Wal Mart Stores

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it would install solar-power systems to provide some of its electricity at 22 locations in Hawaii and California. The systems, built by SunPower Corp., BP and SunEdison, will provide as much as 30% of the power used at 21 stores and a distribution center, Wal-Mart said. The purchase price wasn't disclosed.

SACRAMENTO — The California State Teachers' Retirement System will cast its 5.3 million shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. against the reelection of the company's board after allegations of bribery in the retailer's Mexican operations. Citing "a breakdown of corporate governance and lack of oversight," Jack Ehnes, chief executive of CalSTRS, made the announcement Tuesday "CalSTRS believes former and current Wal-Mart executives and board members breached their fiduciary responsibilities," Ehnes said.

Workers at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location in Canada will be represented by a union after more than four years of legal challenges by the retailer, the United Food and Commercial Workers said. The Saskatchewan Labor Relations Board granted union status to workers at a store in Weyburn, the group said. The application was submitted in April 2004. Employees at three of the retailer's locations in Quebec are already represented by the union. Applications for unionization of two other stores in Saskatchewan are before the labor board.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System is suing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executives and board members, accusing them of using bribery and corruption to gain approval from Mexican government officials to build new stores. Late Thursday, the board of CalSTRS, the country's second-largest public pension fund, filed the so-called derivative lawsuit seeking changes in the corporate governance of the world's biggest retailer. "CalSTRS is seeking to remedy the damages sustained by Wal-Mart as a result of alleged gross misconduct by Wal-Mart's executive officers and directors," CalSTRS Chief Executive Jack Ehnes said.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System is suing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executives and board members, accusing them of using bribery and corruption to gain approval from Mexican government officials to build new stores. Late Thursday, the board of CalSTRS, the country's second-largest public pension fund, filed the so-called derivative lawsuit seeking changes in the corporate governance of the world's biggest retailer. "CalSTRS is seeking to remedy the damages sustained by Wal-Mart as a result of alleged gross misconduct by Wal-Mart's executive officers and directors," CalSTRS Chief Executive Jack Ehnes said.

--After a few years of restraint, teen spending is on the rise. Just in time for prom season, American teenagers reported double-digit increases in how much they're shelling out on fashion, beauty and entertainment, some of the sharpest jumps since 2004, according to a semiannual survey from Piper Jaffray. Teens from wealthy households said their fashion expenditures rose 17% in the last six months, while youngsters from families with more moderate incomes said their spending had risen 18%. Overall, about 39% of teen budgets are devoted to fashion, up from 38% last fall and 37% a year ago. --Discount giant Wal-Mart has picked 10 products as finalists for its Get on the Shelf contest.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, will eliminate some 11,200 jobs at its Sam's Club stores as it brings in an independent marketing firm to perform in-store product demonstrations. Outsourcing the in-store demonstrations to Shopper Events, a marketing firm based in Rogers, Ark., will trim about 10,000 jobs, or 9% of the company's workforce, the company said. Most of these positions are part time, the company said. The retailer also will eliminate about 1,200 jobs in business membership recruiting, or about two positions at each of its U.S. warehouse clubs.

A citizens group has filed lawsuits against the city of Bakersfield, alleging city officials didn't adequately consider noise, traffic, safety and other environmental factors when it approved two Wal-Mart superstores. Bakersfield Citizens for Local Control alleges the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act because officials didn't study how too many "big-box" discount retail and grocery stores in an area can cause urban decay. Bakersfield City Atty.

The Duarte City Council last week approved a development agreement with the Arkansas-based retail giant, striking a deal for land at the intersection of Mountain Avenue and the Foothill Freeway. The 127,000-square-foot store would provide more than $400,000 a year in sales tax revenue to the city, said Mike Yelton, assistant city manager. "It should be open within a year," he said. To attract the store, the city agreed to cut the price of the land by $1.8 million, city officials say.

Norway said its more than $240-billion global pension fund would no longer invest in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. because of what the country called "serious and systematic" abuses of human and labor rights. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman declined to comment.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. could end up paying hundreds of millions of dollars in legal expenses and penalties to resolve allegations of widespread bribery by officials with its Mexican subsidiary, experts in foreign corruption law said. The world's largest retailer said it was in the midst of a "worldwide review of our anti-corruption program" and had increased efforts to prevent corruption in Mexico. The Bentonville, Ark., company is looking into allegations that it engaged in a multiyear bribery campaign to build its business.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it's a stickler for integrity, issuing a lengthy response to a New York Times article accusing the massive retailer of shutting down an investigation into alleged bribery in its Mexico operations. “In a large global enterprise such as Walmart, sometimes issues arise despite our best efforts and intentions,” the company said in a statement . The “issues” in question: The chain's possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act stemming from what one informant claimed was rampant bribery from Wal-Mart executives attempting to boost the company's growth in Mexico.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced plans to open a grocery store in Panorama City, part of a big push by the nation's largest retailer into the highly competitive Southland grocery business. The 31,000-square-foot store will be located in the Vannord Center at 14530 Nordhoff St. in the vacant space once occupied by Valley Foods Warehouse, the company said Monday. "There is no doubt that Panorama City residents need more affordable grocery options," said Wal-Mart spokesman Steven Restivo.

MINNEAPOLIS - An investigation into personal misconduct led to the sudden resignation of Best Buy Co. Chief Executive Brian Dunn, the electronics retailer acknowledged Tuesday. "Certain issues were brought to the board's attention regarding Mr. Dunn's personal conduct, unrelated to the company's operations or financial controls, and an audit committee investigation was initiated. Prior to the completion of the investigation, Mr. Dunn chose to resign," said Claire Koeneman, of Hill & Knowlton Strategies and a spokeswoman for the Richfield, Minn., electronics retailer.

--After a few years of restraint, teen spending is on the rise. Just in time for prom season, American teenagers reported double-digit increases in how much they're shelling out on fashion, beauty and entertainment, some of the sharpest jumps since 2004, according to a semiannual survey from Piper Jaffray. Teens from wealthy households said their fashion expenditures rose 17% in the last six months, while youngsters from families with more moderate incomes said their spending had risen 18%. Overall, about 39% of teen budgets are devoted to fashion, up from 38% last fall and 37% a year ago. --Discount giant Wal-Mart has picked 10 products as finalists for its Get on the Shelf contest.

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $2.1 million for not complying with a judgment against the chain for overcharging customers in California, the attorney general's office said. The 2008 judgment had directed the retailer to fix pricing errors discovered during a government investigation into its California stores. The 2005 investigation found that 164 Wal-Mart stores in the state had scanned some items at higher prices than advertised on shelves and signs.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it was scaling back the growth of its namesake discount stores in the U.S. while focusing on remodeling existing locations as the world's largest retailer navigates through a tough consumer spending climate. Eduardo Castro-Wright, president and chief executive of Wal-Mart's U.S. division, told analysts gathered on the first day of the two-day annual investors' meeting at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., that the company planned to open 191 stores in fiscal 2009 and 142 to 157 stores in fiscal 2010.

Organized labor launched an offensive Thursday against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. -- the nation's largest retailer and an emphatically nonunion employer -- by staging protests outside 400 stores across the country. The protests, which drew support from feminists, students and religious leaders, were an attempt by labor to stir debate about the giant discounter and to build allies in its long-running campaign to organize Wal-Mart employees.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest retailer, is providing a big boost to Hollywood's effort to persuade consumers to keep buying movies in the digital age. Wal-Mart on Tuesday threw its support behind the industry's UltraViolet program and unveiled an exclusive arrangement with five of Hollywood's top studios to convert people's DVD collections into digital copies. Starting next month, consumers will be able to take their DVDs to about 3,500 Wal-Mart stores and leave with a digital copy stored in the cloud - a storage system offering access from a broad array of Internet-connected devices - for $2 each.

More than 500 current and former female employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have filed discrimination claims against the retailer with the U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission after a national class-action lawsuit was blocked by the Supreme Court last year. The claims were filed to preserve the women's rights to pursue individual and regional class-action suits against Wal-Mart over alleged discrimination on pay and promotions, their attorneys said. "The fight continues to seek justice for the women employees of Wal-Mart," said Joseph Sellers, one of the attorneys representing the women, in a statement.