Wal-Mart Watch Daily Clips - January 30th

MIKE DUKE READY TO TAKE OVER FOR LEE SCOTT ON SUNDAY

• Wal-Mart's new CEO Duke needs to build on momentum [Reuters]
  When Mike Duke takes over as Wal-Mart Stores Inc's CEO on Sunday, investors want to see him build on predecessor Lee Scott's turnaround plan, while proving the discount retailer can thrive when consumers are no longer desperate to save cash.
  

• Creating a to-do list for Wal-Mart’s new CEO [Reuters Shop Talk Blog]
  Since the management change was announced in November, ShopTalk is fairly certain that Duke has come up with a pretty long list of things to do in his first few months as CEO.
  

• Another Transition: Wal-Mart’s Incoming CEO Declares “Sustainability is not Optional” [sustainablog.org]
  So, when I pulled up the recorded webcast of Monday’s Sustainability Milestone Meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas, I was very interested to see what Mike Duke, who will take over the reigns of the company on February 2nd, had to say about the topic in relationship to the current economic climate.
  

• Wal-Mart promises to accelerate sustainability effort [Environmental Finance (U.K.)]
  The incoming CEO of US retail giant Wal-Mart has reiterated the firm’s commitment to sustainability, pledging to reduce packaging and environmentally-damaging detergents – but many of its critics remain to be convinced.
  

OBAMA SIGNS FIRST MAJOR LABOR REFORM INTO LAW

• Obama Signs Bill Making Worker Pay-Bias Lawsuits Easier to Win [Bloomberg News]
  President Barack Obama, signing the first legislation of his presidency, made it easier for U.S. workers to win pay-discrimination lawsuits.
  

• Tougher battles ahead for labor after early win [Associated Press]
  Lilly Ledbetter, a 70-year-old Alabaman with a quick smile and a slow Southern drawl, campaigned for Barack Obama, joined him on the inaugural train trip to Washington and danced with him at an inaugural ball.
  

• Obama Signs Lilly Ledbetter Act [Washington Post]
  It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign - the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act - we are upholding one of this nation's first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness.
  

UNION MEMBERSHIP MAKES BIG JUMP IN 2008

• Union Membership Up Sharply in 2008, Report Says [New York Times]
  Union membership in the United States rose last year by the largest amount in a quarter-century, a gain of 428,000 members, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Wednesday.
  

SHOWDOWN BETWEEN LABOR, BUSINESS OVER EFCA HEATS UP

• Organized labor, business poised for a showdown [Business First (Ohio)]
  Richard Shack worked a lot of plays and operas over 22 years before becoming business manager of one of the oldest local unions representing stagehands. In the Barack Obama administration, he sees an opportunity for labor unions to revitalize themselves through legislation dubbed the Employee Free Choice Act.
  

• A comeback coming for U.S. labor? [Spero News]
  Predictably, corporate America has vowed to fight EFCA. Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott summed up the business perspective: “We like driving the car, and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.”

NEW REPORT: RECESSION TO LEAVE A $20 BILLION VOID FOR WAL-MART, OTHERS TO FILL

• Retailers That Survive Can Expect A $20B-Plus Boost In Sales [Wall Street Journal]
  The retail industry's sweeping retrenchment is creating upward of $20 billion in sales opportunities for retailers that will survive the recession, a report released Thursday said. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), Target Corp. (TGT), Kohl's Corp. (KSS), Macy's Inc. (M) and J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) will be among the major beneficiaries, said the report by Deutsche Bank.

WAL-MART CHILE HEAD: 'D&S WILL REMAIN CHILEAN'

• Wal-Mart CEO in Chile: 'D&S Will Remain A Chilean Company' [Santiago Times (Chile)]
  Craig Herkert, CEO of Wal-Mart Latin America, arrived in Chile on Wednesday to assume his new position as board member of D&S, a huge Chilean retail company that operates over 180 stores throughout the country. Upon arrival, Herkert told reporters that D&S will continue being a Chilean company, despite the fact that Wal-Mart has acquired nearly 60 percent of D&S ownership, reported Diario Financiero.
  

• Wal-Mart Chile arm to stick to investment plan [Reuters]
  D&S, the Chilean supermarket chain that this month came under control of global retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), said on Thursday it would continue its investment plans despite the global economic crisis.
  

• UK Bank Woes Buoy Tesco's Push Into Retail Banking [Dow Jones Newswire via Wall Street Journal]
  Tesco PLC's push into retail banking has been given a fillip by the financial services crisis in the U.K., and will give the retailer a boost at a time when more-traditional revenue streams are under pressure, analysts say. Tesco, the U.K.'s biggest retailer by revenue, says it has been opening about 1,000 savings accounts a day in recent weeks after a promotional push in December. It says the demand is "a result of customers turning away from traditional banks to hold their money."
  

WAL-MART'S SELLING AMMO, BOOZE AND TOBACCO ACROSS FROM SCHOOL DRAWS RESIDENTS' IRE

• Residents Protest Wal-Mart Selling Ammo, Booze and Tobacco Near [News Blaze (Calif.)]
  Citizens here said they will hold an early morning protest FRIDAY to oppose the construction of a Wal-Mart across the street from Quartz Hill High School because Wal-mart sells ammunition, alcohol and tobacco.
  

ALASKA WAL-MART BANNED FROM SELLING TOBACCO

• Wal-Mart’s tobacco sales suspended [Kodiak Daily Mirror (Alaska)]
  Kodiak’s Wal-Mart received a suspension on selling tobacco products earlier in the week that will last through March 1, said Jennifer Spall, Wal-Mart public affairs manager for Alaska. The reason for the suspension was a tobacco sale to a minor, who is defined by Alaska law as under age 19.
  

• Wal-Mart in Alaska has tobacco license suspended [Associated Press via WXVT-TV (Miss.)]
  A new statewide policy will go into effect at Alaska Wal-Marts after its Kodiak store had its tobacco license suspended for a month after selling tobacco to a minor.
  

WAL-MART WANTS TO ALTER 'ZACH AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO' TITLE FOR SALE IN U.S. STORES

• U.S. Wal-Marts want 'Zack and Miri' DVD cover without word 'porno': Kevin Smith [The Canadian Press]
  Last fall, some ads for the film were rejected south of the border because of the word "porno." Now, Smith says Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. have asked that the cover of the DVD, set to hit shelves Tuesday, omit the word too.
  

NORWAY OIL FUND ADDS MORE COMPANIES TO THE ETHICAL BLACK LIST

• Norway Excludes Textron, Barrick Gold From Oil Fund [Bloomberg News]
  The fund has excluded 29 companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer. The five-member ethics council cited alleged labor rights abuses at Wal-Mart suppliers in Africa, Asia and Central America and discrimination in the U.S. against women and employees wanting to form unions. “Wal-Mart has worked to improve labor and commercial conditions,” John Simley, a company spokesman based in Bentonville, Arkansas, said in a phone interview in December.
  

EXXON RAKES IN $45 BILLION IN PROFIT

• Exxon Mobil sets record with $45.2 billion profit [Associated Press via Yahoo News]
  Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from a year ago.
  

AMAZON.COM THRIVING AS MORE SHOPPERS GO ONLINE FOR DEALS

• Profit Rises at Amazon as Shoppers Seek Deals [New York Times]
  The company posted strong earnings in a brutal climate that has punished nearly every other retailer, online and offline. Amazon’s net profit rose 9 percent, to $225 million, or 52 cents a share, in the quarter that ended on Dec. 31, up from $207 million, or 48 cents, in the same quarter a year earlier.
  

• Amazon.com Soars After Outpacing EBay in Sales, Profit Growth  [Bloomberg News]
  Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online retailer, topped sales and profit estimates yesterday after its biggest holiday season ever, outpacing EBay Inc. and its e-commerce rivals.
  

MORE ON TAYLOR SWIFT'S LEI LINE

• Taylor Swift Teams Up With L.E.I To Launch Line Of Inexpensive Dresses [All Headline News]
  Taylor Swift has teamed up with fashion line L.E.I. to develop her own line of inexpensive dresses available at Walmart. The 19-year-old country singer is to appear as part of the Jones Apparel Group's new spring and autumn ad campaigns and the line will be exclusively stocked at Wal-Mart, according to WWD.
  

WAL-MART LOCATIONS IN ARKANSAS TOSS OUT FOOD

• Grocers toss food products ruined by loss of power [NW Arkansas Morning News]
  A simple walk through Marvin's IGA on College Avenue and Lafayette Street at 5:30 p.m. Thursday summed up the state of a number of grocery stores around Washington County as the area thawed from a two-day ice barrage.
  

TV SALES SLOW BEFORE SUPER BOWL

• Super Bowl May Spur Fewer TV Sales as Retailers Fight Slump [Bloomberg News]
  With her new 46-inch flat-panel television mounted above the fireplace, Theresa Nelson is ready for the big game.
  

DESPITE RETAIL WOES, SOME STORES STAYING IN BUSINESS

• 'We are not closing' [Online Daily Home]
  Although new information about job layoffs and store closings — both nationally and locally — is emerging daily, some local businesses rumored to be closing will be keeping their doors open.
  

SAGGING ROOF FORCES BRANSON, MISSOURI WAL-MART TO CLOSE

• Storm Remnants Cause Wal-Mart Evacuation [Ozarks First (Mo.)]
  The remnants of the winter storm caused a Branson Wal-Mart to evacuate its customers on Thursday afternoon.
  

SPECIALTY RETAILERS STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE IN RECESSION

• Retailers on the Ropes: Can These Companies Survive? [Time]
  It's a brutal time in retail — sales dropped 2.7% in December, the sixth straight month of declines, and 0.1% for 2008, the first annual dip on government records dating back to 1992.

To keep updated on Wal-Mart Site Fights across the country, visit the Battlemart blog at http://walmartwatch.com/battlemart/blog

NEW YORK SITE FIGHT: 'SMART GROWTH LOCKPORT' AIMS TO BLOCK PLANNED SUPERCENTER

• LOCKPORT: Developer bids for vacant mall [Niagara Gazette (N.Y.)]
  Ulrich Development Corp. wants to buy the vacant Lockport Mall.
  

NORTH CAROLINA SITE FIGHT: CLYDE TO BUY VACANT WAL-MART BUILDING?

• Haywood County eyes old Wal-Mart shell for offices [Smoky Mountain News (N.C.)]
  A hulking space in the strip mall along U.S. 74 in Clyde that has sat vacant since the departure of Wal-Mart could get a new tenant — the Haywood County departments of Health and Social Services.
  

• Clyde, NC. Small Town Wants Federal Stimulus Money To Buy A Dead Wal-Mart [Battlemart Blog]
  There are at least 10 empty Wal-Marts in North Carolina today. One of them is in the Clyde/Waynesville area. Clyde is nestled in Haywood County, home of the Great Smoky Mountains.
  

MINNESOTA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART WANTS EXPANSION IN HERMANTOWN

• Hermantown, MN. Wal-Mart Returns For Second Try At Supercenter [Battlemart Blog]
  Towns with populations under 10,000 do not need their own Wal-Mart supercenter---but the company’s saturation strategy puts big stores in small places, despite the lack of consumer need
  

• Expect start of a bigger Hermantown Wal-Mart by spring [Duluth News Tribune (Minn.)]
  The Hermantown Wal-Mart expansion that seemed all but dead two years ago is now on a fast track to reality.

For more news on Wal-Mart as well as commentary, opinions and multimedia, visit our blog at http://walmartwatch.com/blog

Posted by Chris C on Friday, January 30, 2009

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