Wal Mart Stores

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is kicking off its Black Friday deals earlier than ever, as more stores open their doors for holiday deals even before shoppers have polished off turkey dinners. Hoping to curb shopper frustration that has marred some past Black Friday shopping, the world's biggest retailer is also guaranteeing that shoppers in line at a certain time on Thanksgiving will get their hands on three hot deals for the holidays. Although many Wal-Mart stores are open all day on Thanksgiving, special holiday promotions will begin at 8 p.m., two hours earlier than last year.

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and American Express Co. are teaming up to offer low-income shoppers a prepaid card. The companies are touting it as a more affordable alternative to debit cards. Called Bluebird, the card is aimed at "customers who are disillusioned or excluded by the rising cost of banking services," the two companies said in a statement Monday. The card, which has been tested since March, will be available next week online and in Wal-Mart stores. Bluebird, which functions somewhat like a checking account, can be used anywhere that accepts American Express cards.

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and American Express are teaming up to offer low-income shoppers a prepaid card, touting it as a more affordable alternative to debit cards. Called Bluebird, the card is aimed at “customers who are disillusioned or excluded by the rising cost of banking services,” the two companies said in a Monday statement. The card, which has been tested since March, will be available next week online and in Wal-Mart stores. Bluebird, which functions somewhat like a checking account, can be used anywhere that accepts American Express cards.

It wasn't long ago that Liz Lopez watched in dismay as the Vannord Shopping Center in her Panorama City neighborhood went downhill, losing its anchor, Valley Foods Warehouse, among a number of other tenants. So Lopez, 33, and her mother, Delmy Lopez, 65, made it a point to attend Friday's grand opening of the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. They stood patiently with about 200 other soon-to-be shoppers, waiting for the speeches to end so they could push their carts through the store's sliding doors.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. lost a bid to dismiss an 11-year-old gender discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of workers in California after the U.S. Supreme Court barred a lawsuit representing Wal-Mart employees nationwide. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said in an order Friday that the plaintiffs have proposed a reduced class size to between one and several hundred thousand members. The reduced class could be certified, Breyer wrote, if it made a showing consistent with the Supreme Court's decision that a nationwide class action isn't appropriate.

The nation's largest retailer has cut out the nation's largest e-tailer. Wal-Mart has announced it will stop selling Kindles and other Amazon.com-branded products after it sells out of its existing stock. Here's the entirety of Wal-Mart's statement on the change: "Recently, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. made a business decision to not carry current Amazon products beyond our purchase commitments and existing inventory. Our customers trust us to provide a broad assortment of products at everyday low prices, and we approach each merchandising decision through this lens.

The parent company of the Albertsons supermarket chain is closing 26 stores nationwide, including 18 in Southern California, as it tries to overcome sharp operating losses and stiff price competition from big-box rivals. Supervalu Inc. said late Wednesday that the closings are part of a decision to eliminate about 60 stores nationwide, primarily in its Albertsons and Save-A-Lot chains. Albertsons will have 228 stores in California after the closures. Among the Albertsons locations in Southern California scheduled to be closed by December are stores in Long Beach, Glendale, Northridge and Van Nuys.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is hoping to nab a wider portion of holiday and back-to-school shoppers by widening its layaway program to include more products and stretch the pay-back period. Back for a second year in a row because of customer demand, the service allows customers to put goods on hold and pay for them in increments without worrying about fluctuating prices. But this time, buyers will have 90 days to pay the balance instead of last year's 60-day time frame. In addition to jewelry, toys such as the Furby and electronics including the iPad, customers will be able to layaway small home appliances and sporting goods such as basketball goals, trampolines and exercise equipment.

At one level, the debate over whether to allow Wal-Mart to open a grocery store in Chinatown seems like a big fuss over something fairly small. The store would be just 33,000 square feet and would sell only groceries and sundries; it would not be a "superstore. " The new market would create some jobs and offer some inexpensive products, but it would hardly revolutionize the local economy or bring relief to a food desert. Chinatown already has more than a dozen markets, as well as bakeries and other food outlets.

The legal battle to stop a Wal-Mart from opening in Burbank is scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 17, when a judge will consider an injunction seeking to halt renovations on the building that will house the new store. Three Burbank residents who filed suit seeking to stop the renovation of the former Great Indoors site are demanding that more be done to study the economic and environmental impact of the world's largest retailer moving in next to the Empire Center. In the motion, the trio say that Wal-Mart gave notice in a letter to its attorney that it planned to start improvements last week.