VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) reported lower-than-expected quarterly U.S. same-store sales growth, saying its customers were using their tax refunds and savings at the pump to pay down debt rather than spend on discretionary items.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) shareholders will vote in June at the company's annual meeting on electing an independent board chairman, after U.S. regulators rejected a request by the retailer to block the proposal.

Target Corp (TGT.N) next month will raise the minimum wage for all of its workers to $9 an hour, matching moves made by rivals including Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and TJX Cos (TJX.N), a source familiar with the matter said.

With shallow pockets but a deep commitment to promote "living wages", women's advocacy group UltraViolet has peppered Target Corp (TGT.N) with cheap location-focused online ads, challenging it to match Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N) promise of $10-an-hour base pay.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said it would raise entry-level wages to $9 an hour, a 24 percent increase from the U.S. minimum wage that some employees now earn, succumbing to longstanding pressure to pay its workforce more.

For top U.S. retailers, free delivery is now the norm. That is good news for shoppers, but not so much for investors. During the just-ended holiday season, outlets from Target to Wal-Mart to Amazon

Despite a disappointing Thanksgiving weekend, U.S. holiday sales may squeak by expectations if steeper and longer-running discounts lure enough shoppers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc promoted Judith Mckenna, a 20-year company veteran, to the post of chief operating officer in the retailer's latest reshuffling of senior management under U.S. chief Greg Foran.

When local officials warned striking shoe factory workers in China's Pearl River Delta this summer that they were breaking the law, a slight, bespectacled figure barely 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 meters) tall faced them down.

U.S. online sales grew a smaller than expected 8 percent on Cyber Monday after web promotions before and during the Thanksgiving weekend robbed business from what has traditionally been the busiest day of the year for Internet shopping.

Mall crowds were relatively thin on Black Friday in a sign of what has become the new normal in U.S. holiday shopping: the mad rush is happening the night of Thanksgiving and more consumers are picking up deals online.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it has cut more than 20 mid-level jobs in China as part of its effort to lower costs in the world's second largest economy where it has been grappling with slower sales and tough price competition.

U.S. stock prices held firm on Thursday after the Dow and Standard & Poor's 500 reached record intraday highs, while crude fell below $80 a barrel for the first time in four years on further signs of a slowdown in China's economy.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) is focusing on food safety as the world's largest retailer aims to boost profitability of its more than 400 stores in China, Wal-Mart Asia chief executive Scott Price told Reuters.

Dollar General Corp (DG.N) extended its tender offer for shares of Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO.N) to Dec. 31, until after a shareholder vote that will decide the fate of a rival bid by Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR.O).