Mass Merchant

Wal-Mart Stores president and CEO Mike Duke was on Capitol Hill this week making the case for modernizing the U.S. tax code even as Democratic and Republican lawmakers continued to engage in brinksmanship over what all agree is a disturbing level of national indebtedness. Duke testified before the United States Senate Committee on Finance, which was holding hearings on CEO perspectives on how the tax code affects hiring, businesses and economic growth. A transcript of his prepared remarks appears below:

Walmart said it will donate $20 million to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to provide for free admission for the next five years. The expansive world class facility scheduled to open Nov. 11 in Bentonville, Ark. was founded by the Walton Family Foundation in 2005.

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Grocery retailer Meijer announced it will open a 14th Chicago-area store, this one under its Meijer Marketplace banner designed to bring a smaller-size localized concept to the Melrose Park neighborhood.

Meijer Marketplace spans 96,000 sq. ft. – about half the size of the grocer’s supercenters – and features a tailored offering as well as a variety of general merchandise items.

Topeka, Kan. -- Collective Brands, parent to Payless ShoeSource, announced Thursday the opening of its 100th franchise store, which is located in Cirebon, Indonesia.

The store represents the seventh store in Indonesia to date and the overall rapid international expansion of the Payless store chain over the past two years through its franchise strategy.

WAYNE, N.J.— Amazon, which reported record 2Q sales, will get even more help boosting its bottom line now that Toys"R"Us will start selling the online retailer's popular Kindle e-reader.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl’s Department Stores announced that it has awarded 10 students, ranging in age from 10 to 17, with a total of $10,000 in scholarship money for post-secondary education. In addition to the scholarships, Kohl’s will donate $1,000 to a nonprofit organization of each winner’s choice. 

The existence of hunger in America and the concept of food deserts are hard for most Americans to grasp. Simple observations suggests that the majority of us are not missing many meals and grocery stores are so prevalent that profitably operating a food store is a perpetual challenge because of intense competition and the resulting pricing pressure.

Bentonville, Ark. -- The Walton Family Foundation revealed Wednesday that it will donate $50 million to Teach For America, a commitment that stands to nearly double the size of the organization’s teaching ranks.

The charity that was created by the founder of Wal-Mart Stores will mete out half of the funds over a three-year period, and will increase the number of teachers to 15,000 by 2015. The remaining half of the donation will support the training of existing Teach for America instructors in seven communities.

In the July 14 edition of SiteTalk, we asked you what you thought of
Best Buy's announcement that it would shore up its store size by
subleasing space to other retailers.  This is what one reader had to
say.

"Best Buy, in my opinion, is making the same smart move many other
retailers have made. They are trying to get it "right"!"

-- Patty Ernst
CASCO Architectural Engineering
St. Louis
 

San Mateo, Calif. -- Hillsdale Shopping Center, located in San Mateo, Calif., is currently undergoing an extensive 80,000-sq.-ft. renovation to an area previously occupied by Mervyn’s.

The transformation will feature San Mateo County’s first Cheesecake Factory, a two-story Forever 21, and H&M as anchors of the center’s south end.