Walmart

It's hard to imagine a grocer that knows its home state better, or that tries harder to treat everyone like family.

NAPLES, N.Y. -- This was a year of transition for many packaged goods marketers, paving the way for an extremely active year for new products in 2006, according to global business information provider Datamonitor. New packaged goods rollouts in the United States are up 6.5 percent from last year, though Oct. 31, 2005, as the end of low-carbmania has allowed other health-and-wellness-related trends to take hold.

WASHINGTON -- In its latest attempt to bring negative attention to Wal-Mart, WakeUpWalMart.com, along with the National Consumers League, sent a joint letter yesterday to attorneys general in all 50 states, calling on them to launch a full-scale investigation into Wal-Mart's pricing practices. The groups cited findings of two newly released studies conducted by the University of Illinois-Chicago Center for Urban Economic Development and the University of California-Berkeley.

CHICAGO, Nov. 18, 2005 -- Traditional grocers might be in danger of losing another weapon they have against supercenters, mass merchandisers, and club stores; the element of differentiation they gain from their private label franchises, according to a recent study by marketing information company Information Resources, Inc. (IRI).

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Continuing to seek the silver lining among the dark clouds of natural disasters this past season, Wal-Mart said yesterday it will open its first "Wal-Mart Express" store in Waveland, Miss. this weekend, to serve shoppers who live near the site of its damaged supercenter. Wal-Mart called the 57,000-square-foot concept a "prototype," implying that there are more to come.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Declaring it an "important step" toward ensuring its imported shrimp is farmed with environmental sustainability in mind, Wal-Mart here said it will now certify that all its foreign shrimp suppliers adhere to Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) standards.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- As part of its push to up the quality of its offerings, Wal-Mart has begun to carry certified Wild American Shrimp in nearly 900 locations.

BUENA PARK, Park, Calif. -- WakeUpWalMart.com, a labor union-affiliated group that is among the most vocal critics of the world's largest retailer, this evening will host the first local screening of the film, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" here.