Tag Archives: Wal Mart Stores Inc

Articles of Interest

Google’s Same-Day Delivery Service Takes Off In The Bay Area

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc launched a same-day delivery service in the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday as the world’s largest Internet search company works with retailers such as Target Corp to compete more with e-commerce leader Amazon.com Inc.
Google has been testing the service, called Google Shopping Express, with employees for a few months. The company opened it up to the public on Thursday morning in a limited launch focused on San Francisco residents and others living south of the city from San Mateo to San Jose.
Shoppers who sign up will get six months of free, same-day delivery of online orders placed with select retailers in the area. Google plans to charge for the service in the future, but it has not decided how much yet.
Companies taking part in the test include national retailers such as Target, Office Depot Inc, Staples Inc and Toys ‘R’ Us Inc and smaller, local firms such as Blue Bottle Coffee and Palo Alto Toy & Sport.
Google is working with local courier companies that pick up products from local stores and deliver them to shoppers’ homes.
Google Shopping Express is the latest sign the company is expanding from its online search roots into e-commerce, where it is competing more with Amazon, the world’s largest Internet retailer.
By getting into local delivery services, Google is joining an increasingly crowded field.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world’s largest retailer, is testing a same-day delivery service called Walmart To Go in five metro areas.
EBay Inc launched a same-day delivery service in San Francisco and New York last year.
(Reporting by Alistair Barr. Editing by Andre Grenon)

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

News, Politics, Government

Wal-Mart says loss likely from bribery probe

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The world’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., says it is likely that it will incur a loss from bribery probes into its operations in Mexico and other countries.

The company is working on its own investigation and cooperating with authorities on other investigations into allegations it failed to notify law enforcement that company officials authorized millions of dollars in bribes in Mexico. The investigations have spread to Brazil, China and India.

The company said in a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will incur costs above the $157 million it spent on the probes in fiscal 2013 and says it is probable it will take a financial loss related to the matters.

Benton, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart says it can’t estimate the loss since investigations are ongoing.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

America, a Nation Where People Work Until They Die

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By 24/7 Wall St.

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The Employee Benefit Research Institute released a study that shows what almost everyone already knows. Americans have too little money to retire, and they know it. The solution is not quite as clear as the problem, but most economists believe people will have to work until they are much older. This may block young people from getting work in jobs that might have been theirs in generations past.

The resulting underemployment among these young will remain high. Of course, this means they will be unable to make the money they need to retire. America has become a nation in which people will work until they die.

The new data show that:

The percentage of workers confident about having enough money for a comfortable retirement is essentially unchanged from the record lows observed in 2011. While more than half express some level of confidence (13 percent are very confident and 38 percent are somewhat confident), 28 percent are not at all confident (up from 23 percent in 2012 but statistically equivalent to 27 percent in 2011), and 21 percent are not too confident.

These data cannot be set against the number of people who will retire in the next two decades because that method would be too inexact, but the population that cannot retire certainly stretches into the tens of millions.

Among the by-products of these problems is the notion that people will need Social Security and Medicare more than ever. This belief comes at a time when many politicians have come to believe what most economists say: entitlements are too expensive and Social Security payments will need to be cut or delayed until people are older. Old people tend to vote more than young people do. The armies of AARP members who make up much of the population over 50 will gang up on politicians who want to curtail their retirement benefits. After all, these people did pay into the system for decades.

Beyond, and perhaps more important than, the fight over the social safety net will be the explosion of old people who will work at McDonald’s Inc. (NYSE: MCD) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). They will be forced to work in these places because of their lack of retirement savings. Many will work for the minimum wage because the old are not attractive to employers, as many studies have shown.

America will become a nation of old people who do not live terribly high above the poverty line, working until they die.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Economy, Labor Tagged: MCD, WMT

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Costco Dodges Economic Bullet

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By 24/7 Wall St.

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Costco Wholesale Corp.’s (NASDAQ: COST) annual sales run above $100 billion, more than twice J.C. Penney Co Inc.’s (NYSE: JCP) and Macy’s Inc.’s (NYSE: M) combined, and nearly 40% of those of mega-retailer Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT). Yet, its sales have not been dented by the current downturn or slowdown in sales at most of the nation’s largest retailers. Costco reported net sales of $9.35 billion for the month of January, the five weeks ended February 3, 2013, an increase of 7% from $8.74 billion during the similar period last year.

Costco may not have the perfect model for retail success, but it is close.

At the heart of Costco’s lack of vulnerability is its membership model — a kind of club exclusivity for the middle class. Its annual membership fees range from $55 to $110 a year. That is not much of a buy-in to shop its massive warehouses, whether the shopper is an individual or a company. Even Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) and other high-end retailers do not have a price of admission. Whether membership gives access to special value or not, it appears to create that illusion.

There also may be a belief among those who invest in Costco memberships that size matters. The average Costco location covers 143,000 square feet, much larger than the average Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) location, which measures only 102,00 square feet. Does a Costco store contain more products at low price because of its size. Probably not, but the size may create that impression.

The last and most important thing Costco offers is customers is a satisfaction safety net, which covers almost any level of problems buyers have with products or memberships. All a member has to do is claim that a product or a membership does not measure up and Costco promises a refund — at 100% of the purchase price.

Costco has effectively made a promise to its shoppers — pay to be a member and that membership will be worth more than its weight in gold — even if gold is so expensive now to be beyond most people’s reach.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Retail Tagged: COST, JCP, M, TIF, WMT

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Walmex sees 2013 capex up, won't disclose new stores

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Two people walk outside a Wal-Mart store in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart de Mexico , expects to spend up to $1.4 billion on investments in 2013, but in a break with tradition the company declined to say how many stores it plans to open this year. Walmex, as the company controlled by Wal-Mart Stores Inc is known locally, is under investigation in the United States and Mexico for allegedly bribing Mexican officials to speed up store openings. The company said on Thursday it expects to increase total store space by 8 percent to 9 percent in Mexico and 6 percent in Central America this year. …

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Yahoo Business

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Greencore: No Other Products or Facilities Affected by Horse Tests

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Greencore Group PLC (GNC.LN) a food supplier, Monday said that apart from apart a Bolognese Sauce which was withdrawn by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) U.K. subsidiary Asda Supermarkets because it was found to contain horse DNA, the results of all tests on its products have been negative. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox Business Headlines

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

E-commerce Retail Sales Rise Nearly 16% in Q4

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By 24/7 Wall St.

Online shopping

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In its quarterly report on estimated e-commerce retail sales released today, the U.S. Census Bureau said that adjusted online sales jumped 15.6% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2012. On an unadjusted basis, sales rose 15.8%.

Adjusted e-commerce sales of $59.5 billion comprised 5.4% of total retail sales of $1.1 trillion. That is the highest percentage since the Census Bureau started keeping track of online sales in the fourth quarter of 1999, when e-commerce retail sales were just 0.6% of total retail sales. The fourth-quarter total is also the highest since 1999.

For the full year, e-commerce sales totaled $225.5 billion, up 15.8% from 2011. Total retail sales rose 5% year-over-year.

One question we might consider is the impact of more states forcing online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) to collect sales taxes. Online retailers that already have a physical presence in a state have had to collect sales taxes just as if a consumer had walked into a bricks-and-mortar store. Retailers like Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) that have been paying sales tax on e-commerce sales have been unaffected by the new collection efforts, but they probably have not been helped much by it either.

The growth in online retail sales is three times faster than overall retail sales growth, and while online sales are not likely to catch up anytime soon, retailers that do not have significant online sales are missing a major opportunity for growth.

The Census Bureau‘s report is available here.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet, Retail Tagged: AMZN, BBY, TGT, WMT

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Amazon and Apple Crush Competition in New Mobile Survey

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By 24/7 Wall St.

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Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) place so high on most customer satisfaction surveys that the repetition has made the conclusions commonplace. Unfortunately for several financially battered retailers, their stumbling has not been helped by their satisfaction grades. The trends, both good and bad, have extended to mobile e-commerce.

Research firm Foresee issued its “ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index: Holiday Retail Edition.” The results are not terribly different from the Foresee e-commerce data for the same period. Retailers who do well online also do well with mobile activity. Of the 25 companies included:

Amazon tops the list at 85, with Apple (83), and QVC (83) close behind. Rounding out the top five are NewEgg (80) and Victoria’s Secret (80).

Almost no one has heard of PC hardware and parts company NewEgg. The balance of the companies are well known. Amazon had better be at the top of the list, for its own sake, since it has no physical stores to speak of. QVC does not either, because its other medium for sales is television. Apple and Victoria’s Secret must just try harder, although the popularity of their products may get mobile e-commerce buyers to have positive views of the merchandise under any circumstances.

Retailers that are in steep decline, in general, do not do well in the Foresee results. The Sears division of Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) rates just one spot from the bottom. Also-ran discounter Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK) also does poorly, and troubled online retailer Gilt does very badly as well.

In the range of merely mediocre are Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), each of which have huge traffic and are among the top 50 most visited sites in the United States, according to Comscore. Their volumes of business are such that mid-tier performance in the Foresee survey probably does not hurt them much. Also in the middle of the rankings are Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP), each of which needs to do better in e-commerce and in physical store activity to keep away from trends that already have caused questions about their viability.

On the whole, the companies that did poorly in the Foresee research cannot afford to.

Methodology: In a survey of more than 6,200 consumers collected during the peak holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the retail juggernaut scored highest among 25 of the top mobile commerce companies. The report shows that consumer satisfaction with the mobile retail experience is improving, as the Index climbs two points since last holiday season to 78 on a 100-point scale.

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Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet, Retail Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, BBY, JCP, OSTK, SHLD, TGT, WMT

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Are E-commerce Sales Really So Good?

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By 24/7 Wall St.

Online Shopping

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Research firm comScore reported about 2012 that:

For the full year, U.S. retail e-commerce sales reached $186.2 billion, an increase of 15 percent — the strongest annual growth rate since before the recession. Q4 2012 sales grew 14 percent year-over-year to $56.8 billion, marking the first ever $50 billion quarter. It also represents the thirteenth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

As an aside, it is worth noting that Amazon.com Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) sales for the past full year were $51.7 billion, up 23%, which colors the national numbers in a way that makes e-commerce sales outside Amazon less positive.

Even without the Amazon-effect, e-commerce has been less successful than many people suppose. Sales per quarter in 2007 averaged $30 billion and grew at a rate of more than 20%. The average sales by quarter in 2012 were about $48 billion on average. The positive change is only 60% over the five years, which is hardly a torrid pace.

E-commerce is supposed to be the salvation of the retail industry, although the salvation has been uneven. Experts says that companies such as Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) have been ruined. Online sales have augmented the advance of other retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

E-c0mmerce sales improvement actually may slow considerably in the years ahead. Among the reasons are that bricks-and-mortar retailers have learned the tricks of price matching and free overnight delivery. These retailers always will retain the benefit that some people want to see and feel what they buy before they buy it.

The other enemy of e-commerce is that its success has been so uneven. For every Amazon there is a Best Buy, or worse, a J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) where online sales are actually shrinking. The future of e-commerce can be seen in both its victories and its mediocre, or failed, results.

E-commerce may have been the “next big thing” for a while. It future will be much more mixed.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet, Retail Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, BBY, BKS, JCP, WMT

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

News, Politics, Government

Garment factory fire kills 7 in Bangladesh

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A fire swept through a two-story garment factory in Bangladesh‘s capital Saturday, killing at least seven female workers and injuring another five, police and fire officials said.

The fire at the Smart factory occurred just two months after a blaze killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital city, raising questions about safety standards and treatment of workers in Bangladesh‘s $20-billion garment industry that exports clothes to leading Western retailers. The country has more than 4,000 garment factories

The cause of the latest fire was not immediately known, fire official Abdul Halim said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Monzurul Kabir told The Associated Press that the bodies of seven women were recovered from the top floor of the factory in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur district. He said the factory was making pants and shirts, but could not provide further details.

Halimsaid it took firefighters about two hours to bring Saturday’s blaze under control.

Kabir said the factory was making pants and shirts, but could not provide details.

Earlier this month, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. alerted its global suppliers that it will immediately drop them if they subcontract their work to factories that haven’t been authorized by the discounter. The stricter contracting rule, along with other changes to its policy, comes amid increasing calls for better safety oversight after the deadly late November fire at a factory owned by Tazreen Fashions Ltd. that supplied clothing to Wal-Mart and other retailers. Wal-Mart has said the factory wasn’t authorized to make its clothes.

Wal-Mart ranks second behind Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M in the number of clothing orders it places in Bangladesh. Before the fatal fire there, Wal-Mart had taken steps to address safety, such as mandating fire safety training for all levels of factory management.

Building fires have led to more than 600 garment work deaths in Bangladesh since 2005, according to research by the advocacy group International Labor Rights Forum.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

Articles of Interest

Wal-Mart To Hire More Than 100,000 Recently Discharged Veterans

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By Breaking News

Walmart Wal Mart to Hire More Than 100,000 Recently Discharged Veterans
The Walton family in Bentonville, Arkansas still own the majority of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The company has grown to become the largest retailer in the world with almost 9,000 locations and 2.2 million employees (1.4 million here in the US). They are the world’s third largest public corporation and the largest private employer in the world. Their annual gross income for 2012 was just under $450 billion dollars. Their subdivisions include Sam’s Club, Walmex, Asda and Seiyu Group.

Over the past few years, Wal-Mart has received some scathing media coverage, mostly about how they discriminate against women in management and how they treat their employees by not providing benefits or enough hours to qualify for benefits. Earlier this week they were the target of reports that they had halted all orders for ammunition for their sporting goods departments because of the impending gun control laws from President Obama. However, the company quickly countered those reports by publicly saying that it is business as usual and they intend to continue supplying their customers’ needs.

In the wake of all of the negative publicity Wal-Mart receives, I thought I would share a positive story for a change. Bill Simon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced at the National Retail Federation convention in New York that company plans on hiring at least 100,000 veterans over the next five years. Anyone who has been honorably discharged from the military within the past 12 months will be given a serious consideration for employment in their retail and warehouse stores as well as in their distribution centers.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism