Retail

Driving same-store sales at U.S. stores is the top priority of Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon and his boss, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., president and CEO Mike Duke. Both executives stated U.S. comp growth is their top priority on Friday and went on to add that they are confident the company has the right strategy and people in place to make it happen.

It takes a special type of person to work at Walmart, according to chief information officer Rollin Ford, who told those assembled at the company’s shareholders’ meeting that customer service is in their DNA.

Ford, a 28-year Walmart executive, was called into service for a brief presentation at the meeting to recount his experience of working at Walmart while founder Sam Walton was still alive, since most of the thousands of store associates and many of the executives who attended the event joined the company after Walton death nearly 20 years ago.

Target isn’t off to a great start in the second quarter- with a same store sale increase of 2.8% that was toward the low end of the company’s guidance range that called for a low to mid-single digit increase. The company also fell short of its comp guidance in April.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — eBay Inc. announced that it has agreed to acquire Magento Inc., the creator of Magento, a leading open source e-commerce platform. The deal follows eBay’s acquisition of a minority stake in the company in 2010. Upon closing of the transaction, eBay will own 100% of the outstanding shares of Magento. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MONTVALE, N.J. — Grocer A&P has entered into a new supply and logistics agreement with its principal wholesale supplier, C&S Wholesale Grocers, that is estimated to generate a run-rate of more than $50 million in annual savings. The revised contract must be approved by the bankruptcy court.

While an abundance of celebrities and references to Walmart founder Sam Walton gave this year’s shareholders meeting a familiar feel, there also was an unmistakable emphasis on e-commerce and social media.

A lot of companies are content to conduct their annual meetings in a hotel ballroom near their headquarters, but not Target. This year the retailer and its senior executives are schlepping east to Pittsburgh where the company’s annual meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 8 at 1:30 p.m. at a store located about five miles east of downtown Pittsburgh at 6231 Penn Avenue. According to the company, “This location allows us to showcase our current general merchandise store design in the latter stages of construction prior to opening.”

ORLANDO, Fla. — Macy’s has enjoyed strong sales momentum during the early part of this year with first-quarter same-store sales up 5.4% and the second quarter off to an even stronger start with May comps up 7.4%. There are a lot of reasons for those results, but several key supply chain initiatives have made important contributions and were recognized recently at the annual VICS Collaborative Commerce Achievement Awards.