Wal-mart, Retailer | featured news

Wal-Mart,the nation's largest private employer, is slashing health benefits for part-time workers and raising premiums for many of its full-time staff, The New York Times reported Friday.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is finally seeing sustained improvement at its U.S. discount chain, with sales at Walmart stores open at least a year rising for three months straight, Walmart U.S. Chief Executive Bill Simon said on Wednesday.

Wal-Mart is starting to turn heads in the tech world — and that might have important implications for the way we think about the future of the shopping experience. Once known for a soulless retail store experience and a hyper-efficient supply chain that delivered “everyday low prices,” Wal-Mart has been fusing innovations from the mobile and social-networking worlds to create the foundation for a radically new type of hyper-personalized shopping experience.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Tuesday that sales at its U.S. discount stores open at least a year fell 0.9 percent during its second quarter, marking the ninth straight quarterly decline as it tries to bring bargain hunters back to its stores.

Wal-Mart revamped its e-commerce management on Friday, placing the heads of stores in developed countries in charge of their online businesses and announcing the departure of two top U.S. Internet executives.

The online retailer wants voters to strike down the California law requiring the company to collect sales taxes. Wal-Mart, labor groups and other opponents could wage a costly, noisy battle against such a referendum. Escalating its fight to thwart a new levy on Internet purchases, Amazon.com says it will ask California voters to overturn a state law requiring all companies with operations or affiliates here to collect sales tax.

Retailer rolls back by 10 cents a gallon for users of its branded credit cards and gift cards.

The retailer launched the new service in San Jose, Calif., as it seeks to adapt to competitive threats from Amazon.com and others.

Wal-Mart is expected to announce that it will reformulate thousands of products to make them healthier and push its suppliers to do the same.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reporting a 9.3 percent increase in third-quarter net income as the world's largest retailer benefits from cost controls and a robust international business.