Walmart

LEEDS, England -- Wal-Mart-owned ASDA, the United Kingdom's No. 2 supermarket, said that it would overhaul its 278 health and beauty sections at a cost of 7 million pounds (U.S. $12.8 million), according to a report in U.K. newspaper the Evening Telegraph.

LONDON -- Wal-Mart has once again nabbed the top position in the annual list of the top 30 grocers worldwide, published by Planet Retail (www.planetretail.net) here.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. late last week vetoed the Fair Share Health Care Bill, which would have made Wal-Mart spend more on employee health benefits in the state, according to published reports. Ehrlich said the legislation would have kept other businesses from considering expansion in Maryland.

NEW YORK -- If you think Wal-Mart's big now, just wait until 2010, when the retailing giant is expected to reach the half-trillion mark. Those were the cautionary words spoken here yesterday by Al Meyers, s.v.p., business development for Retail Forward, Inc., during the consultancy's conference, "Retailing 2010: Five Years Survived, Five Left to Thrive."

BRISBANE and LOS GATOS, Calif. -- Wal-Mart and Netflix yesterday entered a joint promotional agreement covering their core online movie businesses --Walmart.com's movie sales and Netflix's DVD movie rentals. In the agreement the two retailers -- each with strong, complementary expertise in online movie services -- will market one another's key movie business on their respective Web sites.

Because of packaging's ability to enhance perishables, fresh suppliers are cooking up clever solutions to address the needs of today's consumers and supermarket operators.

The consumer focus on nutrition and convenience has spurred the growth of the yogurt market.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- When the bar's set high, it's a long way down. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s net sales for the first quarter ended April 30 were $70.9 billion, an increase of 9.5 percent over the first quarter of fiscal 2005, and net income for the quarter was $2.5 billion, a rise of 13.6 percent from $2.2 billion in the year-ago period.