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Wal-Mart rings in holiday price cuts

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By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

The Associated Press

Published: October 22, 2009

NEW YORK - Wal-Mart, which has used low prices to dominate the U.S. retail scene, stepped up its game in price cutting still further Wednesday.

The world's largest retailer said it will cut prices this holiday season for a week at a time on thousands of items, from bananas to board games. The first group of cuts hit Wednesday.

Wal-Mart, also the largest U.S. grocery seller and overall retailer, hopes shoppers will see a widening gap between prices at its stores and those of its rivals.

Wal-Mart has built its strategy on using its massive buying power to undercut rivals. But it sells enough products in enough categories to make up for any losses on individual items that it uses to pull people into stores or onto its Web site.

The nationwide cuts started this week with bananas selling for 39 cents a pound, rolls of lean ground beef for $1.25a pound and select board games for $15.

Wal-Mart started a price war on books last week, announcing that its Web site, Walmart.com, would charge just $10, with free shipping, for upcoming hardcover releases. That's at least 60 percent off the regular suggested price.

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