Word: marts
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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That great American retailing machine, Wal-Mart Stores, just keeps rolling along, doesn't it? Even in the current "challenging retail environment," Wal-Mart announced last week that sales in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31 increased a respectable 16% to $191.3 billion, while earnings hit a record $6.3 billion-a 17% jump. But hidden amid that thicket of good news is a thorny problem: Wal-Mart's European operations aren't reaching the levels of growth needed to make the company's expensive leap across the pond pay off. "Wal-Mart has not yet succeeded in markets that...
...Nonetheless, president and ceo Lee Scott calls Wal-Mart's international operations-which also include Canada, Latin America and Asia-a "bright spot," where operating profits were up 36% to $1.1 billion. Profits of $1.1 billion may sound robust, but Wal-Mart has invested at least $17 billion overseas, giving it a return of just over 6%. "You'd be better off putting the money in a bank-or under a mattress," maintains Richard Hyman, chairman of British retail consultancy Verdict Research. Indeed, in the U.S., Wal-Mart regularly enjoys a return on investment of around...
...biggest retailer entered the European market in December 1997 when it bought Germany's Wertkauf chain of hypermarkets. Thirteen months later, it picked up a second German chain, Interspar. In June 1999 it paid $10.8 billion for Asda, Britain's No. 3 supermarket chain. Expectations were high that Wal-Mart would quickly become a major European presence by leveraging its super-efficient sales techniques, high-tech inventory-tracking systems and global sourcing prowess...
...Interactive Video Cafe is not much to look at from the outside. It sits in a sprawling lot of a large strip mall anchored by K Mart and a Kroger supermarket. Inside, however, a mostly upscale African-American clientele drinks margaritas or Cognac and dines on $17.95 entrees of blackened pork chops, charbroiled salmon and barbecued ribs. On different nights, the restaurant features live jazz, comedy or karaoke. The restaurant had set aside its plushly decorated VIP room for the Brown party. At one point during the evening, the hostess took an odd telephone call from two women who asked...
Still, retailers believe in Santa Claus. Some 60% of all holiday shopping takes place in the final two weeks, and merchants expect bargain-sniffing consumers to pounce at the last minute. "If the weather clears, the shoppers will be out," says Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart. "They have shown they do have disposable income." Now they have to show they'll spend...