Best Practices

LEEDS, West Yorkshire, U.K. - Wal-Mart-owned Asda on Thursday unveiled new research by NOP that suggests plastic cards are failing to keep customers loyal.

NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. last week sued its life insurers, American International Group Inc. and Hartford Financial Services, to get back $150 million it says it lost through a life insurance policy for employees, Reuters reports.

TROY, Mich. - For the first time, Kmart Corporation will publish its weekly advertising circular in Spanish throughout the U.S. The company said it aims to reach hundreds of thousands of Spanish-speaking customers who shop Kmart stores.

BOSTON - A national survey conducted by New York-based Conference Board has found that workers in many parts of the country are growing more unhappy with their jobs, The Associated Press reports.

LOS ANGELES - Hispanic households in Los Angeles, home to the largest population of Hispanics in the United States, are much less likely to belong to a grocery store frequent shopper program than non-Hispanics, according to new research from ACNielsen U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than half of supermarket operators say that pharmacy operations are a very important part of their business strategy, and nearly 70 percent say that it will be an important component by 2004, according to a new FMI report.

FRUITLAND PARK, Fla. - A recently released retail theft survey found that out of a sample of 30 U.S. retail companies, more than $5 billion was lost to shoplifting and employee theft in 2001, with only 3.45 percent of those losses resulting in a recovery.

WASHINGTON - Accepting a staff recommendation made more than a year ago, the Federal Trade Commission has unanimously denied a request by three trade associations that it issue guidelines on slotting allowances.