Wal-Mart said it will be spending half a billion dollars this year to expand in Canada, the latest example ot a retail rush north to take advantage of Canada's relatively robust economy and eager-to-spend consumers.
Wal-Mart
The definition of a grocery store has dramatically changed in recent years, especially with large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target now a part of the mix.
Wounded by a slump that continues to batter department stores despite a recent surge in sales at other retailers, many large U.S. chains are putting stores within their stores. All are drawn to the idea that partnering with specialized retailers and manufacturers can help them fill holes in their product offerings and help them profit from hot trends more quickly.
1962 was a very big year for discount retailing, with the opening of the very first Target, Wal-Mart and Kmart locations.
Wal-Mart is closing the Moscow office it opened just a few years ago, saying it no longer wants to build an operation in Russia from scratch, though it remains open to acquisition possibilities.
We’ve all been there — navigating a site, filling up our shopping cart with holiday presents, clicking “checkout” in excitement, and then it hits us — a big shipping fee. Suddenly, Grandpa’s new slippers don’t seem like such a bargain.
One of the greatest benefits of item-level tagging for retailers is perpetual inventory management. With the increased visibility into inventory afforded by tagging, retailers have greater efficiency and accuracy in order processing based on an increased knowledge of what's in stock.
While Black Friday has long been viewed as the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, getting the frenzy started on Thanksgiving is a rather new development. A development that I find sad.
Wal-Mart reported a 9.3 percent increase in profit for its fiscal third quarter on Tuesday, but said an important measure of U.S. sales fell as customers of the retail giant continue to watch their spending.