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6/28/2009 -Wal-Mart aims to Keep New Flock Of Customers 7/3/2008 - Bentonville, AR - Wal-Mart Commits to America's Farmers as Produce Aisles Go Local 5/16/2008 - Salt Lake City, UT - New Riverton Wal Mart Set To Debut 3/18/2008 - Wal-Mart Introduces Most Energy Efficient Store Yet 2/13/2008 - New Wal - Mart Super Center To Open 2/13/2008 - Wal Mart to add In-Store Clinics 2/6/2008 - Wal Mart to convert 14 Southern California locations to solar technology1/7/2008 - Wal-Mart Loses Tax Case Ruling 12/28/2007 From The Associated Press 12/18/2007 - Bentonville, Arkansas 6/28/2009 - Wal-Mart Aims to Keep a New Flock of CustomersAP The recession steered a new type of customer to Wal-Mart - deeper in the pockets and suddenly looking for bargains. Now the world's largest retailer has to figure out how to keep that customer when the economy recovers. So Wal-Mart is bringing in more brand names, ditching scores of other products, and redesigning hundreds of stores to give them wider aisles, better lighting, and better sight lines. It's more than just a cosmetic upgrade. That new breed of customer also spends about 40 percent more than the traditional Wal-Mart shopper, and the retailer senses an opportunity to accelerate its growth. Take Aditya Krishnan, a 42-year-old lawyer from San Jose, Calif. He used to buy only light bulbs at Wal-Mart but now finds himself spending $150 a month there, including buying workout clothes he used to get at Macy's. "If I am able to get good stuff at Wal-Mart, and I am able to save money, why would I change?'' Krishnan asked. ``I am seeing better brands, and the shopping experience is better'' than before. Wal-Mart says that's no accident. It's placing a big bet on the redesign of most of its 3,600 stores, started last fall. This fiscal year, it plans to redo up to 600 at a cost from $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion. The prototype for the remodeling includes lower shelves to make it easier to see across the store, better lighting, and wider aisles. Expanded electronics areas will include interactive displays to test video games and portable gadgets. The store now carries brands like Danskin and Better Homes and Gardens, and its electronics section now stocks pricier products like Palm Inc.'s well-received new Pre smartphone. Whether it all works, Wall Street analysts say, depends in part on how quickly the behemoth retailer can remodel and keep shoppers satisfied. Concerns about how Wal-Mart will keep its momentum have sent its stock down 13 percent this year. Wal-Mart executives say 17 percent of its traffic growth in February was from new customers, and they're spending 40 percent more per trip. More than half of those shoppers live in households that take in more than $50,000 a year. While that may not be considered affluent, it's a big departure from Wal-Mart's core customers, of whom one in five does not have a bank account or has limited access to financial services.
BENTONVILLE, AR 7/3/2008 - Wal-Mart Commits to America's Farmers as Produce Aisles Go Local Wal-Mart today announced its commitment to source more local fruits and vegetables to keep produce prices down and provide affordable selections that are fresh and healthful. The retailer also reported that partnerships with local farmers have grown by 50 percent over the past two years – one example of the company’s efforts to support local economies, cut shipping costs and provide fresh food offerings. Today, hundreds of growers across the United States provide produce sold in Wal-Mart Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets, making Wal-Mart the nation’s largest purchaser of local produce. During summer months, locally sourced fruits and vegetables that are both grown and available for purchase within a state’s borders make up a fifth of the produce available in Wal-Mart stores. “Offering local produce has been a Wal-Mart priority for years, and we’re taking it to a new level with a pledge to grow our partnerships with local farmers. We’re committed to purchasing locally grown produce whenever possible,” said Pam Kohn, Wal-Mart’s senior vice president and general merchandise manager for grocery. “Increasing the amount of local produce in our grocery aisles – and adding clear locally grown signage – reflects our dedication to offer the freshest products possible at great prices.” Wal-Mart announced its locally grown commitment in a Supercenter in DeKalb County, Ga. today. The event featured an in-store farmers’ market with growers on hand to educate customers about produce. Just in time for the Fourth of July, Georgia Wal-Mart Supercenters have many of the ingredients customers need for a locally grown celebration: sweet Georgia-grown Vidalia onions for their Independence Day burgers, Georgia cantaloupes and watermelons for a fabulous fruit salad, and Georgia peaches for cobbler. A complete list of locally grown produce available by state is at www.livebetterindex.com. 5/16/2008 - New Riverton Wal-Mart set to debut. Soon Riverton shoppers won't have to leave the city to shop at Wal-Mart. The city's first superstore will open Wednesday giving residents on the city's west side more shopping options. The store features a garden center, tire center, one-hour photo and a McDonald's inside. The store will open for business at 7:30 a.m. and will feature free food and drink samples all day. City officials will be on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The store is located at 13502 S. Hamilton View Road, near Bangerter Highway. Riverton's new Wal-Mart opens for business Wednesday.
BENTONVILLE, Ark., April 21, 2008 – Wal-Mart Consumer Behavior Shows Buying Green is Going Mainstream On the eve of celebrating Earth Day, Wal-Mart issues new consumer research that shows shoppers are considering the environment before making a purchase. Today the retailer announced an adoption rate increase of 66 percent from last year in its sustainability Live Better Index, which has been tracking consumers’ decisions to purchase five key eco-friendly products since April 2007. This growth in the sustainability index shows that concern for the environment has a growing presence in shopping baskets of the retailer’s 200 million annual customers. The sustainability Live Better Index follows the adoption rates – sales compared to other products in the category – of five eco-friendly products based on Wal-Mart sales data. The overall adoption rate of these products serves as a nationwide trend indicator of consumer demand for ‘green’ products. These products were selected because consumers can make a conscious decision to purchase them for their environmental and cost-saving benefits versus other products in the same category. “When the sustainability Live Better Index was established, we wanted to help Americans understand that environmental choices were accessible and affordable for everyone,” said Stephen Quinn, chief marketing officer at Wal-Mart. “The fact that product adoption has increased dramatically in one year shows that the decisions our customers make in the aisles coupled with Wal-Mart’s commitment to providing more eco-friendly choices at the best value is helping consumers and the planet live better together.”
Eco-Friendly Products on the Rise 1. Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs – Average adoption rate of 19.7 percent (up from 13.39% in 2007)
2. Organic baby food and formula – Average adoption rate of 4.12 percent (down from 4.31% in 2007)
3. Organic milk – Average adoption rate of 1.58 percent (up from 1.15% in 2007)
4. Extended life paper products – Average adoption rate of 67.5 percent (up from 50.77% in 2007)
5. Concentrated/reduced-packaging liquid laundry detergents – Average adoption rate of 76.3 percent (up from 22.86% in 2007)
To reflect the growing consumer preference for eco-friendly products, Wal-Mart will now track additional product categories including sustainable coffee and eco-friendly cleaning products in the Live Better Index. These additions follow the introduction of the Sam’s Choice coffee (Apr. 2008) and Clorox Green Works™ (Jan. 2008) lines to Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart tapped into the growing influence of environmental concerns on consumer shopping behavior, as shown by the new sustainability Live Better Index findings, and launched its most comprehensive environmental sustainability campaign this April to celebrate Earth Month. The campaign highlights eco-friendly products available at budget-friendly prices, including all of the products tracked on the sustainability Live Better Index. New products introduced to consumers included t-shirts made from transitional cotton and recycled plastic soda bottles and Sam’s Choice sustainable coffees. American Consumers Continue to Drive Change: Live Better Index 2008 Findings
More details on the Live Better Index can be found online at www.livebetterindex.com. 3/18/2008 - Wal-Mart Introduces Most Energy Efficient Store Yet Today, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. introduced its most energy efficient U.S. store -- the HE.5 prototype – that will use up to 45 percent less energy than the baseline Supercenter. Building upon learnings from previous high efficiency stores Wal-Mart opened in 2007 and 2008, the HE.5 begins a new series of prototypes designed for specific climates. This facility is western climate-specific, meaning the efficiency gains are made possible by innovations designed for the conditions of the region. 2/13/2008 - Jacksonville, FL - New Wal-Mart Supercenter Will Open Next Month A new Wal-Mart Supercenter will open on Blanding Boulevard in the Ridgewood area on March 7, replacing an existing Wal-Mart less than a mile away. The new store, just north of College Drive, will replace the smaller Wal-Mart at Blanding Boulevard and Bolton Road. About 220 employees from the old store will transfer to the new store, which will also hire an additional 250 employees, a corporate spokeswoman said.
2/13/2008 - Atlanta - Wal Mart to add In-Store Clinics Metro Atlantans soon will have the option of getting medical care at Wal-Mart. The giant retailer said Thursday it is expanding its in-store clinic network and plans to open its first co-branded clinics this spring at Supercenter stores in Atlanta, Little Rock and Dallas. "The Clinic at Wal-Mart" outlets will be run in association with local hospital systems, the company said. Specific metro Atlanta locations and hospital partners weren't disclosed in Thursday's announcement. Wal-Mart said it expects to have 400 "Clinic at Wal-Mart" outlets by 2010, calling the move "further proof of Wal-Mart's commitment to providing affordable, accessible solutions to America's health care challenges." Wal-Mart said RediClinic, a chain of walk-in clinics that now has its own outlets at Wal-Marts in three states, will be a partner at 200 of the new outlets, including those in metro Atlanta. Wal-Mart's recently announced initiative involves a total of 22 stores in California and Hawaii, where it will install rooftop solar panel systems that the company said can provide stores with up to 30 percent of their power needs. Fourteen of the stores are in Southern California.The retailer said solar power generators on those stores will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a total of 6,500 to 10,000 metric tons per year, and generate 20 million kilowatt-hours per year. "This is being done as a pilot program," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Tiffany Moffatt said. "Depending on the results, we'll see if this can be applied on a broader scale." A North Carolina state judge ruled against Wal-Mart Stores in a tax shelter case involving the company’s paying itself rent and later citing that amount as a tax deduction. Wal-Mart had transferred ownership of its stores to various in-house real estate investment trusts, or REITs, and then cut its tax obligation by taking deductions for rent payments that never left the company. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has closed an online movie download service it launched less than a year ago. The retreat for Wal-Mart, which accounts for about 40 percent of all DVD sales, follows the company’s 2005 decision to abandoned efforts to build an online DVD rental service. The world’s largest retailer instead turned its rental service over to Netflix Inc. Wal-Mart still operates a music download service and continues to sell CDs and DVDs at retail stores and over the Internet for shipping by mail. A message on Wal-Mart’s video download Web site said the store closed Dec. 21. The Web site said customers who already have bought movies could continue to watch them. Responding to a nationwide food and grocery shortage in food banks this holiday season, Wal-Mart today announced that it is donating 3 million meals, the equivalent of $1 million, to America’s Second Harvest – the nation’s largest charitable hunger-relief organization. The majority of the donation comes in the form of 50 food-filled trucks being dispatched to food banks servicing every state in the nation. Wal-Mart’s contribution will provide much-needed meals to communities throughout the country just in time for the holidays. 12/1/2007 - New Store Openings Here is a listing of new Wal-Mart stores that opened during October 2007 Wasilla, Alaska - Marshall, Ill. - Batavia, N.Y. - Birmingham, Ala - Robinson, Ill.- Cleveland, Ohio - Brent, Ala. Baton Rouge La. - Oregon, Ohio - Winfield, Ala - Chicopee, Mass - Kingfisher, Okla. - Ashdown, Ark. - California, Md.- Stigler, Okla.- Mesa, Ariz.- Cockeysville, Md.- Erie, Penn. - New Haven, Conn. - Commerce, Mich.- Aiken, S.C.- Coral Springs, Fla -. New Hudson, Mich.- Marion, S.C.- Dublin, Ga.- Shelby Township, Mich. - Wichita Falls, Texas - Marietta, Ga.- Willmar, Minn. - Kilmarnock, Va. - Carlinville, Ill.- Laurel, Mont. - Ashland, Wis.- Crystal Lake, Ill.- Las Vegas, Nev. - Ladysmith, Wis. 11/27/2007 - Rice Lake, Wisconsin Fire at Rice Lake, Wisconsin Super Wal-Mart store #1446 closed the store Tuesday morning. The Rice Lake Police Department have announced that two men, ages 19 and 20, have been arrested on suspicion of arson. Charges are pending with the Barron County district attorney's office. Although the fire was contained to a couple of aisles, a fire official said damage was significant. Store manager Brad Houghton said 75 people - customers and employees - were in the building at the time of the fire, and everyone got out safely. The store is expected to reopen Wednesday morning. |
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