Wal-Mart

With the news that Wal-Mart will acquire mobile and social commerce firm Kosmix, the big-box retailer became the latest of several large brands last week demonstrating a healthy commitment to the mobile space by investing heavily in related acquisitions or new business.

Wal-Mart announced it's signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kosmix, underscoring its commitment to social and mobile commerce. Kosmix has developed a social media technology platform that filters and organizes content in social networks to connect people with real-time information that matters to them.

Office Depot admits it hasn't been taking care of business when it comes to its retail store customers. The big-box retail concept offering thousands of office supply products was no longer working. "Our model was broken," said Kevin Peters, head of the retail division for Boca Raton, Fla.-based Office Depot.

Best Buy said it will boost its web presence, shrink some larger stores and open more of its smaller U.S. stores to try to win back market share from the likes of Amazon and Wal-Mart.

Americans like stuff. That’s a given. But it turns out that lots and lots of stuff piled onto shelves or stacked in the middle of store aisles can coax a shopper to buy more.

Wal-Mart is restoring 8,500 products to its stores as it seeks to turn around declining same-store sales in the U.S. The company will add 11 percent more products on average to its stores, accompanied by "It’s Back" flags on the items.

The Olsen twins are entering the e-commerce style world. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will help design T-shirts for StyleMint, an online recommendation/subscription site set to launch this July.

Target has the strongest consumer brand equity among retail brands, and was named as the 2011 Harris Poll EquiTrend Value Retail Brand of the Year. This is the second consecutive year Target has led the way in the category, with the gap between runner-up Wal-Mart increasing.

As the economic recovery gains steam, the retail industry is expected to be one of the strongest for job growth this decade. But the quality of jobs selling clothes, computers and other goods has declined in recent years to the point where few can be classified as careers. 

At a time momentum is building to allow foreign players into front-end retail, senior officials of the Future Group and Wal-Mart have met at least five times in the past four months, raising the possibility of an alliance between India's largest retailer and the world's largest retailer. If the alliance fructifies, it could reconfigure organized retail in India.