| Wal-Mart's International Giving Makes Global Impact
Tis the season of giving and thousands of Wal-Mart stores worldwide are participating in programs to benefit the communities they serve. From Mexico to the United Kingdom and Costa Rica to Canada, employees of the retail giant have spearheaded fundraising and gift giving activities to help those in need.
"This year, our associates' efforts will have culminated in helping hundreds of thousands of people around the world," said Mike Duke, vice chairman of Wal-Mart's International Division. "It's engrained in our culture to give back to the communities we serve, and our associates have shown the power of helping hearts and hands."
In Costa Rica, Wal-Mart employees partnered with the Centeno Guell school, an organization assisting children with disabilities, to help raise funds.
New annual feature! State of high school nation
As a devotee of TMQ, I thought you might like to know at least one coach in the vast football universe has experienced the epiphany and refuses to punt the ball away," Giovannini wrote. That team was Pulaski -- 9-1-1 after having just won its opening-round game in the Arkansas 5A playoffs. Coach Kevin Kelley reports that he stopped punting in 2005 -- after reading an academic study on the statistical consequences of going for the first down versus handing possession to the other team, plus reading Tuesday Morning Quarterback's relentless examples of when punting backfires but going for the first down works. In 2005, Pulaski reached the state quarterfinals by rarely punting. In 2006, Pulaski reached the state championship game, losing by one point -- and in the state championship game, Pulaski never punted, converting nine of 10 fourth-down attempts.
Fahmy Howeidy
When [Paul] Bremmer first came to Iraq, he divided the council to represent the different sects. This was back in 2003. This makeup then transferred to the ministries. They gave some ministries to the Shia, some to the Sunnis, while the Kurds got the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And then the ministers tried to color their ministries with their own sectarian colors. Things started to develop from there, until the sectarian differences spread to [geographical] regions. Then we started talking about Shia in the South, a Sunni triangle in the middle, Kurds in the North. For you to make an area Shia, you have to move the Sunnis out. The American role has been very, very [negative], Howeidy says. American meddling, believes Howeidy, has given a voice to extremists in each of the religious and ethnic sects, but Iran, he maintains, must share some of the blame.
Festival Foods Quadruples Web Views with Grocery Shopping Network
Wisconsin-based Festival Foods broke grocery store Web site traffic records last year primarily using Grocery Shopping Network (GSN), a leading provider of proprietary software for grocery store retailers. Total page views of the Festival Foods Web site, FestFoods.com, surpassed 12 million, more than four times the volume it saw in 2006. GSN is the first grocery store Web platform to offer consumers an integrated online tool for creating grocery lists, accessing manufacturer and in-store coupons and much more. Using the system, FestFoods.com currently attracts approximately 7,000 unique customer visits (per store) at any given time, a 25.7 percent increase from 2006. Additionally, because the service includes consumer customization features designed especially for repeat users, shoppers who begin using the service are likely to return to the retailer's Web site time and time again.
Drugstore Sales Droop in December
The three major drugstore chains reported December sales yesterday. Walgreen (NYSE: WAG), CVS (NYSE: CVS), and Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) all bellied up to the bar with less-than-stellar sales results for the final month of 2007. How bad were they? CVS and Walgreen hovered around 2% comps, while Rite Aid dipped slightly negative. The real story is comparing December numbers to prior trends, in this case, looking at the prior two months. All three companies were short of where they've been trending recently. Comparable Sales .
Vertis: Print inserts are crucial in decision making
The study found that 27% of adults in the US turn to product inserts when looking for product information; this is an increase of 8% over the past 10 years. Television commercials, meanwhile, only influence 8% of consumers. That is a decrease from 1998 when 22% of consumers turned to television to make purchasing decisions. The study further found that women (aged 18 - 24) are becoming more a part of the decision-making process, increasing their influence from 68% in 1998 to more than 90% in 2008. Big-ticket purchasing decisions have changed over the past ten years as well. Ten years ago Americans made quick decisions about vacation travel and in many cases made snap decisions about purchases from $100 and over. With rising gas prices, consumers aren't making such fast decisions.
State of the Union: main points
Our objective in the coming year is to sustain and build on the gains we made in 2007, while transitioning to the next phase of our strategy. "American troops are shifting from leading operations, to partnering with Iraqi forces, and, eventually, to a protective overwatch mission. "Any further drawdown of US troops will be based on conditions in Iraq and the recommendations of our commanders. General Petraeus has warned that too fast a drawdown could result in the 'disintegration of the Iraqi Security Forces, al-Qaeda Iraq regaining lost ground, (and) a marked increase in violence.' Members of Congress: Having come so far and achieved so much, we must not allow this to happen.'' IRAN "Our message to the leaders of Iran is also clear: Verifiably suspend your nuclear enrichment, so negotiations can begin.
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