Sam's Club

CHICAGO - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Friday said it agreed to sell its McLane grocery distributor business to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for about $1.5 billion, reports Reuters.

LOS ANGELES -- A group of women claming they were taken to strip clubs on business trips, demeaned as "little Janie Qs" by senior managers, paid less than men for the same jobs, and denied promotions filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart in federal court in San Francisco yesterday.

CHICAGO - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Friday said it has named Tom Coughlin, who has run its namesake discount stores and its Sam's Club warehouse store division, as vice chairman of the corporation.

NATICK, Mass. - The website Daily Deal reported on Thursday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is considering a bid to buy BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., the Natick, Mass.-based chain that operates about 140 club stores.

TORONTO - Wal-Mart Canada on Monday said it would open Sam's Club warehouse stores in three cities in Ontario, triggering more competition among retailers and grocers in Canada.

MILWAUKEE - Although customer satisfaction dropped slightly in the last quarter and has been flat in the past year, household spending should rebound somewhat, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a leading indicator of consumer spending.

CHICAGO - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday posted a better-than-expected 15.5 percent jump in quarterly profit due largely to higher sales abroad. The increase helped offset sluggish sales at its U.S. Sam's Club warehouse stores.

After the initial rush to get into the gasoline business, supermarkets and other high-volume operators have entered a more mature stage of market development.