When a Walmart Supercenter plans to open up somewhere in the U.S., an angel may not get its wings but there may be a Saint running interference.

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that the mega-retailer's grocery rivals have been engaging Saint Consulting Group to "secretly run" anti-Walmart campaigns.

While any protests may appear to be grassroots efforts by local homeowners, in many cases these Saint-engineered stealth campaigns "have more than doubled the amount of time it takes" to open a store and serve to "generate negative publicity" for Walmart and its parent company, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Saint specializes in building support "for or against controversial projects, from oil refineries and shopping centers to quarries and landfills." Its representatives lobby local politicians and hire lawyers and traffic experts to fight against a planned Walmart store. "Saint has jokingly called its staff the Wal-Mart killers," says WSJ.

As Walmart continues slashing prices and stepping up its game against the likes of Best Buy, other retailers do have cause for concern.Continue reading...

While so many stores are shutting their doors, Urban Outfitters is opening more, based on their obvious appeal to early 20-somethings everywhere. Now it is looking to take on some new brands.

Earlier this week, clothing retailer Urban Outfitters put it out into the universe that it was looking to acquire a set of brands that may add upwards of $500 million to its annual revenue stream.

According to CFO John Kyees, the company is interested in brands sold at department or specialty stores, given the right opportunity -- but not brands that compete with its current holdings Anthropologie and Free People.Continue reading...

Variety reports that the NBC network is developing a sitcom based on the experiences of a Wal-Mart ex-employee who is writing the script. But anticipating objections, "Wal-Mart has been replaced by a fictional big-box store." Said the writer, Paul Rust:

Based on some of the ideas I'm coming up with, I don't think it's something Wal-Mart would want its name on... This is the beginning of a long-running career in which I base things on industries that could cripple me legally.

That is a shame. If Wal-Mart got no bad press, would it get any press at all? From Michael Moore's unflattering anecdote accusing the giant retail brand of benefitting financially from the death of its employee, to charges it's killing the publishing industry by going to war with Amazon and killing the retail industry's Christmas by basically selling everything for pennies, to stereotypes of its customers as styleless Fatty McFattersons, Wal-Mart just gets no respect.Continue reading...