WALMART

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart stores have regained a familiar feeling this holiday season, and if senior executives are right, the increased promotional intensity will halt six consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales and put the company on the right track for 2011.


BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam’s Club promises to be an even more formidable competitor in the health-and-wellness space in the years ahead, judging from the strategic priorities now in place as part of a broad-based strategy known as Project Portfolio.



The phrase coined by Sam Walton — “Stack ’em high and let ’em fly!” — is reverberating throughout Walmart again.


The retailer’s back-to-basics strategy is good news for OTC suppliers, because going back to basics at Walmart also means going back to a broader product selection. Between the resumption of Action Alley and a recommitment to assortment, Walmart already has grown its carrying inventory by 4%, and the company plans to grow its inventory at a rate of half the 
expected sales lift.



BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart’s Neighborhood Market concept finally is getting its due more than 12 years after the first unit opened in late 1998. Next year, the company expected to open between 30 and 40 small stores, the majority of which will be Neighborhood Market units, in addition to a handful of pilot stores measuring less than 30,000 sq. ft. that the company views as a potential growth vehicle for either urban or rural markets.



BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart clearly is not unique in the fact that some of its stores offer access to an in-store health clinic, but what is unique is that several years ago, the retail giant decided to scrap its retail clinic model of partnering with a handful of independent operators in favor of a more regionalized, healthcare system-driven model.


MINNETONKA, Minn. — Could the economy and the bare-knuckles competition that now defines pharmacy retailing lower the price bar even further for widely used generic drugs? It’s already happening.


WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark announced on Friday that former Walmart North executive Hank Mullany will succeed Larry Merlo as president of CVS/pharmacy. The move is part of the corporate succession plan announced last May in which Tom Ryan will retire as CEO prior to the next annual meeting and Merlo will step up as CEO.

CINCINNATI — A consumer products giant and a big-box retailer are looking to connect deployed members of the U.S. military with their families during the holiday season, with help from the United Service Organizations.