Another big Wal-Mart threat, as Rubbermaid painfully learned some years ago, is that when it represents such a large percentage of your business, it can hurt you badly if it dumps you.
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Meanwhile, Wal-Mart and other big merchants are suing Visa, trying to drive down its fees.
No sooner was that fire out than a decade-old legal battle with Wal-Mart and other big retailers climaxed.
One big exception was Wal-Mart Stores, which said it expects to report same-store sales in November below its already lackluster forecast.
Products geared toward low-income consumers have typically been offered by payday loan companies and storefront lenders or even big retailers like Wal-Mart.
Today Haier sells 250 models of home appliances, from dishwashers to microwaves, in big retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco and over 1, 000 appliance dealers.
Wal-Mart was a big part of this, with its inexpensive player.
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If Wal-Mart and other big retailers are investing in technology to improve customers' shopping experience, smaller fry like Bruce have no choice but to keep up.
Today China's Haier sells 250 models of home appliances, from dishwashers to microwaves, in such big retailers as Wal-Mart and Costco and more than a thousand appliance dealers.
While many people take great pride in shopping locally (vs. buying online from Amazon or some other e-tailer), they miss the point by hitting up Wal-Mart or another big box retailer.
Big companies like Wal-Mart are tapping into Facebook's audience.
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But the converse is a little difficult for even conservative justices to get their heads around: Can a company like Wal-Mart be too big to sue over widespread practices like employment discrimination?
Among companies, the wealth may be shared more than in past years, as big stores like Wal-Mart increase their selection of digital TVs and other products to better compete with traditional electronics retailers.
The fact that it is moving into densely populated suburban areas near Los Angeles and Las Vegas also means it won't be competing directly against Wal-Mart and other big discounters like Target (nyse: TGT - news - people ) and Costco (nasdaq: COST - news - people ).
Big box stores like Wal-Mart Stores and Best Buy hold considerable sway with vendors.
History says that gas hikes always hurt Wal-Mart (and other big-box stores such as Lowe's).
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Anyway, the point is, big stores (like Wal-Mart) are already the suppliers of choice for affluent urban environments.
Some supermarkets and big box stores like Wal-Mart and Target are practically giving generic drugs away as a loss to attract customers.
In past years, Wal-Mart could rely on big sales of flat-panel TVs and party accessories during the week before the Super Bowl.
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While executing a solid strategy is of course a good thing, Wal-Mart is simply too big to execute its way to sustainable growth.
Wal-Mart, with a big piece of its sales coming from general merchandise, where margins can be thicker, is more profitable than Kroger.
Merrill Lynch is already predicting a lackluster season for big-box discounters Wal-Mart Stores and Target, whose sheer size makes it difficult to drive year-over-year sales.
Clearly online retailing requires a lot less retail property space compared to traditional brick-and-mortar format employed by big retail chains like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target and Costco.
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First, America has made particularly big productivity strides in retailing, where big firms such as Wal-Mart have been able to open sprawling warehouses and superstores around the country.
Wal-Mart is the largest big box retailer in the world.
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Other big chains, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and McDonald's Corp.
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The lack of a hospitable environment in some cities has slowed what some thought might be Wal-Mart's next big growth phase, following its rapid rise in rural America and the suburbs.
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Merrill Lynch is already predicting a lackluster season for big-box discounters Wal-Mart Stores (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and Target (nyse: TGT - news - people ), whose sheer size makes it difficult to drive year-over-year sales.
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