Shoplifting has soared in the U.S. in 2024, forcing many stores to leave cities and continuing a trend in recent years.
Shoplifting has risen 24 percent in the first half of 2024 alone, according to newly released data from the Council on Criminal Justice.
Read More
June 1 will mark the start of “Pride” month, in which advocates of LGBTQIA+ causes celebrate that movement. In recent years, June has seen major corporate chains feature an array of “Pride”-themed merchandise and decorations, though some offerings have prompted considerable backlash from a non-receptive — even hostile public — in recent years.
2023 saw major retailers such as Target become the subject of boycotts over more controversial products marketed for children. Other companies, such as Anheuser-Busch came under scrutiny over marketing campaigns that failed to resonate with their traditional clientele.
Read More
Walmart has announced layoffs impacting several hundred jobs at its campus offices and is requiring remote employees to come to the office.
The retail giant said in a staff memo Tuesday most of the remote workers and personnel in its Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto offices will relocate to its primary offices in Bentonville, Arkansas; Hoboken, New Jersey; and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Read More
Walmart and Archer Aviation both announced plans to invest in Georgia on Wednesday, and the companies’ plans will ultimately create more than 1,400 new jobs throughout the state.
A new milk processing facility was announced in the south Georgia city of Valdosta, and Walmart said the $350 million location will employ nearly 400 Georgians. Products bottled at the facility will include gallon and half gallon varieties of whole, 2 percent, 1 percent, skim, and 1 percent chocolate milk for the Great Value and Sam’s Club Member’s Mark brands, and they will be sold to 750 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Georgia and across the region.
Read More
Walmart has launched a drone delivery service for customers in Florida, Texas and Arizona as the grocery chain expands its delivery operations.
Customers in the Dallas, Phoenix, Tampa and Orlando areas are able to have same-day delivery via drone, Walmart announced earlier this month.
Read More
The state of Georgia has signed on to a $3.1 billion national agreement with Walmart amid allegations that the retailer didn’t properly monitor opioids dispensing at its pharmacies; Georgia is expected to get $28 million in the deal, according to an announcement from Attorney General Chris Carr.
“The opioid epidemic has destroyed lives, families, and communities all across our state and nation,” Carr said in the release.
Read More
Second- and third-generation heirs of Walmart founder Sam Walton’s fortune have funneled millions of dollars into LGBTQ-related causes in their home state of Arkansas.
Among other things, these Walton-funded groups and the Walmart Foundation have sponsored local drag shows and story hours for kids; “teens only” events for LGBTQ-identifying youth; and other progressive causes such as diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public schools and the state university in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Read More
Woke retailers like Home Depot, Kroger, and Walmart are asking Congress to pass their own special smash and grab worth billions of dollars by mandating changes to how credit cards are processed.
Joining forces with far-left Democratic Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, retailers are seeking changes in federal law threatening rewards programs that many consumers use to take some of the sting off of the high cost of everything from food and gas to furniture and travel.
Read More
A group of conservative investors plan to take on four of the “wokest” corporations at upcoming shareholder meetings over allegedly discriminatory policies in an effort to defend shareholders, according to a press release.
The Free Enterprise Project of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Boardroom Initiative (BI) coalition member, will make proposals at Walmart, Twitter, Facebook and Comcast shareholder meetings held over the next two weeks to hire outside firms to investigate whether or not the companies are placing merit behind “equity” considerations, according to the release.
Read More
Corporations previously outspoken about hot-button social issues have stayed quiet on the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade after a dramatic fight between Disney and Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over the company’s political activism.
Following the leak of a draft opinion indicating the Supreme Court is likely to overturn Roe v. Wade, Democrats are trying to ram through a bill legalizing third trimester abortions; however, corporations are largely staying out of the fray, following Disney’s disastrous battle with Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that ended with the company losing its special tax privileges.
Read More
The nation’s largest private employer announced plans to hire tens of thousands of workers before the end of the quarter to help expand its business amid a tightening labor market.
Walmart announced Wednesday a plan to hire more than 50,000 workers in the U.S. by the end of April, the time of year when many companies decrease hiring following the busy holiday shopping season, The Wall Street Journal first reported. The new hires will reportedly fill positions in stores but also add staff in areas such as health, wellness and advertising.
Read More
Retail giants Walmart and Kroger have each raised the price of BinaxNOW rapid COVID-19 tests after a deal made with President Joe Biden expired in mid-December, FOX Business reported.
The September deal had the companies sell the antigen self-test kits made by Abbott Laboratories for $14 for 100 days, FOX Business reported. The cost of the tests will now be $19.98.
Read More
Costco will raise its company-wide minimum wage to $16 per hour, a one-dollar increase that raises its wages higher than its fellow big-box retailers, the company’s CEO said during a congressional hearing Thursday.
Costco plans to raise its minimum wage from $15 to $16 because it is committed to paying workers “very competitive retail wages,” CEO Craig Jelinek said during a Senate Budget Committee hearing Thursday. Jelinek stopped short of advocating in favor of a federal minimum wage overhaul, instead saying he was solely focused on Costco.
Read More
Walmart announced it will raise wages for 425,000 store associates serving in “frontline” roles after the company reported record fourth-quarter revenue.
Walmart will increase starting wages to between $13 and $19 per hour depending on store location and market, according to a letter Walmart President and CEO John Furner sent to employees nationwide Thursday morning. The pay raises will begin on March 13 and apply to the company’s 425,000 store associates.
Read More
Globally dominant retailers Amazon and Walmart saw profits soar in 2020 on the strength of surging online sales amid a traditional retail environment decimated by COVID-19 closures and shoppers too nervous to venture out into brick-and-mortar establishments.
Read More
The Department of Justice sued Walmart Tuesday alleging that the big-box retailer fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic by knowingly filling illegitimate prescriptions and with price-cutting techniques.
Walmart transformed its 5,000 in-store pharmacies into a leading network of opioid suppliers, the Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit alleged, according to a press release. In addition, Walmart allegedly didn’t heed warnings from its pharmacists that there was an insufficient screening process for questionable prescriptions.
Read More
Retailers like Target and Walmart stretched out their traditional Black Friday sales throughout the whole month, but post-Thanksgiving shopping sprees will still be available, according to press releases from the companies. Cyber Monday will feature big deals online as usual, but don’t forget Giving Tuesday and Small Business Saturday.
Read More
Virginia’s fiscal year 2020 sales tax revenue performed well all the way up until April 2020 when sales tax revenue decreased 0.4 percent from April 2019; May saw sales tax revenue drop 12.5 percent from May 2019, indicating harm to Virginia’s retailers. At the same time, online sales were booming.
Read More