitive environment, rising input costs and anticipated difficulties passing through price increases to cash-strapped shoppers thereby negatively affecting gross margins.

During a question-and-answer style interview in Monday’s USA Today, Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel shared his thoughts on a wide range of topics including Walmart, inflation, designers and competition.

Walmart attracted nearly 33.6 million unique visitors to its website in May, earning the company the 29th spot on comScore’s monthly ranking of the top 50 U.S. web properties. That sounds like a lot of traffic, but 7th ranked Amazon.com drew nearly three times that level with 94.9 million unique visitors. Other notable, retail-oriented companies and their rank included 13th ranked Apple, with 70.3 million unique visitors, 14th ranked eBay, with 67.2 million unique visitors and 20th ranked Craigslist, with 51.8 million unique visitors.