WALMART

DAYTON, Ohio — While Walmart maintained the No. 1 position on Interbrand's "U.S. Most Valuable Retail Brands" list for 2012, several other retailers are moving up the ranks.

Although Walmart touts a value that's more than $139 billion, this year also marked a 2% decrease for the big box retailer, Interbrand said. Second on this year's list was Target, which holds a value of $23 billion, a 1% increase over last year.

Brian Cornell has stepped down as Sam’s Club president and CEO, and has been replaced by Rosalind Brewer, who previously served as president of the Walmart U.S. East business unit. Walmart also named Rollin Ford chief administrative officer with responsibility for information systems, global sourcing, global business processes, global shared services and global customer insights. Ford was most recently chief information officer; Karenann Terrell replaced Ford as CIO. Gisel Ruis was named EVP and COO of Walmart U.S., responsible for U.S.

NEW YORK — The National Association for Female Executives on Wednesday released its list of the "Top 50 Companies for Executive Women."

General Mills, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble were all listed in the top 10 on that list. Other notable supplier and retail companies included Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cardinal Health, Colgate-Palmolive, Eli Lilly, Kraft Foods, Merck and Walmart.

DENVER — MusclePharm on Thursday announced its MMA Elite supplements powered by MusclePharm now are available in select Walmart stores. With the new partnership between MMA Elite — a mixed-martials arts brand licensed by Ultimate Brand Management — and MusclePharm, the new supplement line will be released in the Las Vegas area first and will then spread nationwide.

The first two products to be featured are Perform Elite, a pre-workout product, and Recover Elite, a post-workout supplement, at a suggested retail price of $19.97 each.

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Walmart isn’t about to let the grass grow under its feet in Canada. The discounter plans to spend about $753 million this fiscal year to expand its store presence in Canada, before rival Target begins its push in the country.

WASHINGTON — In an effort to assure customers that private-label products are meeting the proper nutrition criteria, Walmart announced it is implementing a transparent initiative called "Great For You," an icon that calls out healthy foods sold in Walmart stores, Walmart announced on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is following through on its commitment to give consumers the best access to affordable, nutritious foods by donating $9.5 million in grants to organizations with a shared mission of promoting healthy eating habits.

The funding will support nutrition education programs, provide classes focused on learning to cook and shop for healthier foods on a budget and provide live cooking demonstrations in communities nationwide, the company annnounced in a press release.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — In honor of American Heart Month, Sam's Club announced it will be hosting free heart health screenings on Feb. 11 at all locations with a pharmacy.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., members and guests can receive total cholesterol, HDL, glucose, body mass index and blood-pressure tests for free. During the screenings, Sam's Club pharmacies also will offer free samples of related items, the company said.