Harps Food Stores. Riesbeck Food Markets. Coborn’s. Windham IGA. These are only some of the retailers whose leaders trumpeted a message at last week’s NGA Show that really isn’t new but seemed fresh. It goes like this: Independent retailers probably can’t win by fighting bigger competitors on the same playing field. They must instead reach [...]

Wal-Mart has regained its footing by turning back the clock. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer reported a 5.8% increase in net sales in the fourth quarter 2012 and a similar gain for the entire fiscal year ending Jan. 31. Dick Spezzano, president of Monrovia, Calif.-based Spezzano Consulting Inc., said Wal-Mart has re-established itself as an “everyday [...]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s (WMT.N) turnaround appears to be gaining traction as simple strategies like undercutting competitors by a penny on a gallon of milk are helping to restore its image as the go-to retailer for budget-conscious Americans. When the world’s largest retailer reports fiscal fourth-quarter results on February 21, analysts on average expect to see [...]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is expected to report improvement in its U.S. namesake business when it released its fourth-quarter earnings before the market opens Tuesday. That kind of improvement would underscore how the world’s largest retailer is re-energizing its U.S. business by hammering on its low-price roots and using other tactics. And it should serve as [...]