Content about Wal-Mart

Expectations are high that mobile payments represent the future of commerce, and a group of leading retailers this week formed a new organization to offer an alternative way to pay.

The group, Merchant Customer Exchange, will integrate a range of consumer offers, promotions and retail programs available via any smartphone. Participating retailers include Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Sears Holdings Corp. and Target. Additional members are expected to be announced in the coming months.  

Newell Rubbermaid named to its board of directors Ignacio Perez Lizaur, a former Wal-Mart Stores executive. 

Lizaur led Wal-Mart’s first international venture when he worked as director of Sam’s Club Mexico in 1991.

According to a report by Reuters, that U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Friday said he was "seriously concerned" about whether the female plaintiffs suing Wal-Mart Stores have sufficient evidence to proceed with their re-filed gender discrimination lawsuit.

The group is again filing suit against Wal-Mart for allegedly denying them pay raises and promotions for gender-related reasons. The original class action suit of as many as 1.5 million current and former Wal-Mart employers was dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

Against the backdrop of a slowly recovering economy, Home Channel News has once again published its Top 300 Industry Scoreboard — the 300 leading home improvement and building material retailers ranked by sales for the most recent fiscal year. For the second consecutive year, the sales of the Top 300 retailers showed a positive increase over the previous year.

Last year, the original 50 Home Channel News Hardware Store All-Star honorees established a high bar and a hard act to follow. But the 2012 crop rises to the challenge. This year’s Hardware Store All-Stars, one from each of the 50 U.S. states, have at least one thing in common: Ask them what makes them special and you can bet they’ll include “excellent customer service” in the answer. From there, every path to stardom is unique.

Flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators has announced that Robert Lynch, its current president and chief operating officer, will succeed current CEO Jeffrey Griffiths on Jan. 1, 2012. As part of the company’s succession plan, Griffiths will also retire from the board of directors at the same time.

The third annual Mobile Audit, released Thursday by e-commerce and digital marketing company Acquity Group, found that mobile adoption is on the rise. In fact, the percentage of retailers with a mobile site reached 37% in 2011, up from 12% in 2010 and only 4% in 2009 -- a 210% increase over the past year alone.

Denver -- Ace Hardware stores are showing strong same-store sales, while the distributor's wholesale sales are running ahead of the budgeted 3% growth, CEO Ray Griffith told dealers.

Speaking Saturday morning at the General Session of the co-op's 2011 Convention & Exhibits here at the Colorado Convention Center, Griffith said data from about 3,000 Ace stores show a 2.4% comparable-store sales increase over last year. In each of the last four months, the stores showed comp-sales increases of more than 4%. 

The NPD signed a point-of-sale cooperation agreement with Sam’s Club, the Wal-Mart Stores division, to receive and analyze sales information from Sam’s Club U.S. clubs and SamsClub.com.

Senior leadership within Walmart’s merchandising organization continues to undergo a transformation, as the retailer’s chief merchandising officer Duncan Mac Naughton on Friday announced another round of personnel moves. 

Leeds, Ala.-based Marvin's Building Materials and Home Centers is building a store in Eufaula, Ala. -- the 27th store for the home center chain, and the second new store in 2011.

The company opened its 26th store in Monroeville, Ala., earlier this year.

Construction will begin soon at the site on highway 431 in Eufaula, where the company hopes to open a 34,000-sq.-ft. store in early October, or sooner. The site is a former Walmart.