Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart has named David Cheesewright executive vice president, president and chief executive officer of a new regional management team that will oversee retail operations in Canada, the United Kingdom and Sub-Saharan Africa and business development in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Canada.

Encinitas, Calif. -- U.K. retailer ASDA Stores Ltd., a division of Wal-Mart, will roll out Single Touch Systems’ mobile-based Grocery Delivery Notification Program. It is Single Touch’s first business win outside the United States.” “The goal of the Grocery Delivery Notification Program is to enhance customer satisfaction with ASDA’s home delivery service by assuring that customers are informed in a timely manner about the status of their delivery,” said James Orsini, CEO, Single Touch. “Customers receive notifications when groceries are set to be delivered. If the delivery is late, the customer will get an SMS notifying them of the

Wal-Mart announced a plan to install solar panels on up to 60 additional stores in California, expanding the company’s solar portfolio to more than 75 percent of its stores in the state. The move would make California the first state in the nation where Wal-Mart has devoted this level of commitment to renewable energy, it said.

Wal-Mart Labs Senior Vice President of Global E-Commerce Anand Rajaraman took the stage at Ad Age Digital in San Francisco to explain why exactly the world's largest retailer would buy a social media startup.

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores has named Trey Johnson to the newly created position of senior VP – food. Johnson comes to Family Dollar from Sears Holdings where he created a limited assortment food concept for K-Mart. He also led the development of Wal-Mart’s Marketside format as its chief merchandising officer.

A cause marketing program involving QR codes on bags of Pedigree dog food is part of the month-long Pets Love Wal-Mart campaign. Throughout September, Pedigree will donate a bowl of food to shelter dogs for every QR code scanned. The codes can be found on over 200,000 40-pound bags distributed exclusively at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart has acquired OneRiot, a mobile and social ad targeting startup, to join Wal-Mart Labs. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Wal-Mart will double the money it spends with women-owned businesses, train women around the world and push major suppliers to use more women and minorities on work they do for the retailer as it keeps trying to shed a poor corporate image. The moves, being unveiled today by CEO Mike Duke and others, come after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out women's massive class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit against the world's largest retailer in June.

Bill Bass, president and CEO of Direct at women's apparel retailer Charming Shoppes, took a step back yesterday at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Boston to reflect on five lessons he's learned from the 15 years he's spent in the retail industry, including stints at Lands’ End and Fair Indigo.

In an economy in which consumers will do almost anything to save a buck and retailers will do almost anything to make a buck, it's common for stores to roll out holiday goods this month.