Walmart

Walmart Inc. ( /ˈwɔːlmɑːrt/; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded by Sam Walton on July 2, 1962 in Rogers, AR and incorporated on October 31, 1969 in Wilmington, DE. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses. As of April 30, 2020, Walmart had 11,484 stores and clubs in 27 countries, operating under 56 different names. Walmart mainly has been a small brand discount department store, which has been falling behind in recent years, due to Kmart reducing the size of their stores and A&P under management who had been dominating the grocery store market. Due to this, the Walmart Supercenter concept faded out of main focus, and only 2,318 remain. Many were sold off to Apollo Global (opened as Wal-Mart Supercenter stores, although the Walmart Supercenter name since being renamed, and just use the normal Walmart name) and Meijer over the years, causing many to start to wonder where Walmart went wrong.

In 2013, they filed a lawsuit against Kmart for having a monopoly on the department store industry, but the judge dismissed the case.

Operating Divisions[]

Walmart's operations are organized into four divisions: Walmart US, Walmart International, Sam's Club and Global eCommerce. The company offers various retail formats throughout these divisions, including supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash-and-carry stores, home improvement, specialty electronics, restaurants, apparel stores, drugstores, convenience stores, and digital retail.

Walmart U.S.[]

Walmart U.S. is the company's largest division, accounting for US$331.666 billion, or 65 percent of total sales, for fiscal 2019. It consists of three retail formats that have become commonplace in the United States: Supercenters, Discount Stores, Neighborhood Markets, and other small formats. The discount stores sell a variety of mostly non-grocery products, though emphasis has now shifted towards supercenters, which include more groceries. As of April 30, 2019, there are a total of 4,753 Walmart U.S. stores. In the United States, 90 percent of the population resides within 10 miles of a Walmart store. The total number of Walmart U.S. and Sam's Club combined is 5,352.

Walmart Supercenter[]

Walmart Supercenters, branded simply as "Walmart" since 2009, are hypermarkets with sizes varying from 69,000 to 260,000 square feet (6,400 to 24,200 square meters), but averaging about 178,000 square feet (16,500 square meters). These stock general merchandise and a full-service supermarket, including meat and poultry, baked goods plus a bakery, delicatessen, frozen foods, dairy products, fresh produce, and fresh seafood. Many Walmart Supercenters also have a garden center, pet shop, pharmacy, Tire & Lube Express (now called Automotive), optical center (now called Vision Center), one-hour photo processing lab, portrait studio, and numerous alcove shops, such as cellular phone stores, hair and nail salons, video rental stores, local bank branches (such as Woodforest National Bank branches in newer locations), and fast food outlets.

Many Walmart Supercenters have featured McDonald's restaurants, but in 2021, Walmart announced it would stop opening McDonald's restaurants at most of their newer stores, most likely due to nutritional concerns. Most locations that opened up after the announcement had Subway as their restaurants, and some McDonald's inside the stores were replaced with Subways. In some Canadian locations, Tim Hortons were opened. Recently, in several Supercenters, like the Tallahassee, Florida and the Palm Desert, California locations, Walmart added Burger King to their locations, and the location in Glen Burnie, Maryland, due to its past as a hypermarket called Leedmark, which operated from May 1991 to January 1994, boasts an Auntie Anne's and an Italian restaurant.

Some locations also have fuel stations which sell gasoline distributed by Murphy USA (which spun off from Murphy Oil in 2013), Sunoco, Inc. ("Optima"), the Tesoro Corporation ("Mirastar"), USA Gasoline, and even now Walmart-branded gas stations.

The first Supercenter opened in Washington, Missouri, in 1988. A similar concept, Hypermart USA, had opened a year earlier in Garland, Texas. All Hypermart USA stores were later closed or converted into Supercenters.

In 2008, there were 3,569 Walmart Supercenters in 49 of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Hawaii is the only state to not have a Supercenter location. The largest Supercenter in the world, covering 260,000 square feet (24,000 square meters) on two floors, is located in Crossgates Commons in Albany, New York. Over the years, the number has shrunk down do to popularity concerns.

A typical supercenter sells approximately 120,000 items, compared to the 35 million products sold in Walmart's online store.

The "Supercenter" name has since been retired, with these stores now simply referred to as "Walmart", since the company introduced the new Walmart logo in 2008. However, the branding is still used in Walmart's Canadian stores (spelled as "Supercentre" in Canadian English).

As of 2022, there were around 5,000 Walmart Supercenters left in the United States, which has been attributed to rising competition from retailers such as Meijer and Costco, both with similar business strategies to Walmart. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, due to a drastic drop in sales. The would exit bankruptcy the same year, closing underperforming stores, and expanding to new US regions, such as Hawaii, where the first few locations would open in 2025.

Walmart Discount Store[]

The exterior of the Walmart Discount Store in Charlotte, North Carolina

Walmart Discount Stores, also branded as simply "Walmart", are discount department stores with sizes varying from 30,000 to 206,000 square feet (2,800 to 19,100 square meters), with the average store covering 105,000 square feet (9,800 square meters). They carry general merchandise and limited groceries. Some newer and remodeled discount stores have an expanded grocery department, similar to Target's PFresh department. Many of these stores also feature a garden center, pharmacy, Tire & Lube Express, optical center, one-hour photo processing lab, portrait studio, a bank branch, a cell phone store, and a fast food outlet. Some also have gasoline stations. Discount Stores were Walmart's original concept, though they have since been surpassed by Supercenters.

In 1990, Walmart opened its first Bud's Discount City location in Bentonville. Bud's operated as a closeout store, much like Big Lots. Many locations were opened to fulfill leases in shopping centers as Walmart stores left and moved into newly built Supercenters. All of the Bud's Discount City stores had closed or converted into Walmart Discount Stores by 1997.

At its peak in 1996, there were 9,000 Walmart Discount Stores,[122] but as of April 30, 2020, that number was dropped to 4,618.

Walmart Neighborhood Market[]

Walmart Neighborhood Market in Valdosta, Georgia

Walmart Neighborhood Market, sometimes branded as "Neighborhood Market by Walmart" or informally known as "Neighborhood Walmart", is Walmart's chain of smaller grocery stores ranging from 28,000 to 65,000 square feet (2,600 to 6,000 square meters) and averaging about 42,000 square feet (3,900 square metres), about a fifth of the size of a Walmart Supercenter. The first Walmart Neighborhood Market opened ten years after the first Supercenter opened, yet Walmart renewed its focus on the smaller grocery store format in the 2010s.

The stores focus on three of Walmart's major sales categories: groceries, which account for about 55 percent of the company's revenue, pharmacy, and, at some stores, fuel. For groceries and consumables, the stores sell fresh produce, deli and bakery items, prepared foods, meat, dairy, organic, general grocery and frozen foods, in addition to cleaning products and pet supplies. Some stores offer wine and beer sales and drive-through pharmacies. Some stores, such as one at Midtown Center in Bentonville, Arkansas, offer made-to-order pizza with a seating area for eating. Customers can also use Walmart's site-to-store operation and pick up online orders at Walmart Neighborhood Market stores.

Products at Walmart Neighborhood Market stores carry the same prices as those at Walmart's larger supercenters. A Moody's analyst said the wider company's pricing structure gives the chain of grocery stores a "competitive advantage" over competitors Whole Foods, Kroger and Trader Joe's. Walmart contributed around 14.5% of the entire quantity of food purchased in the USA during 2016. This figure was more than double the contribution from their closest competitor Kroger.

Neighborhood Market stores expanded slowly at first as a way to fill gaps between Walmart Supercenters and Discount Stores in existing markets. In its first 12 years, the company opened about 180 Walmart Neighborhood Markets. By 2010, Walmart said it was ready to accelerate its expansion plans for the grocery stores. As of April 30, 2020, there were 686 Walmart Neighborhood Markets, each employing between 90 and 95 full-time and part-time workers. There are also currently 12 Amigo supermarkets in Puerto Rico. The total number of Neighborhood Markets and Amigo combined is 698, while the total number of the former two and other small formats combined is 808.

Former stores and concepts[]

A Walmart Express branded as a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Alma, Georgia in September 2015. This location closed in 2016 as part of a plan to close 269 stores globally.

Walmart opened Supermercado de Walmart locations to appeal to Hispanic communities in the United States. The first one, a 39,000-square-foot (3,600-square-meter) store in the Spring Branch area of Houston, opened on April 29, 2009. The store was a conversion of an existing Walmart Neighborhood Market. In 2009, another Supermercado de Walmart opened in Phoenix, Arizona. Both locations closed in 2014. In 2009, Walmart opened "Mas Club", a warehouse retail operation patterned after Sam's Club. Its lone store closed in 2014.

Walmart Express was a chain of smaller discount stores with a range of services from groceries to check cashing and gasoline service. The concept was focused on small towns deemed unable to support a larger store, and large cities where space was at a premium. Walmart planned to build 15 to 20 Walmart Express stores, focusing on Arkansas, North Carolina and Chicago, by the end of its fiscal year in January 2012. As of September 2014, Walmart re-branded all of its Express format stores to Neighborhood Markets in an effort to streamline its retail offer. It continued to open new Express stores under the Neighborhood Market name. As of January 31, 2020, there were 110 small-format stores in the United States. These include 99 E-Commerce Acquisition/C-stores, 8 convenience stores and 3 other store formats. On January 15, 2016, Walmart announced that it would be closing 269 stores globally, including all 102 U.S. Walmart Express stores, including those branded as Neighborhood Markets.

Smaller Walmarts/failing supercenters have closed in the past many sitting abandoned. Over time, they were demolished only to become either Kmart or Builders Square (if the store was a former supercenter).

Initiatives[]

In September 2006, Walmart announced a pilot program to sell generic drugs at $4 per prescription. The program was launched at stores in the Tampa, Florida, area, and by January 2007 had been expanded to all stores in Florida. While the average price of generics is $29 per prescription, compared to $102 for name-brand drugs, Walmart maintains that it is not selling at a loss, or providing them as an act of charity—instead, they are using the same mechanisms of mass distribution that it uses to bring lower prices to other products. Many of Walmart's low cost generics are imported from India, where they are made by drug makers that include Ranbaxy and Cipla.

On February 6, 2007, the company launched a "beta" version of a movie download service, which sold about 3,000 films and television episodes from all major studios and television networks. The service was discontinued on December 21, 2007, due to low sales.

In 2008, Walmart started a pilot program in the small grocery store concept called Marketside in the metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, area. The four stores closed in 2011.

In 2015, Walmart began testing a free grocery pickup service, allowing customers to select products online and choose their pickup time. At the store, a Walmart employee loads the groceries into the customer's car. As of December 17, 2017, the service is available in 39 U.S. states.

In May 2016, Walmart announced a change to ShippingPass, its three-day shipping service, and that it will move from a three-day delivery to two-day delivery to remain competitive with Amazon. Walmart priced it at 49 dollars per year, compared to Amazon Prime's 99-dollar-per-year price.

In June 2016, Walmart and Sam's Club announced that they would begin testing a last-mile grocery delivery that used services including Uber, Lyft, and Deliv, to bring customers' orders to their homes. Walmart customers would be able to shop using the company's online grocery service at grocery.walmart.com, then request delivery at checkout for a small fee. The first tests were planned to go live in Denver and Phoenix. Walmart announced on March 14, 2018, that it would expand online delivery to 100 metropolitan regions in the United States, the equivalent of 40 percent of households, by the end of the year of 2018.

Walmart's Winemakers Selection private label wine was introduced in June 2018 in about 1,100 stores. The wine, from domestic and international sources, was described by Washington Post food and wine columnist Dave McIntyre as notably good for the inexpensive ($11 to $16 per bottle) price level.

In October 2019, Walmart announced that customers in 2,000 locations in 29 states can use the grocery pickup service for their adult beverage purchases. Walmart will also deliver adult beverages from nearly 200 stores across California and Florida.

In February 2020, Walmart announced a new membership program called, "Walmart +". The news came shortly after Walmart cut ties with its personal shopping service, Jetblack.

On February 28 2023, Walmart announced they would close 150 stores in areas without many people, including exiting the state of Vermont.

Numbers of stores by state[]

Locations as of May 4, 2020

State	Total stores	Supercenters	Discount Stores	Neighborhood Markets	Amigos	Sam's Clubs	Alabama	140	101	1	25	13
Alaska	6	5	1
Arizona	124	84	2	26		12
Arkansas	692	76	5	33		11
California	309	142	71	67		29
Colorado	106	70	4	15		17
Connecticut	34	12	21			1
Delaware	10	6	3			1
District of Columbia	2	2
Florida	384	231	9	98		46
Georgia	211	154	2	31		24
Hawaii	12		10			2
Idaho	23	23
Illinois	185	139	15	6		25
Indiana	125	97	6	9		13
Iowa	69	58	2			9
Kansas	83	58	2	14		9
Kentucky	101	78	7	7		9
Louisiana	137	88	2	33		14
Maine	25	19	3			3
Maryland	60	30	18			11
Massachusetts	48	27	21
Michigan	118	91	3			23
Minnesota	80	65	3			12
Mississippi	85	65	3	10		7
Missouri	156	112	9	16		19
Montana	16	14				2
Nebraska	47	35	7			5
Nevada	50	30	2	11		7
New Hampshire	28	19	7			2
New Jersey	70	34	28			8
New Mexico	53	35	2	9		7
New York	110	80	17	1		12
North Carolina	216	144	6	44		22
North Dakota	17	14				3
Ohio	172	139	6			27
Oklahoma	135	81	8	33		13
Oregon	45	29	7	9
Pennsylvania	160	116	20			24
Puerto Rico	37	13	5		12	7
Rhode Island	9	5	4
South Carolina	123	84		26		13
South Dakota	17	15				2
Tennessee	151	117	1	19		14
Texas	593	392	18	97		82
Utah	59	41		10		8
Vermont
Virginia	149	110	4	20		15
Washington	66	52	10	4
West Virginia	43	38				5
Wisconsin	99	83	4	2		10
Wyoming	12	12

Walmart International[]

As of April 30, 2020, Walmart's international operations comprised 6,132 stores and 800,000 workers in 26 countries outside the United States. There are wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and the UK. With 2.2 million employees worldwide, the company is the largest private employer in the U.S. and Mexico, and one of the largest in Canada. In fiscal 2019 Walmart's international division sales were US$120.824 billion, or 23.7 percent of total sales. International retail units range from 1,400 to 186,000 square feet (130 to 17,280 square metres), while wholesale units range from 25,000 to 156,000 square feet (2,300 to 14,500 square metres). Judith McKenna is the president and CEO.

Argentina[]

A Walmart Supercenter in Argentina in February 2019

Walmart Argentina was founded in 1995 and, as of April 30, 2019, operates 92 stores under the banners Walmart Supercenter (29 locations), Changomas (53 locations), Mi Changomas (8 locations), and Punto Mayorista (2 locations).

Central America[]

Walmart also owns 51 percent of the Central American Retail Holding Company (CARHCO), which, as of April 30, 2020, consists of 838 stores, including 258 stores in Guatemala (under the Paiz [26 locations], Walmart Supercenter [10 locations], Despensa Familiar [177 locations], and Maxi Dispensa [45 locations] banners), 100 stores in El Salvador (under the Despensa Familiar [63 locations], La Despensa de Don Juan [17 locations], Walmart Supercenter [5 locations], and Maxi Despensa [15 locations] banners), 110 stores in Honduras (including the Paiz [8 locations], Walmart Supercenter [3 locations], Dispensa Familiar [71 locations], and Maxi Despensa [28 locations] banners), 102 stores in Nicaragua (including the Pali [71 locations], La Unión [9 locations], Maxi Pali [20 locations], and Walmart Supercenter [2 locations] banners), and 272 stores in Costa Rica (including the Maxi Pali [47 locations], Mas X Menos [39 locations], Walmart Supercenter [13 locations], and Pali [173 locations] banners).

Chile[]

In January 2009, the company acquired a controlling interest in the largest grocer in Chile, Distribución y Servicio D&S SA. In 2010, the company was renamed Walmart Chile. As of April 30, 2020, Walmart Chile operates 367 stores under the banners Lider Hiper (87 locations), Lider Express (103 locations), Superbodega Acuenta (116 locations), Ekono (56 locations), and Central Mayorista (5 locations).

Mexico[]

Main article: Walmart de México y Centroamérica

As of April 30, 2020, Walmart's Mexico division, the largest outside the U.S., consisted of 2,574 stores. Walmart in Mexico operates Walmart Supercenter (280 locations), Sam's Club (163 locations), Bodega Aurrera (542 locations), Mi Bodega Aurrera (396 locations), Bodega Aurrera Express (1,100 locations), and Superama (93 locations).

Canada[]

Main article: Walmart Canada

Walmart Supercentre in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada in September 2017

Walmart has operated in Canada since it acquired 122 stores comprising the Woolco division of Woolworth Canada, Inc on January 14, 1994. As of April 30, 2020, it operates 408 locations (including 343 supercentres and 65 discount stores) and, as of June 2015, it employs 89,358 people, with a local home office in Mississauga, Ontario. Walmart Canada's first three Supercentres (spelled in Canadian English) opened in November 2006 in Ancaster, London, and Stouffville, Ontario. The 100th Canadian Supercentre opened in July 2010, in Victoria, British Columbia.

In 2010, approximately one year after its incorporation of Schedule 2 (foreign-owned, deposit-taking) of Canada's Bank Act, Walmart Canada Bank was introduced with the launch of the Walmart (Canada) Rewards MasterCard. Less than ten years later, however, on May 17, 2018, Wal-Mart Canada announced it had reached a definitive agreement to sell Wal-Mart Canada Bank to First National co-founder Stephen Smith and private equity firm Centerbridge Partners, L.P., on undisclosed financial terms, though it added that it would still be issuer of the Walmart (Canada) Rewards MasterCard.

In April 2019, Centerbridge Partners, L.P. and Stephen Smith jointly announced the closing of the previously announced acquisition of Wal-Mart Canada Bank and that it was to be renamed Duo Bank of Canada, to be styled simply as Duo Bank. Though exact ownership percentages were never revealed in either company announcement, it has also since been revealed that Duo Bank was reclassified as a Schedule 1 (domestic, deposit-taking) federally chartered bank of the Bank Act in Canada from the Schedule 2 (foreign-owned or -controlled, deposit-taking) that it had been, which indicates that Stephen Smith, as a noted Canadian businessman, is in a controlling position.

United Kingdom[]

Main article: Asda

ASDA Supermarket on the outskirts of Edinburgh, UK

Walmart's UK subsidiary Asda (which retained its name after being acquired by Walmart) is based in Leeds and accounted for 42.7 percent of 2006 sales of Walmart's international division. In contrast to the U.S. operations, Asda was originally and still remains primarily a grocery chain, but with a stronger focus on non-food items than most UK supermarket chains other than Tesco. As of April 30, 2020, Asda had 631 stores, including 147 from the 2010 acquisition of Netto UK. In addition to small suburban Asda Supermarkets at 207 locations, larger stores are branded Supercentres; there are 32 of these. Other banners include Asda Superstores (341 locations), Asda Living (33 locations), and Asda Petrol Fueling Station (18 locations). In July 2015, Asda updated its logo featuring the Walmart Asterisks behind the first 'A' in the Logo. In May 2018, Walmart announced plans to sell Asda to rival Sainsbury's for $10.1 billion. Under the terms of the deal, Walmart would have received a 42% stake in the combined company and about £3 billion in cash. However, in April 2019, the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority blocked the proposed sale of Asda to Sainsburys.

Africa[]

On September 28, 2010, Walmart announced it would buy Massmart Holdings Ltd. of Johannesburg, South Africa in a deal worth over US$4 billion giving the company its first footprint in Africa. As of April 30, 2020, it has 422 stores, including 373 stores in South Africa (under the banners Game Foodco [79 locations], CBW [43 locations], Game [43 locations], Builders Express [49 locations], Builders Warehouse [33 locations], Cambridge [45 locations], Rhino [18 locations], Makro [22 locations], Builders Trade Depot [9 locations], Jumbo [13 locations], and Builders Superstore [19 locations]), 11 stores in Botswana (under the banners CBW [7 locations], Game Foodco [2 locations], and Builders Warehouse [2 locations]), 4 stores in Ghana (under the Game Foodco banner), 3 stores in Kenya (under the Game Foodco banner), 3 stores in Lesotho (under the banners CBW [2 locations] and Game Foodco [1 location]), 2 stores in Malawi (under the Game banner), 6 stores in Mozambique (under the banners Builders Warehouse [2 locations], Game Foodco [2 locations], CBW [1 location], and Builders Express [1 location]), 5 stores in Namibia (under the banners Game Foodco [4 locations] and Game [1 location]), 5 stores in Nigeria (under the banners Game [3 locations] and Game Foodco [2 location]), 1 store in Swaziland (under the CBW banner), 1 store in Tanzania (under the Game banner), 1 store in Uganda (under the Game banner), and 7 stores in Zambia (under the banners CBW [1 location], Game [3 locations], Builders Warehouse [2 locations], and Builders Express [1 location]).

China[]

A Walmart in Hangzhou, China in February 2017

Walmart has joint ventures in China and several majority-owned subsidiaries. As of April 30, 2020, Walmart China (沃尔玛 Wò'ērmǎ) operates 436 stores under the Walmart Supercenter (402 locations), Sam's Club (26 locations) and Neighborhood Market (8 locations) banners.

In February 2012, Walmart announced that the company raised its stake to 51 percent in Chinese online supermarket Yihaodian to tap rising consumer wealth and help the company offer more products. Walmart took full ownership in July 2015.

Japan[]

In Japan, Walmart owns 100 percent of Seiyu (西友 Seiyū) as of 2008. As of April 30, 2020, there are 332 stores under the Seiyu (Hypermarket) (88 locations), Seiyu (Supermarket) (174 locations), Seiyu (General Merchandise) (1 location), Livin (6 locations), and Sunny (63 locations) banners.

India[]

In November 2006, the company announced a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises to operate in India. As foreign corporations were not allowed to enter the retail sector directly, Walmart operated through franchises and handled the wholesale end of the business. The partnership involved two joint ventures—Bharti manages the front end, involving opening of retail outlets while Walmart takes care of the back end, such as cold chains and logistics. Walmart operates stores in India under the name Best Price Modern Wholesale. The first store opened in Amritsar on May 30, 2009. On September 14, 2012, the Government of India approved 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retails, subject to approval by individual states, effective September 20, 2012. Scott Price, Walmart's president and CEO for Asia, told The Wall Street Journal that the company would be able to start opening Walmart stores in India within two years. Expansion into India faced some significant problems. In November 2012, Walmart admitted to spending US$25 million lobbying the Indian National Congress; lobbying is conventionally considered bribery in India. Walmart is conducting an internal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Bharti Walmart suspended a number of employees, rumored to include its CFO and legal team, to ensure "a complete and thorough investigation". As of April 30, 2020, there are 28 Best Price locations. In October 2013, Bharti and Walmart separated to pursue business independently.

On May 9, 2018, Walmart announced its intent to acquire a 77% majority stake in the Indian e-commerce company Flipkart for $16 billion, in a deal that was completed on August 18, 2018.

Setbacks[]

In the mid-1990s, Walmart tried with a large financial investment to get a foothold in the German retail market. In 1997, Walmart took over the supermarket chain Wertkauf with its 21 stores for DM 750 million and the following year Walmart acquired 74 Interspar stores for DM 1.3 billion. The German market at this point was an oligopoly with high competition among companies which used a similar low price strategy as Walmart. As a result, Walmart's low price strategy yielded no competitive advantage. Walmart's corporate culture was not viewed positively among employees and customers, particularly Walmart's "statement of ethics", which attempted to restrict relationships between employees, a possible violation of German labor law, and led to a public discussion in the media, resulting in a bad reputation among customers. In July 2006, Walmart announced its withdrawal from Germany due to sustained losses. The stores were sold to the German company Metro during Walmart's fiscal third quarter. Walmart did not disclose its losses from its German investment, but they were estimated to be around €3 billion.

A Hiper Bompreço in Natal, Brazil in May 2008

In 2004, Walmart bought the 118 stores in the Bompreço supermarket chain in northeastern Brazil. In late 2005, it took control of the Brazilian operations of Sonae Distribution Group through its new subsidiary, WMS Supermercados do Brasil, thus acquiring control of the Nacional and Mercadorama supermarket chains, the leaders in the Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná states, respectively. None of these stores were rebranded. As of January 2014, Walmart operated 61 Bompreço supermarkets, 39 Hiper Bompreço stores. It also ran 57 Walmart Supercenters, 27 Sam's Clubs, and 174 Todo Dia stores. With the acquisition of Bompreço and Sonae, by 2010, Walmart was the third-largest supermarket chain in Brazil, behind Carrefour and Pão de Açúcar.

Walmart Brasil, the operating company, has its head office in Barueri, São Paulo State, and regional offices in Curitiba, Paraná; Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul; Recife, Pernambuco; and Salvador, Bahia. Walmart Brasil operates under the banners Todo Dia, Nacional, Bompreço, Walmart Supercenter, Maxxi Atacado, Hipermercado Big, Hiper Bompreço, Sam's Club, Mercadorama, Walmart Posto (Gas Station), Supermercado Todo Dia, and Hiper Todo Dia. Recently, the company started the conversion process of all Hiper Bompreço and Big stores into Walmart Supercenters and Bompreço, Nacional and Mercadorama stores into the Walmart Supermercado brand.

Since August 2018, Walmart Inc. only holds a minority stake in Walmart Brasil, which was renamed Grupo Big on August 12, 2019, with 20% of the company's shares, and private equity firm Advent International holding 80% ownership of the company.

Corruption charges[]

An April 2012 investigation by The New York Times reported the allegations of a former executive of Walmart de Mexico that, in September 2005, the company had paid bribes via local fixers to officials throughout Mexico in exchange for construction permits, information, and other favors, which gave Walmart a substantial advantage over competitors. Walmart investigators found credible evidence that Mexican and American laws had been broken. Concerns were also raised that Walmart executives in the United States had "hushed up" the allegations. A follow-up investigation by The New York Times, published December 17, 2012, revealed evidence that regulatory permission for siting, construction, and operation of nineteen stores had been obtained through bribery. There was evidence that a bribe of US$52,000 was paid to change a zoning map, which enabled the opening of a Walmart store a mile from a historical site in San Juan Teotihuacán in 2004. After the initial article was released, Walmart released a statement denying the allegations and describing its anti-corruption policy. While an official Walmart report states that it had found no evidence of corruption, the article alleges that previous internal reports had indeed turned up such evidence before the story became public. Forbes magazine contributor Adam Hartung also commented that the bribery scandal was a reflection of Walmart's "serious management and strategy troubles", stating, "scandals are now commonplace ... each scandal points out that Walmart's strategy is harder to navigate and is running into big problems".

In 2012, there was an incident with CJ's Seafood, a crawfish processing firm in Louisiana that was partnered with Walmart, that eventually gained media attention for the mistreatment of its 40 H-2B visa workers from Mexico. These workers experienced harsh living conditions in tightly packed trailers outside of the work facility, physical threats, verbal abuse and were forced to work day-long shifts. Many of the workers were afraid to take action about the abuse due to the fact that the manager threatened the lives of their family members in the U.S. and Mexico if the abuse were to be reported. Eight of the workers confronted management at CJ's Seafood about the mistreatment; however, the management denied the abuse allegations and the workers went on strike. The workers then took their stories to Walmart due to their partnership with CJ's. While Walmart was investigating the situation, the workers collected 150,000 signatures of supporters who agreed that Walmart should stand by the workers and take action. In June 2012, the visa workers held a protest and day-long hunger strike outside of the apartment building where a Walmart board member resided. Following this protest, Walmart announced its final decision to no longer work with CJ's Seafood. Less than a month later, the Department of Labor fined CJ's Seafood "approximately $460,000 in back-pay, safety violations, wage and hour violations, civil damages and fines for abuses to the H-2B program. The company has since shut down."

As of December 2012, internal investigations were ongoing into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Walmart has invested US$99 million on internal investigations, which expanded beyond Mexico to implicate operations in China, Brazil, and India. The case has added fuel to the debate as to whether foreign investment will result in increased prosperity, or if it merely allows local retail trade and economic policy to be taken over by "foreign financial and corporate interests".

Sam's Club[]

Main article: Sam's Club

The Sam's Club store in Maplewood, Missouri in April 2006

Sam's Club is a chain of warehouse clubs that sell groceries and general merchandise, often in bulk. Locations generally range in size from 32,000–168,000 sq ft (3,000–15,600 m2), with an average club size of approximately 134,000 sq ft (12,400 m2). The first Sam's Club was opened by Walmart, Inc. in 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma under the name "Sam's Wholesale Club". The chain was named after its founder Sam Walton. As of April 30, 2020, Sam's Club operated 599 membership warehouse clubs and accounted for 11.3% of Walmart's revenue at $57.839 billion in fiscal year 2019. Kathryn McLay is the president and CEO.

Global eCommerce[]

Based in San Bruno, California, Walmart's Global eCommerce division provides online retailing for Walmart, Sam's Club, Asda, and all other international brands. There are several locations in the United States in California and Oregon: San Bruno, Sunnyvale, Brisbane, and Portland. Locations outside of the United States include Shanghai (China), Leeds (United Kingdom), and Bangalore (India). Marc Lore is the president and CEO.

Subsidiaries[]

Private label brands[]

Main article: Walmart/private label brands

About 40 percent of products sold in Walmart are private label store brands, which are produced for the company through contracts with manufacturers. Walmart began offering private label brands in 1991, with the launch of Sam's Choice, a line of drinks produced by Cott Beverages for Walmart. Sam's Choice quickly became popular and by 1993, was the third-most-popular beverage brand in the United States. Other Walmart brands include Great Value and Equate in the U.S. and Canada and Smart Price in Britain. A 2006 study talked of "the magnitude of mind-share Walmart appears to hold in the shoppers' minds when it comes to the awareness of private label brands and retailers."

Entertainment[]

In 2010, the company teamed with Procter & Gamble to produce Secrets of the Mountain and The Jensen Project, two-hour family movies which featured the characters using Walmart and Procter & Gamble-branded products. The Jensen Project also featured a preview of a product to be released in several months in Walmart stores. A third movie, A Walk in My Shoes, also aired in 2010 and a fourth is in production. when? Walmart's director of brand marketing also serves as co-chair of the Association of National Advertisers's Alliance for Family Entertainment.

Online commerce acquisitions and plans[]

In September 2016, Walmart purchased e-commerce company Jet.com, founded in 2014 by Marc Lore, to start competing with Amazon.com. Jet.com has acquired its own share of online retailers such as Hayneedle in March 2016, Shoebuy.com in December 2016, and ModCloth in March 2017. Walmart also acquired Parcel, a delivery service in New York, on September 29, 2017.

On February 15, 2017, Walmart acquired Moosejaw, an online active outdoor retailer, for approximately $51 million. Moosejaw brought with it partnerships with more than 400 brands, including Patagonia, The North Face, Marmot, and Arc'teryx.

Marc Lore, Walmart's U.S. e-commerce CEO, said that Walmart's existing physical infrastructure of almost 5,000 stores around the U.S. will enhance their digital expansion by doubling as warehouses for e-commerce without increasing overhead. As of 2017, Walmart offers in-store pickup for online orders at 1,000 stores with plans to eventually expand the service to all of its stores.

On May 9, 2018, Walmart announced its intent to acquire a 77% controlling stake in the Indian e-commerce website Flipkart for $16 billion (beating bids by Amazon.com), subject to regulatory approval. Following its completion, the website's management will report to Marc Lore. Completion of the deal was announced on August 18, 2018.

The company's partnership with subscription service Kidbox was announced on April 16, 2019.