Whatever happened to SEARS, where America shops?
The Wal-Mart You Don't Know
The giant retailer's low prices often come with a high cost. Wal-Mart's relentless pressure can crush the companies it does business with and force them to send jobs overseas. Are we shopping our way straight to the unemployment line?
From: Issue 77 December 2003, Page 68 By: Charles Fishman Photographs by: Livia Corona
A gallon-sized jar of whole pickles is something to behold. The jar is the size of a small aquarium. The fat green pickles, floating in swampy juice, look reptilian, their shapes exaggerated by the glass. It weighs 12 pounds, too big to carry with one hand. The gallon jar of pickles is a display of abundance and excess; it is entrancing, and also vaguely unsettling. This is the product that Wal-Mart fell in love with: Vlasic's gallon jar of pickles.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html
Wal-Mart Estimates Rise in January Sales
Associated Press
BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. predicts January sales for its U.S. stores will increase 2 percent to 4 percent compared to January 2004.
The world's largest retailer provided its estimate for same-store sales - stores open for at least a year - for the four-weeks ending Friday in its weekly sales update.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/financial_markets/10715977.htm
Tracking Wal-Mart
January 23, 2005
Last we knew: The city of Lafayette, fearing Wal-Mart would close its aging store in town, offered the retail giant $2.3 million in incentives to buy land on the west side of U.S. 287 between Baseline and Arapahoe roads, which could be used as a site for a larger supercenter store.
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/lafayette_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2425_3491829,00.html
Wal-Mart arguments
January 23, 2005
Pay
Against: The company pays employees poorly.
For: Wal-Mart's 1.2 million sales associates earn an average of $9.68 an hour
Insurance
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/county_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2423_3491791,00.html
Heed lesson of Wal-Mart: know plans for the land
By HOWARD TROXLER, Times Columnist
Published January 23, 2005
When did our commission lose the power to say no?
- Christopher Still, Tarpon Springs artist and Wal-Mart opponent
This past Tuesday evening in Tarpon Springs, as many as 400 people gathered for a showdown before the City Commission about allowing a Wal-Mart supercenter on the east side of U.S. 19, on the south side of the Anclote River.
Wal-Mart won.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/01/23/Columns/Heed_lesson_of_Wal_Ma.shtml
Wal-Mart Abduction Suspect Awaits Extradition Hearing
The man arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing a Tyler Wal-Mart cashier is still in Arizona. He's awaiting an extradition hearing that could come as soon as tomorrow.
Johnny Lee Williams, Jr., 24, of Tyler, sits in a jail cell in Cochise County. He was arrested at a hospital there, after getting treated for a gunshot wound he suffered during a failed robbery attempt.
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2851165&nav=1TjDVYNZ
Wal-Mart Sticks to January Guidance
By TSC Staff
1/24/2005 7:28 AM EST
Wal-Mart (WMT:NYSE - news - research) stuck to previous guidance for January sales, saying food receipts should offset the late arrival of the Super Bowl in 2005.
http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/stocks/retail/10204646.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
Wal-Mart predicts sales increase
By The Associated Press
Bentonville, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. predicts January sales for its U.S. stores will increase 2 percent to 4 percent compared to January 2004.
The world's largest retailer provided its estimate for same-store sales — stores open for at least a year — for the four weeks ending Friday in its weekly sales update.
http://springfield.news-leader.com/business/today/0124-WalMartpre-286338.html
When new neighbor is Wal-Mart
Elizabeth Anderson knows well how new development can change a neighborhood.
Fifteen years ago she and her family lived on the quiet east end of Water Street. The rarely traveled dirt road was ideal for her children because they could easily cross the street to neighbors’ houses without her worrying about them.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2068&dept_id=387467&newsid=13810728&PAG=461&rfi=9
Wal-Mart expects 2%-4% sales increase
Wal-Mart Stores expects a 2%-4% increase in January sales at its U.S. stores open at least a year.
http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2005/01/24/daily5.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Wal-Mart has an ear for iPod market
Published: January 31, 2005, 6:45 PM PST
By Alorie Gilbert and Ina Fried
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Wal-Mart Stores has quietly begun selling Apple Computer's popular iPod Minis in select stores, the mega retailer's first big move into the market for the enormously popular digital music players.
The discount chain is selling Minis in a "limited number of stores," a Wal-Mart representative said Monday. The representative declined to elaborate on how many of the company's nearly 5,000 stores are carrying the device.
http://news.com.com/Wal-Mart+has+an+ear+for+iPod+market/2100-1041_3-5558041.html
Report: Wal-Mart bids for Littlewoods
By Dan Burrows, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:11 PM ET Jan. 31, 2005
E-mail it Print Alert Reprint RSS
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Wal-Mart Stores' U.K.-based Asda subsidiary made an unsolicited bid for Littlewoods Stores, according to a published report.
TRADING CENTER
Wal-Mart's (WMT: news, chart, profile) Asda business offered 500 million pounds ($944 million) for the 186-store British retail chain, the Telegraph reported Sunday.
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B51A61B27-CC30-4674-BDD7-CA4935B657F8%7D&siteid=google&dist=google
First labor union at Wal-Mart?
Employees at a Colorado store have been granted approval by NLRB to hold a union election.
January 31, 2005: 1:44 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNN) - Employees at a Colorado Wal-Mart tire and auto maintenance shop have been granted approval to hold a union election that could create the first ever organized labor group at the country's biggest retailer.
Workers at the Loveland, Colo., Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express are expected to vote in February on representation by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/31/news/fortune500/walmart/
Wal-Mart Honors African-American History
By Press Release: Walmart
Jan 31, 2005, 18:58
During the month of February, Wal-Mart once again presents a nationwide program in celebration of Black History Month. For the fifth consecutive year, Wal-Mart shoppers will have the chance to take home free copies of unique, inspiring and educational publications for entire families to enjoy and treasure.
http://www.urbanmecca.com/artman/publish/article_212.shtml
Wal-Mart zoning gets first denial
By YOLANDA RODRÍGUEZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/02/05
Wal-Mart's request to rezone almost 64 acres in northwest Cobb County was rejected Tuesday at its first public hearing by the county's Planning Commission.
The retail giant wants to construct a Supercenter store and seven two-story office buildings on North Cobb Parkway, near the Paulding and Bartow county lines. The total size of the development would be 330,586 square feet.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/0205/02walmart.html
Feb. 15 meeting: Is Wal-Mart good for C.O.?
Jobs with Justice video presentation Feb. 15 at the Grove
From Bend.com news sources
Posted: Tuesday, February 1, 2005 12:37 PM
Reference Code: PR-20931
February 1 - "Is Wal-Mart Good for Central Oregon?" is the focus of a video presentation and community discussion scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 15, at the Grove, 1033 NW Bond Street, Bend. The meeting is being organized by Central Oregon Jobs with Justice, a labor-community coalition of 200 local residents and 18 organizations
http://www.bend.com/news/ar_view^3Far_id^3D20931.htm
Wal-Mart Begins RFID Process Changes
The retailer has started deploying new applications and implementing new procedures aimed at using RFID data to reduce out-of-stocks.
By Mark Roberti
Feb. 1, 2005—Wal-Mart has begun rolling out the first applications and process changes based on radio frequency identification data at the original seven Wal-Mart stores in Texas that were outfitted with RFID readers. The aim of the applications is to reduce out-of-stocks by providing visibility into the location of goods with RFID tags.
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1385/1/1/
Even in Wal-Mart world, local identity runs deep
By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff February 1, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The announcement last week of Procter & Gamble's agreement to take over Gillette provoked a rush of disappointment in Boston over the loss of another emblem of local identity. But it also highlighted one of the most intriguing paradoxes of recent decades: At a time when ''signature" companies in almost every part of the country are merging into nationwide conglomerates, regional identity only grows stronger.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/02/01/even_in_wal_mart_world_local_identity_runs_deep/
Newspaper: Wal-Mart's Asda Bids $940 Million for UK Retailer
2/1/05 11:35:47 AM
By Arkansas Business staff, Arkansasbusiness.com Daily Report
London's Telegraph newspaper reported this week that Wal-Mart Stores Inc., through its United Kingdom subsidiary Asda, has made an unsolicited bid to buy Littlewoods Stores for $940 million.
http://arkansasbusiness.com/news/headline_article.asp?aid=39819
Unicoi County Welcomes Wal-Mart
Erica Estep
News Channel 11
Feb 2, 6:15 PM EST
A small Tri-Cities town is ready for some extra traffic if a new Wal-Mart Supercenter moves in.
The retail giant is looking at a site in Unicoi County at the Tinker Road exit off Interstate 26.
http://www.wjhl.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=TRI/MGArticle/TRI_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780604515&path=Variables.path
Residents Gear Up For Meeting On Proposed Wal-Mart
POSTED: 4:47 pm EST February 2, 2005
NORTH CORNWALL TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Some residents in southern Lebanon County are gearing up for a hearing Thursday morning on a proposed Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart has submitted plans to build a new super center on a tract of land between Route 72 and Cornwall Road in North Cornwall Township.
http://www.thewgalchannel.com/money/4157272/detail.html
Wal-Mart public hearings slated
THELMA GRIMES
News-Sun
One week after the city's Planning and Zoning Commission is set to vote on a Wal-Mart rezoning request, the Benson City Council will host a public hearing.
http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/articles/2005/02/02/news/news2.txt
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