Walmart

ATLANTA -- Andrew Young, a former United Nations ambassador, civil rights activist, and Atlanta mayor, said yesterday he will serve as national steering committee chairman of Working Families for Wal-Mart, a pro-Wal-Mart group. The 16-member steering committee was formed in December to counter charges from two union-backed groups, WakeUpWalMart.com and WalMartWatch.com, that are pressuring Wal-Mart to improve wages and benefits.

WATFORD, England -- Tesco and Procter & Gamble are tops when it comes to supply chain, according to a survey of by international food and grocery specialist IGD, based here.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Setting out to prove its critics wrong, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. said yesterday it plans to open more than 50 in-store health clinics this year and make further changes to workers' health-care plans, in a bid to address the country's rising health care costs.

NEW YORK -- Featuring workshops and roundtable sessions to foster knowledge-sharing among attendees and an emphasis on best practices, the second annual Hispanic Retail 360 Summit promises to be the premier educational event for retailers looking to maximize their business with the growing Latino consumer market in the U.S., said organizers at the Retail Group of VNU Business Media.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Both sales and earnings were up for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31. The global retailer's total sales jumped 8.6 percent to $89.3 billion, while its net income was $3.6 billion, an increase of 13.4 percent.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Supermarket shoppers are a bit more satisfied with the quality of goods and services they're getting than they were a year ago, according to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of precuts and services available to household consumers in the United States.

NEWARK, Del. -- The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) here is readying to help provide a diverse learning and networking program examining the produce consumption and buying habits of four high-growth "new consumer" markets at the upcoming Retail Produce Solutions Conference (RPSC) March 9-11, 2006, in Houston.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Discount retailer Target Corp. here said that as part of its intensifying battle against chief rival Wal-Mart, it plans to expand its food offerings. The 1,239-unit discounter said it will incorporate larger food sections into most of its stores which, when the project is complete, will have as much as 50 percent more space for food than is now typical.