Mass Merchant

The seventh annual Best Companies for Leadership Study conducted by the global consulting firm the Hay Group ranked Walmart eighth.

Walmart’s eighth  place ranking on the top 20 list is one notch better than the prior year, but slightly below the company’s 6th place ranking in 2009 when it made the list for the first time.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — HumanKind Water, PlateTopper and SnapIt Eyeglass Repair Kit have the distinction of being the winners of Walmart's Get on the Shelf contest -- beating out more than 4,000 inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses to claim the coveted prize of being carried at Walmart.com and in Walmart U.S. stores.

New York -- New York City Pension Funds is urging shareholders to vote against the re-election of Wal-Mart Stores CEO Mike Duke and four other board members out of concerns about the chain’s bribery investigation in Mexico, the Associated Press reported.

The pension group owns 5.6 million shares of Wal-Mart, which has more than 3.4 billion shares outstanding.

Plenty of people shop Walmart’s stores for their groceries but go elsewhere to buy meat. Now the company is looking to convert a larger percentage of its more discriminating shoppers to purchasers of meat with a new quality-based initiative supported by an innovative shopper marketing strategy and a national ad campaign.

After the pounding Walmart and its president and CEO Mike Duke have taken in recent weeks in the media over the alleged Mexican bribery and cover up scandal detailed by the New York Times, the company and its leader received some good news this week from the Network of Executive Women.

Peoria, Ill. -- Christopher M. West, COO and partner of Cullinan Properties, announced several additions to the Cullinan team.

Shawn Luesse has been hired as project manager for the Streets of St. Charles mixed-use development in metro St. Louis. Luesse was previously director of development for the G & T Group, based in Champaign, Ill.

Seth Marks has joined the team as leasing representative, assisting with the retail, restaurant and entertainment leasing for The Streets of St. Charles and the Quincy Mall in Quincy, Ill.

Target has done quite well for itself in California, but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy. Ironically, the state with the most extensive network of Target stores also happens to be the one identified as the worst state in which to do business, according to a recent survey.

Bethesda, Md. -- Sax Realty said that Joe’s Crab Shack will open in the Hunt Valley Towne Centre, north of Interstate 695, in Bethesda, Md.

The center is anchored by Wegman's, Burlington Coat Factory, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, DSW and Regal Theatres. This will be the fourth new Joe's to open in Maryland, joining restaurants in Greenbelt, Bel Air and Arundel Mills which opens summer 2012.