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During the past few weeks, the recently begun Wal-Mart Generic Drug Program in Pennsylvania has garnered considerable media attention despite some of the many flaws and fallacies of the program. I would like to call on consumers to look very closely at the Wal-Mart Generic Drug Program and to see it for whatr it really is: a marketing ploy by Wal-Mart to offer only certain generic drugs at a below-cost $4 in exchange for increasing consumer foot traffic in its stores. [read whole story]
From a distance, the Wal-Mart in Aurora, Colorado, looks like any of the thousands of big-box behemoths operated by the world's second-largest company. But a closer inspection reveals more than a few incongruous details: The parking lot contains recycled asphalt from a local airport runway. The heating fuel is a mixture of fry grease from the store's deli and motor oil salvaged from its lube center. Electricity is supplied by solar panels and a windmill. In fact, nearly every component of this shopping mecca, which opened late last year, represents the cutting edge of sustainable design, from the waterless urinals to the ultra-efficient lighting system.
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It seems like David versus Goliath. Wal-Mart is planning to turn the aging Northcross Mall into a two story, 24-hour super center. Many neightbors are against it [read whole story]
William Kennedy, 55, stops at the Main Street market every day or two. He shops reluctantly in Atlantic for items such as odd-sized light bulbs. "I only go to Wal-Mart as a last resort, " he says. "I don't believe in corporate enterprises because they drive out family businesses." [read whole story]
Not everyone is pleased by the giant retailer's push into natural foods, starting with some very anxious U.S farmers. Richard DeWilde has a long history with organic farming. His grandfather, Nick Hoogshagen, adopted the organic approach five decades ago on his farm in South Dakota, well before it became popular with consumers and fueled the popularity of retailers like [read whole story]
new Delhi- Somdutt's ramshackle storefront is an odd place to hear mention of Wal-Mart. Not 10 steps from his stall, where he sells packing materials, there is a goat, several squatters huddled around a fire, and an ancient banyan tree filtering the last rays of winter sunlight. [read whole story]
Despite price cuts, November was the retailer's worst month in a decade. Analysts wonder if rapid growth is possible anymore.
Forget the crtics, labor unions, activists and politicians who have tried to stir up trouble of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The company's latest problems come from a far more serious quarter: consumers.
Despite price cuts designed to lure early-bird Christmas shoppers, November was Wal-Mart's worst month in a decade, with sales falling below last year's levels. And December won't be much better. [read whole story]
The political advertisements include a number of actors talking sarcastically about Harold Ford Jr., the Democratic candidate from Tennessee. The one who has stirred up all the controversy, though, is a bare-shouldered blonde who says she met Ford at a Playboy party and closes the clip by winking and whispering, "Harold, call me." [read whole story]
After 14 months on the job, Mark Goodman, who held the top marketing job at Wal-Mart's Sam's Club, has left the company. The exec VP-marketing, membership and e-commerce leaves just weeks into the division's first national TV advertising campaign from agency Strawberry Frog, a push that focused the division's advertising budget away from its small-business customer. [read whole story]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, said employees have established a branch of the Communist Party at its headquarters in China. The party branch was set up in the southern city of Shenzhen, where Wal-Mart runs its fast-expanding china business, Jonathan Dong, the company's spokesman in China, said. The branch, which was inaugurated Friday, follows the establishment of similar party organizations in five Wal-Mart stores throughout the country since August, Mr. Dong said. [read whole story]
It was a year of scandals and spies, blogs and flogs, backdating and Borat, and welcoming "Macaca" to America. PR Week's editorial team picks- and picks on- the year's heroes and halfwits, in PR and beyond: 10 PR blunders that opened up the crisis playbook.
#5 Wal-Mart and Edelman's blog blunder- The retail giant can ill afford bad press these days. Meanwhile, Edelman had made much of its rivals' ethical slights and of its dominance in navigating the new-media market. One improperly disclosed blog later, funded by Wal-Mart's own Astroturf organization, and both companies look bad. [read whole story]