Wal-Mart Watch Daily Clips - June 2nd

WAL-MART WORKER RALLIES SET FOR TODAY, THURSDAY

• Support Wal-Mart Workers Right to a Union at Tuesday News Conference, Rally, Leafletting [Progressive Maryland]
  Join community and labor leaders supporting Wal-Mart associates, who are trying to improve their lives by exercising their right to union representation, and their campaign to organize the giant retailer’s Washington, D.C., area stores.
  

• Wal-Mart workers to rally Thursday in St. Paul [Workday Minnesota]
  Wal-Mart workers, organizing to improve their workplaces, will rally Thursday, June 4, in St. Paul. The rally will start at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 4, outside the Midway Wal-Mart store, 1450 University Ave. W., St. Paul.
  

NEW CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST WAL-MART FOR CHEATING CUSTOMERS ON SALES TAX

• Class Sues Wal-Mart Over Returns Policy [Courthouse News Service]
  Wal-Mart uses a sales tax loophole to cheat customers of a full refund on returned merchandise, a class action claims in Madison County Court. Named plaintiff John Whitwell says Wal-Mart refuses to give full credit when items are returned to a Wal-Mart store where the sales tax rate is lower than at the store where the items were purchased.
  

MORE ON LINDA DILLMAN'S EXIT

• Longtime Wal-Mart officer Linda Dillman to leave the company [BloggingStocks]
  Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. hired Linda Dillman in 1991 through an acquisition, and she eventually became the Chief Information Officer of the world's largest retailer.
  

MORE ON WAL-MART'S FIRST STORE IN INDIA

• Wal-Mart opens wholesale store in India [Financial Times]
  As retail giant Wal-Mart took its first step into India this weekend, opening its first wholesale store in a country where modern retail has so far made little headway against traditional wholesalers, and small independent ‘mom-and-pop’ shops.
  

• Wal-Mart, Bharti to open 15 wholesale locations within three years [BloggingStocks]
  Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., which recently had to delay its first India store opening due to local violence, has announced it will be opening 15 wholesale locations in India with partner Bharti within the next three years.
  

GOOD NEWS FOR WAL-MART? NO REVIEW OF INDIA FDI POLICY

• Commerce minister rules out any review of FDI policy [My Iris]
  Newly appointed commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma ruled out any review of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy. There are safeguards against FDI in sensitive sectors like broadcasting and defense production, while the policy does not allow overseas investment in retail, he said.
  

WAL-MART USES RECESSION TO TARGET NEW CUSTOMERS

• Wealthy shoppers 'trading down' at Wal-Mart [Globe and Mail (Canada)]
  Wal-Mart Canada Corp. WMT-N is finding ways to benefit from the downturn as well-heeled consumers switch to the discounter from higher-end chains to buy patio sets, barbecues and other pricier items.
  

AS SHAREHOLDER MEETING APPROACHES, MORE PUBLIC CHAT OF BOARD SHAKEUPS
 

• When boards do battle, sometimes the consumer wins [Wallet Pop]
  Activist William Ackman lost his battle to implement some change in Target's board of directors.
  

WHICH WAY ARE RETAIL SALES HEADED?

• Most U.S. retailers likely saw sales fall in May [Reuters]
  Despite Memorial Day sales, warmer weather and deals such as $1 flip-flops, most U.S. retailers are expected to post declines in same-store sales in May as shoppers kept hunting for bargains in the recession.
  

• Retailers' weekly sales rise from year ago: survey [Marketwatch]
  Chain-store sales for the week ended May 30 rose 0.6% from the year-earlier period, according to a survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. On a week-over-week basis, sales fell 0.6%.
  

• Check Out Line: Consumers still bargain hunting [Reuters Shop Talk Blog]
  Despite Memorial Day sales, warmer weather and deals such as $1 flip-flops, most U.S. retailers are expected to report declines in same-store sales in May as shoppers kept hunting for bargains in the recession.
  

DOLLAR GENERAL BRINGING THE HEAT ON WAL-MART

• Dollar General Profit Soars as Shoppers Seek Value [Reuters via New York Times]
  Dollar General, which sells most of its merchandise for $10 or less, said net income in the first quarter ended May 1 jumped to $83.0 million from $5.9 million a year earlier. Adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization soared 59 percent to $291 million.
  

WILL WINN-DIXIE SURVIVE WAL-MART AND PUBLIX?

• Is Winn-Dixie on the Block? [Retail Wire]
  There are those who believe, especially outside of Winn-Dixie's headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, that the grocery chain cannot continue to take competition such as Publix and Wal-Mart Stores head-on and survive. Is Winn-Dixie making the right moves to fix its reputation and establish itself to compete for the long haul?
  

ASDA STAFF GETS THEIR BONUSES

• Asda staff share £43m payout [Press Association]
  Around 16,500 staff at supermarket group Asda are sharing a £43 million payout after one of its savings plans matured.
  

AFTER GOV'T BAN, WAL-MARTS IN CHINA REDUCE PLASTIC BAG USAGE BY 80%

• One Year after Plastic Bag Ban, How is Changsha Doing? [RedNet.cn]
  On June 1, 2008, China banned supermarkets, shops and open markets from supplying free plastic bags to customers in a drive to protect environment and cut waste.
  

CUSTOMERS COMPLAIN OF DEAD FISH AT ILLINOIS WAL-MART...

• Buy Your Dead Fish For Less At Walmart [Consumerist]
  A reader sent us the following pics of the neglected aquariums in her local Walmart in Carmi, Illinois. She complained to a manager, but when she checked back "several hours later," the tanks remained untouched. Well, the dead fish were probably slightly smaller, since the remaining live fish were eating them.
  

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

ILLINOIS SITE FIGHT: EXTENSION OK'D IN WEST DUNDEE

• West Dundee OKs planning extension for Wal-Mart [Daily Herald (Ill.)]
  The West Dundee village board has given Wal-Mart a one-year extension to meet preliminary planning deadlines for a supercenter near Spring Hill Mall.
  

NEW YORK SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART OK'D IN SWANSEA

• Wal-Mart site plan approved [Herald News (N.Y.)]
  The Planning Board approved the site plan for a new Wal-Mart Supercenter Monday night, with board members Gary White, Scott Adams and Gil Howard voting in favor of the proposal. Board members Kenneth Baker and Robert Schecter were absent for the much-awaited vote.
  

WISCONSIN SITE FIGHT: MILWAUKEE'S FIRST SUPERCENTER OPENING IN A MONTH

• First Milwaukee County Super Walmart opens June 3 [The Business Journal of Milwaukee]
  Walmart said it will open its first Super Walmart store in Milwaukee County Wednesday, June 3, at its renovated and expanded south side Milwaukee location.
  

CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: SALINAS READY TO VOTE ON BIG BOX BAN

• Salinas City Council to vote on repeal of big-box ban [The Salinas Californian]
  Wal-Mart representatives will be among those on hand for today's Salinas City Council meeting as a divided council decides whether to repeal its much-debated ban of big-box stores or put the matter before voters.
  

• Getting to truth about Wal-Mart can help Salinas decide issue [The Salinas Californian]
  I was watching C-Span, and on this particular day they happened to be discussing Wal-Mart. A man from Virginia called the channel to express his viewpoint. He was neither for nor against Wal-Mart but was starting to lean against the company.
  

• Wal-Mart Superstore can breathe new life into center [Salinas Californian]
  Today the Salinas City Council will have the opportunity to bring lower prices, jobs, hope and more consumer choice to working families of the Salinas Valley.
  

NEW HAMPSHIRE SITE FIGHT: CITY MEETING TO BRING WAL-MART ISSUES INTO FOCUS

• Wal-Mart Supercenter plan to be meeting focus [New Hampshire Union Leader]
  Wal-Mart representatives and consultants will approach city leaders this evening, asking to rezone a warehouse and cemetery land needed to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter near South Willow Street.
  

PENNSYLVANIA SITE FIGHT: RESIDENTS QUESTIONING NORTH HUNTINGDON PROGRESS

• North Huntingdon Walmart work may resume in 2010 [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
  Designers of a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter along Route 30 in North Huntingdon showed township planning commissioners on Monday minor changes to a previously approved site plan. Residents have been questioning the progress of the plan, which township officials originally approved in 2003.
  

NORTH CAROLINA SITE FIGHT: DEVELOPMENT PLANS REVEALED

• Developer shows layout for Shoppes at Marion [The McDowell News (N.C.)]
  The real estate firm working to develop a new shopping center on Sugar Hill Road confirmed on its Web site what many people have long suspected: a Wal-Mart Supercenter will be the anchor store for the new shopping center.
  

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

Posted by Media Team on Tuesday, June 02, 2009

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