News

Walmart pulled out of Korea a few years ago and may not be paying much attention to the market, but there are some interesting things happening there. For example, Tesco has developed an interesting shopper marketing solution that appeals to time-starved Korean commuters. The strategy could be applied to other urban areas where hordes of smart phone wielding commuters have embraced QR codes and ride well maintained mass transit systems. Even though those requirements rule out most U.S.

NEW YORK — Kmart has teamed up with Alloy Media + Marketing for a second Web series promoting Kmart for back-to-school. The Web series, "First Day 2: First Dance (www.facebook.com/FDtheseries and www.kmart.com/firstdance) is scheduled to premiere on Sept. 9 and is the sequal to the company's original Web series, "First Day."

ST. JOHNS, Fla. — Just one week after opening a remodeled store in Apopka, Fla., Winn-Dixie has opened another reformatted store in St. Johns, making it the company's first overhauled location in the North Florida area.

The renovated Winn-Dixie features an expanded grocery department, as well as a deli serving restaurant-quality entrees and side dishes, the retailer said.

The ongoing emphasis on expense reduction and every day low prices saw Walmart curtail its promotional activity during July, according to the last monthly report from Market Track examining promotional activity at the nation’s leading retailers. Click here to see results for the nation’s top 15 retailers.

WASHINGTON — Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have announced a $3 million initiative designed to help D.C. residents get the skills and training they need to gain employment. The program will offer literacy, customer service and retail training to 2,000 District residents.

Armonk, N.Y. -- IBM announced that S&S Worldwide grew recommendation sales 75% in just three months with IBM Smarter Commerce software in the cloud.  S&S is a national distributor of sporting goods products for recreation, health care, and education professionals and is using IBM software to drive personalized product recommendation sales via its Web sites.

Walmart’s policy of prohibiting employees from accepting the smallest of gratuities has been in place for a long time and for good reason. Veterans of the company will tell you that early on it was a key driver of success because there was a time when the retail industry was rife with merchants who tended to make buying decisions that were in their best interest as opposed to those of customers.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Family Dollar opened its 7,000th store Thursday, further cementing the dollar-store channel as an area of rapid growth.

The store is located in Memphis, Tenn., and features a green building design and a spacious layout for an optimal shopping experience, the company reported. 

To commemorate the opening of its 7,000th store in Memphis, Family Dollar completed the celebration with the $7,000 donation to the Mid-South Food Bank, along with cans of food donated by members of the local community.