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WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2009 – More than 3,000 military families will have a few extra presents under the tree this year thanks to the generous efforts of Operation Homefront and The Wal-Mart Foundation. A military spouse receives assistance from volunteers during the Operation Homefront and Wal-Mart Foundation toy event for military families in the National Guard Armory gymnasium in Fayetteville, N.C., Dec. 4, 2009. Courtesy photo by Shane Dunlap  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Operation Homefront, a troop-support organization, invited spouses of deployed servicemembers to shop for free today in six make-shift toy stores stocked with toys and books...

... Representatives from Operation Homefront and Wreaths Across America joined Walmart in Fort Bragg, N.C. today to launch the program, part of ... "Walmart Gives Back," a holiday giving initiative focused on hunger relief and support for military families. "Walmart has a history of supporting our troops. This holiday season, we recognize the sacrifices of our deployed servicemen and women - and their families back at home," said Margaret McKenna, president of the Walmart Foundation. "We know that many military families have a tough time during the holidays. They miss their loved ones who are away, and we hope that...

Here is video showing a 72 year-old Walmart Greeter being savagely punched in the face by a passerby at a Pennsylvania Walmart. The video also discusses the attack, which was carried out by a man who had been refused "check-cashing" assistance inside the store. As he walked outside the store, the man then punched the elderly greeter, breaking bones in the man's face. . . . (VIDEO)

I'd like to take a moment to rant. Anyone who has been to Walmart, or any store with electric shopping carts, has likely seen someone using them that doesn't need to. I am speaking specifically about people who are just lazy. On many occasions I have seen very overweight people park in a handicap parking space, get out of their car, quite ably, easily stride into Walmart, and then park their plump behinds onto electric carts. Listen, there is a reason you can't lose all that extra weight, because you will take any shortcut you can to avoid exercise. Yes,...

Store management called Upland police at 2:44 a.m., asking for assistance in dealing with customers who were “fighting inside,” said Lt. Jim Etchason. About 300 people were in the store, which had remained open all night as a security precaution after a Wal-Mart worker on Long Island, N.Y., was trampled to death last year on Black Friday when a surging, impatient crowd rushed the doors after the store opened. But in Upland, employees said, customers began tearing into merchandise that had been shrink-wrapped and were supposed to be opened at 5 a.m. “This was without a doubt the worst I’ve...

Wal Mart does it again. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled in favor of the chain store. In 2005, the store in Jonquiree, Quebec was closed because of the recent union certification of the stores employees. This, of course, led to various court runs by the displaced employees of the store. At the end of 2005, the Quebec Labor Board ordered Wal Mart to compensate the former employees. (http://wakeupwalmart.com/facts/) Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada has seen fit to rule 4-3 in favor of the company. As usual

November 24, 2009 Price War Brews Between Amazon and Wal-Mart By BRAD STONE and STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM Ali had Frazier. Coke has Pepsi. The Yankees have the Red Sox. Now Wal-Mart, the mightiest retail giant in history, may have met its own worthy adversary: Amazon.com. In what is emerging as one of the main story lines of the 2009 post-recession shopping season, the two heavyweight retailers are waging an online price war that is spreading through product areas like books, movies, toys and electronics. The tussle began last month as a relatively trivial but highly public back-and-forth over which company had...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wal-Mart's much-awaited Black Friday deals will focus on a gamut of gadgets such as high-definition TVs, laptops and Blu-ray players, as well as holiday gift favorites such as toys and DVDs, according to a copy of the retailer's circular obtained by CNNMoney.com. While not confirming the entire circular, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman confirmed some of the deals, which will be available between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. local time on Nov. 27, that appear in the leaked circular. "There's a lot of excitement that builds up around electronics," said Wal-Mart's Tara Raddohl. Items with confirmed prices for...

Lining up at Midnight at Wal-Mart to buy Food is part of the new Recovery. Banks offering Mattress Interest Rates. The Invisible Recovery Outside of Wall Street. There seems to be a growing divide in the current U.S. economy. On the one hand, you have the financial sector swimming in their bailout-induced profits like a modern day Scrooge Mcduck. In their circles, it appears as if the recession is over. On the other hand, you have average Americans seeing access to credit cards shut down, equity in their homes vanishing, and their stock portfolios looking a little too much like...

BILLIONAIRE investor George Soros' hedge fund increased the value of its holdings by $US2 billion ($2.14bn) over the past three months, boosting his stake in the telecommunications and financial sectors. Soros Fund Management reported holdings of $US6.2bn as of September 30, up from $US4.2bn as of June 30, according to a filing today with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr Soros significantly increased his positions in AT&T and Verizon Communications by 3.4 million shares and roughly 4m shares, respectively. Mr Soros now holds 4.2m shares of AT&T, valued at $US113 million as of September 30. The fund owns more...

ST. LOUIS (Nov. 16) -- Nearly three years after Heather Ellis switched checkout lines at a southeast Missouri store and touched off what she calls a racially charged dispute with white customers and authorities, the young black schoolteacher faces a trial that could send her to prison for 15 years. Witnesses have told authorities that Ellis cut in front of waiting customers at the Walmart in Kennett on Jan. 6, 2007, shoved merchandise already placed on a conveyor belt out of the way and became belligerent when confronted, according to court filings. Ellis maintains she was merely joining her cousin,...

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Nearly three years after Heather Ellis switched checkout lines at a southeast Missouri store and touched off what she calls a racially charged dispute with white customers and authorities, the young black schoolteacher faces a trial that could send her to prison for 15 years. Witnesses have told authorities that Ellis cut in front of waiting customers at the Walmart in Kennett on Jan. 6, 2007, shoved merchandise already placed on a conveyor belt out of the way, and became belligerent when confronted, according to court filings. Ellis maintains she was merely joining her cousin, whose...

Two women trying to avoid arrest after allegedly stealing goods from a local Wal-Mart store head-butted, urinated on and drove off with a security guard. ...security guard attempted to stop the women from getting away with $45 in stolen merchandise. Marilyn Cole, 35,...was arraigned Tuesday. Cole was on parole for bank robbery at the time. Cole was released from prison April 3. ...she was ordered not to have any contact with Wal-Mart stores, the victim or the co-defendant, Rashieka Lariena Stewart. Stewart, 23...was arraigned Tuesday on one count of unarmed robbery The two women were stopped inside the Wal-Mart on...

My bosses kid said his history teacher is claiming that the federal gov is buying up shares of Walmart with the endgame being the gov will control Walmart at some point in the near future. Does anyone have any info/comments on this? Fact or BS? Thanks

Wal-Mart announces second round of toy price cuts By: Reuters | 02 Nov 2009 | 12:23 AM ET Text Size By Nicole Maestri NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Monday announced its second round of price cuts on toys as the world's biggest retailer backs up its intention to be the "price leader" this holiday shopping season. U.S. Walmart stores are cutting prices on 100 toys, like the Buzz Lightyear talking action figure and Star Wars light sabers, by roughly 20 percent to 30 percent. The cuts are in addition to ones the retailer implemented at the end...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has a problem. The world's biggest retailer tips the scales at just over $400 billion (U.S.) in annual sales. It is a perpetual growth machine. But it doesn't have a stock valuation to match. At Wal-Mart, repeatedly held out as a winner in this recession as consumers traded down, sales will barely budge in the current fiscal year, ending Jan. 31. Despite the bargain hunters and the demise of weaker rivals, Wal-Mart revenues will edge up just 1 per cent in fiscal 2010. Wall Street fell out of love with "The Beast of Bentonville" (for its Arkansas...

Wal-Mart Starts Selling Coffins The caskets can be dispatched to buyers within 48 hours The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, now plans to hold on to customers even after they die - by selling coffins. Prices range from a "Mom" or "Dad Remembered" steel coffin for $895 (£540), to a bronze model at $2,899. The retailer is allowing customers to plan ahead by paying for the caskets over 12 months for no interest. They can be dispatched within 48 hours. Catering for cradle-to-grave needs, Wal-Mart already sells everything from baby wear to engagement rings. A spokesman for the supermarket giant, Ravi...

Wal-Mart starts selling caskets, urns online By EMILY FREDRIX, AP Retail Writer Wed Oct 28, 4:03 pm ET MILWAUKEE – The world's largest retailer wants to keep its customers even after they die. Wal-Mart has started selling caskets on its Web site at prices that undercut many funeral homes, long the major seller of caskets. The move follows a similar one by discount rival Costco, which also sells caskets on its site. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., quietly put up about 15 caskets and dozens of urns on its Web site last week. Prices range from $999 for models like...

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- It seems like only days ago that Wal-Mart was the most evil company on the planet. The list of accusations: It locked workers in stores overnight and ignored overtime rules; it didn't give health-care benefits to a lot of workers; and its execs dreaded union organizers so much they actually shut down a store to avoid letting the labor guys in the front door. Equality for women employees? Forget about it. That was for East Coast, Hillary-loving wimps, or Wegman's, to worry about. And then there was the part about alleged sweatshops in China. (Sam Walton,...

After claiming for more than a year that it could not do so, the Missouri Department of Social Services finally has obeyed a state law and published a list of employers whose workers get government-funded Medicaid health care coverage. Yet compliance with the Medicaid reporting law may be only an experiment. Although the list is supposed to be published quarterly, the department says there's no telling when it will produce the report again. As lawmakers in Washington, D.C., debate a national health-care overhaul, Missouri's experience shows how slow and difficult it can be for bureaucracies to implement even incremental changes...

Walmart plans to extend its near-monopoly status on many things with new cell phone plans. It's Straight Talk cell phone plans will start at 30 dollars per month and will have no contracts coming with it. Walmart cell phone plans will be exclusively available nationwide in its more than 3200 stores this Sunday. The new cell phone plans are very attractive and the giant retailer, that has already entered into other non-traditional areas of retailing, promises a harsh competition toward the other local and national wireless service providers. The new Straight Talk cell phone plans from Wal-Mart will drive down...

Emailers protesting Wal-Mart support for Al Sharpton’s group, the National Action Network, are getting the following response: Walmart supports the National Action Network (NAN) as part of an ongoing effort to partner with national organizations that support issues and initiatives of importance to our customers, and the communities we serve.Our support for NAN is focused on addressing health and wellness issues and other issues important to our customers and associates. Our company will continue to support organizations that can further our mission to help people live better. Emails to PepsiCo are getting this reply: As a global consumer products company...

(HITPIECE ALERT) http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59F5GX20091017SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is taking its ferocious price cutting into new markets as the economy shows hints of recovery.

NEW YORK – An online book special offered by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is turning into a full-fledged price war with Amazon.com. Wal-Mart got things started Thursday, offering $10 prices on such upcoming hardcover releases as Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" and John Grisham's "Ford County," a cut of 60 percent or more from the regular cost. Wal-Mart will also offer free shipping. Amazon.com, the largest online bookseller, matched the $10 price, prompting Wal-Mart to take its offer to $9. By Friday morning, Amazon.com also had priced the books at $9. The price cuts come at a time when Seattle-based Amazon.com and...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. launched a brash price war against Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday, saying it would sell 10 hotly anticipated new books for just $10 apiece through its online site, Walmart.com. That was just the beginning.

WSJ: "Walmart launched a brash price war against Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday, saying it would sell 10 hotly anticipated new books for just $10 apiece through its online site. That was just the beginning. Hours later, Amazon matched the $10 price, squaring off in a battle for low-price and e-commerce leadership heading into the crucial holiday shopping season. Wal-Mart soon fired back with a promise to drop its prices to $9 by Friday morning -- and made good on that vow by early evening Thursday." Wal-Mart: The splashy move to discount pre-orders of popular books such as Stephen King's "Under...

One year ago, Sarah Palin burst onto the national political stage like a comet. Yet even now, few Americans know who this remarkable woman really is. On September 3, 2008 Alaska Governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention that electrified the nation and instantly made her one of the most recognizable women in the world.

Enjoy! http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

Retailers pushing to reduce costs and maximize margins in the face of sales declines are dead serious about optimizing assortments -- and in a growing number of cases, that's translating to significantly reducing SKUs or even cutting whole product lines, according to the Willard Bishop retail consultancy.

A recent shift in merchandising strategy by the world's largest retailer spells more trouble for DVD sales and the entertainment industry that depends on them for profits. As part of a larger effort to clean up its aisles and appeal to higher-end shoppers, Wal-Mart is doing away with display cases to promote the latest hot movie titles. The move comes as major film studios are reeling from declines in revenue from DVD sales as cash-strapped consumers turn to low-cost rental services and digital downloads for home movies. "We think the new strategy implies Wal-Mart no longer sees DVDs and Blu-ray...

Wal-Mart: US Business Challenging, Recovery Slow Published: Thursday, 1 Oct 2009 | 11:17 PM ET Text Size By: Reuters Wal-Mart sees a slow recovery from challenging business conditions in the United States, while its operations in Asia are "a little better", its Chairman Rob Walton told Reuters on Friday. "Our business in the U.S. is very challenging right now... some of the recent economic news is more pessimistic than expected. We are only expecting a slow recovery in the U.S., nothing extremely fast," Walton said in an interview.

YORK, Neb. — The bride wore dark lavender, the groom black jeans. Flowers were everywhere. The York Walmart Supercenter hosted its first wedding Saturday when Crystal Newsome and Robert “Vick” Vickrey exchanged vows amid hanging baskets and seasonal foliage in the lawn and garden department. “We had our first kiss at Walmart,” Crystal recalled. Advertising Robert has been with Walmart for 12 years and is the grocery department manager. With five years behind her at the company, Crystal is the deli manager. Friendship blossomed into romance about two years ago. Robert has three grown children and four grandchildren. Crystal has...

Half the respondents of a new poll say taxing the richest Americans by at least 50 percent is a great idea, while more than a third consider Twitter a fad that will likely fade. Those are among the findings of a new "60 Minutes"-Vanity Fair Poll released Sunday. Nearly half of the respondents chose Wal-Mart as the institution that best symbolizes America today, leaving in the dust runners-up Google, Microsoft, the NFL, and the banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs. Dining out was chosen most often by respondents as a luxury they hate sacrificing in these tough economic times. And...

Ralph Nader has been many things: lawyer, consumer-rights bulldog, political activist and perennial third-party presidential candidate. He has now added a new title to his business card: fiction writer. His latest book, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, is a 700-page populist fantasy in which a small group of billionaires and media moguls — led by Warren Buffett and including Ted Turner, George Soros, Bill Cosby, Yoko Ono and Phil Donahue — pool their massive resources to reform the U.S. With the help of a $15 billion war chest and a p.r. campaign starring a talking parrot, the group successfully...

For A.J. and Lisa Demaree, the photos they snapped of their young daughters were innocent and sweet. But after a photo developer at Walmart thought otherwise, the Demarees found themselves in a yearlong battle to prove they were not child pornographers. "I don't' understand it at all," A.J. Demaree told Good Morning America Monday. "Ninety-nine percent of the families in America have these exact same photos." The eight photos in question were among a batch of 144 family photos the Demarees had taken to their local Walmart. The developer alerted the police and the investigation into child pornography began in...

You go on vacation to San Diego and take more than 100 photos of your three daughters, ages 5, 4 and 18 months. You also take seven or eight shots of your girls playing together at bathtime. Then you return home to Peoria, Ariz., bring your memory stick into Walmart for processing, and lose custody of your children because an employee finds the photos, decides they are pornographic, and alerts the police. That is what happened to Lisa and Anthony Demaree last year. Accused of sexual abuse, they were not allow to see their girls for several days, and did...

Retail health clinics are adding treatments for chronic diseases such as asthma to their repertoire, hoping to find steadier revenue, but putting the clinics into greater competition with doctors' groups and hospitals. Walgreen Co.'s Take Care retail clinic recently started a pilot program in Tampa and Orlando offering injected and infused drugs for asthma and osteoporosis to Medicare patients. At some MinuteClinics run by CVS Caremark Corp., nurse practitioners now counsel teenagers about acne, recommend over-the-counter products and sometimes prescribe antibiotics. ... Walgreen, the second-largest pharmacy chain by stores, plans to start a pilot program for managing diabetes in coming...

NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va. (AP) - A New Cumberland woman has apologized for leaving her baby alone in a hot car while she went shoplifting at a Wal-Mart. Twenty-three-year-old Elizabeth Marie Lancaster says she made a huge mistake she'll never forget. After appearing at a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Brooke County, she told a TV station she is mortified by her actions and will accept whatever punishment is necessary. Lancaster is charged with child neglect causing injury and shoplifting. Police say the baby had been left alone in Lancaster's car for at least 20 minutes last month in the Weirton Wal-Mart's...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Police in Charleston are asking for the public's help to identify a woman they say used a stolen credit card at Walmart. Click on the "photos" tab above to see more pictures of the suspect. Charleston Police say the suspect, who was wearing baggy red shorts and a gray shirt, bought about $130 worth of goods with the card. The credit card was stolen from a car on August 18. Anyone who can provide information about the woman in the surveillance photos is asked to contact Detective Kinder at the Charleston Police Department at (304) 348-6480.

BEIJING — A woman in eastern China was allegedly beaten to death by five employees of a Wal-Mart store who accused her of shoplifting, a police report and state media said Tuesday. Police have arrested two employees from the store in Jiangxi province, while three others are being investigated, Jingdezhen city police said in a report on their website. According to the report, the woman was beaten outside her home near the Wal-Mart on August 30 and died in a city hospital on Wednesday last week from injuries suffered during the beating. Police said the five Wal-Mart employees had stopped...

It's not often you see a goat in a department store in Britain. Fortunately a new website is opening a window for Britons onto the bizarre, often alarming, always hilarious shoppers who patronise American budget store Wal-Mart. 'People of Wal-Mart' (www.peopleofwalmart.com), launched by three men in their 20s in August, has gone viral, becoming the latest star of the Internet. Hits increased by 700 per cent on August 27 alone. The site features the gloriously absurd attire of Wal-Mart customers in photographs sent in by bemused fellow shoppers around the country. And in addition to laughs, it's causing a legal...

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- A total stranger is accused of slapping a fussy 2-year-old in a Wal-Mart in Stone Mountain. Authorities say the girl and her mother were shopping at Wal-Mart on Tuesday morning when the toddler began to cry. Roger Stephens, 61, approached the mother and told her, "If you don't shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you." Moments later, Stephens grabbed the 2-year-old girl and slapped her at least four times and told the mother, "See, I told you I would shut her up." The child began screaming and Stephens walked away. Another shopper...

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) -- Police say a 61-year-old man annoyed with a crying 2-year-old girl at a suburban Atlanta Walmart slapped the child several times after warning the toddler's mother to keep her quiet.

(CNN) -- It's a blog where people post, and make fun of, pictures of out-of-shape, poorly dressed and otherwise awkward people shopping at Wal-Mart. And, in less than a month, with no marketing to speak of, it's become the toast of the Internet. "People of Wal-Mart," a gag started by two 20-something brothers and their buddy to share crazy pictures with their friends, has gone viral. Promoted largely on sites like Digg and Funny or Die -- and linked ad nauseam on Facebook and Twitter -- the site picked up enough traffic to crash its servers on Wednesday. "I'm still...

A Gwinnett County man is in custody Wednesday accused of slapping a stranger’s crying toddler in a Stone Mountain Wal-Mart. Witnesses say that Roger Stephens, 61, warned the mother of the child that he would “shut up the crying child if she couldn’t,” WSB-TV is reporting. Stephens is accused of slapping the 2-year-old multiple times in the face and then walking away. A bystander held Stephens until store security came to assist, according to the story.

(CNN) -- A Georgia man allegedly slapped a toddler at a Walmart store because she wouldn't stop crying, authorities said. Roger Stephens, 61, was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree cruelty to children. An incident report obtained from police in Gwinnett County indicated Stephens did not know the 2-year-old girl he stands accused of hitting. The confrontation happened shortly before noon at the Walmart in Stone Mountain, a suburb of Atlanta. According to the arresting officer, the child's mother said her daughter was crying as they walked down one of the aisles. The mother said a stranger later identified as...

If you watch enough tv, you'll soon see this commercial.

The economic downturn has made an already competitive retail landscape especially brutal and unforgiving. Exhibit A is the rivalry between discount retailers Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT). The clear winner in the current downturn was Wal-Mart. Amid millions of job losses and plunging stock and housing markets, new customers flocked to Wal-Mart, at the expense of almost every other U.S. retailer except ultralow-price dollar stores. It appears that "cheap chic" -- Target's famous selling point -- is not the primary concern of recession-battered consumers. Last quarter, the average U.S. Wal-Mart store actually saw traffic increase 1.3% from the year before....

ORANGE, Va. — Officials in central Virginia approved a Wal-Mart Supercenter early Tuesday near one of the nation's most important Civil War battlefields, a proposal that had stirred opposition by preservationists and hundreds of historians. The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to grant the special permit to the world's biggest retailer after a majority of more than 100 speakers said they favored bringing the Wal-Mart to Locust Grove, within a cannonball's shot from the Wilderness Battlefield. Historians and Civil War buffs are fearful the Wal-Mart store will draw traffic and more commerce to an area within the historic...

FORT WORTH -- A man suspected of being drunk drove his car into an east Fort Worth Walmart this morning before jumping into the bed of a passing pickup in an apparent attempt to escape, police said. The pickup’s driver, afraid he was about to be carjacked, then struck three or four cars in the parking lot trying to remove the man from his truck, police said. The incident happened about 8:15 a.m. at the Walmart at 8401 Anderson Blvd., near Interstate 30 and Eastchase Parkway. Sgt. Pedro Criado, a police spokesman, said witnesses reported seeing a man driving erratically...