Even though a proposed Wal-Mart store at S.R. 54 and Grand Boulevard, in the Holiday area, got the go-ahead from county officials Thursday, residents vow to appeal the decision to the County Commission. ...more

November 9, 2007

The outlook for the holiday shopping season grew bleaker Thursday after retailers announced disappointing October sales attributed to consumers' ongoing worries about housing and higher energy prices. ...more

November 9, 2007

The federal consumer-product watchdog agency said Tuesday that a unilateral recall of lead-tainted toy animals by Wal-Mart Stores lacked information that consumers need, including how many toys were sold, when they were sold and at what other retailers. ...more

October 31, 2007

Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott told investors Wednesday that Wal-Mart Stores is focused on improving flagging sales at its existing U.S. stores, even as it cuts plans for new store openings in an increasingly saturated market. ...more

October 25, 2007

Retail sales in October may rise more slowly than previously forecast as stores continue offering discounts before the holiday shopping period to attract shoppers facing higher costs. ...more

October 24, 2007

Wal-Mart Stores became famous for low-price general merchandise. Future stores, however, will better resemble a neighborhood grocer. ...more

October 24, 2007

The mega-retailer's plans include more stores, many of them smaller supercenters or neighborhood markets, and older-store rehabs. ...more

October 24, 2007

The calculus of living paycheck to paycheck in America is getting harder. ...more

October 20, 2007

39,000 Number of sampling events in Sam's Club, weekly 68.5 Percentage of customers who buy item after sampling 200 Percentage rise in impulse buys at the most successful Sweetbay Supermarket sampling events $16 Average hourly wage samplers can make with some companies $2 billion Annual retailer and manufacturer investment for in-store sampling 11,200 People employed as samplers by Sam's Club Sources: Sweetbay Supermarket, Wal-Mart Stores, Mass Connections, Supermarket News, Promotion Marketing Association ...more

October 20, 2007

Critics say ConAgra Foods Inc.'s delay in recalling pot pies linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak increased the chance that more people would become sick, opened up the company to greater liability, and exposed a key weakness in the nation's food safety system: voluntary recalls. ...more

October 15, 2007