Discount Store

No one disputes the philosophy that every day low prices enabled Walmart to achieve dramatic growth, but pricing studies continue to reveal a marketplace where price separation relative to competitors has become difficult to achieve.

New York City -- Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy and CVS took top honors in Interbrand’s annual ranking of the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands. The U.S. brands are valued in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

Family Dollar is at the midpoint of its fiscal year, and on track to open a total of 300 new stores, the company announced in conjunction with the release of it second-quarter financial results. Dollar stores have emerged as a key competitive threat to Walmart as they have beefed up assortments of food and consumables and their abundant stores are often more convenient than Walmart’s supercenters. A few weeks earlier, Dollar General said it would open 625 stores during it fiscal year.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores’ Scott Price, CEO for Asia, said Wednesday that the retailer makes $16 billion in annual sales in Japan, China and India.

In a report broadcast on Wal-Mart’s website and covered by Bloomberg, Price said that operations in Japan have $8 billion annual sales from 414 stores with 36,000 workers.

Annual revenue is $7.5 billion in China, generated by 329 stores, and sales in India are less than $1 billion a year, according to Price.

Sacramento, Calif. -- Voit Real Estate Services announced that the Gallelli Retail Team, led by Jason K. Gallelli, has joined the Sacramento office of Voit.

In their previous role with Colliers International, The Gallelli Retail Team represented more than 50 Northern California shopping centers, as well as representing more than 25 national retailers, such as Cinemark Theatres, Best Buy, TJX Companies, Costco, Sprouts Farmers Market, Chipotle, and Panera Bread.
 

Profit grew by nearly 10% to $123.2 million and sales advanced 8.3% to nearly $2.3 billion, as Family Dollar remained on a consistent growth trajectory during its second quarter ended Feb. 27. Earnings per share for the period increased 21% to 98 cents compared with 81 cents in the second quarter the prior year.

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended Feb. 26 rose 10% to $123.2 million, compared with $112.2 million a year earlier. Results were helped in part by improved traffic and higher transaction value.

Revenue increased 8% to $2.26 billion, from $2.09 billion. Same-store sales rose 5.1%.

Earlier in March, Family Dollar turned down an approximately $7 billion buyout offer from minority shareholder Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund.

WASHINGTON -- The nation’s court is set to hear arguments on Tuesday in a decade-old legal fight that could cost Wal-Mart Stores billions of dollars if the 500,000 women claiming sex bias are allowed to band together in a class action.

Wal-Mart is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to end the massive sex discrimination lawsuit in which the women are claiming that the retailer favors men over women in pay and promotions.