Thursday, October 26, 2006

Creative crooks: as shoplifters use high-tech scams, retail losses rise

Creative crooks: as shoplifters use high-tech scams, retail losses rise

By Ann Zimmerman

The Wall Street Journal Europe

26 Oct 2006



WILLIAM SWANBERG had a thing for Legos, but it was hardly child’s play. After he was arrested last November near Portland, Oregon, police investigators determined he had stolen more than $600,000 of the Danish building toys over three years from dozens... read more...

Wal-Mart is overhauling its advertising strategy

Wal-Mart is overhauling its advertising strategy

By Suzanne Vranica And Gary McWilliams

The Wall Street Journal Europe

26 Oct 2006



Wal-Mart Stores Inc., amid signs that its upscale marketing push is struggling, is expected to name Interpublic Group Inc.’s Draft FCB to overhaul its advertising as part of a plan to simultaneously woo low-price loyalists and higher-income... read more...

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Wal-Mart curbs expansion

Wal-Mart curbs expansion

By Kris Hudson

The Wall Street Journal Europe

25 Oct 2006



Wal-Mart Stores Inc., for decades a retail juggernaut that has opened new stores at a feverish pace, is tapping the brakes. The world’s biggest retailer said Monday that it plans to ratchet down its expansion rate next year and slash its capital... read more...

Wal-Mart curbs expansion

Wal-Mart curbs expansion

By Kris Hudson

The Wall Street Journal Europe

25 Oct 2006



Wal-Mart Stores Inc., for decades a retail juggernaut that has opened new stores at a feverish pace, is tapping the brakes. The world’s biggest retailer said Monday that it plans to ratchet down its expansion rate next year and slash its capital... read more...

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

HowWal-Mart’s bid to own a bank stalled

HowWal-Mart’s bid to own a bank stalled
By Bernard Wysocki Jr.
The Wall Street Journal Europe
24 Oct 2006

WASHINGTON—When WalMart Stores Inc. applied 15 months ago to get a banking license, it looked like a slam dunk. The retailing giant applied for an industrial-bank charter in Utah— the same type of permit the state had already given to many companies,... read more...

Monday, October 23, 2006

ForWal-Mart and rivals, China poses challenge (The Wall Street Journal Europe, 23 Oct 2006, Page 4)

ForWal-Mart and rivals, China poses challenge
By Mei Fong and Kate Linebaugh in Beijing and Gordon Fairclough in Shanghai
The Wall Street Journal Europe
23 Oct 2006

AS CHINA’S economy surges, an average of one so-called hypermarket opens each day to sell the world’s most populous nation everything from seafood to suits. Now, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is trying to become the nation’s biggest hypermarket chain with its... read more...

Thursday, October 05, 2006

ProWal-Mart group hits the road in U.S. to foil union-backed anti-Wal-Mart crusade (National Post, 04 Oct 2006, Page P5)

ProWal-Mart group hits the road in U.S. to foil union-backed anti-Wal-Mart crusade
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
National Post
04 Oct 2006

A group funded by has an answer to a cross-country bus tour staged by Wal-Mart critic WakeUpWalMart.com. Working Families for Wal-Mart, a pro-WalMart group backed mostly by the retailer, has launched its own cross-country RV tour. Instead of hosting... read more...