Reply #20: "China and India really represent the future of Wal-Mart"

[UpInArms]

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=uri:2006-03-27T092703Z_01_SP5974_RTRUKOC_0_US-RETAIL-INDIA-WALMART.xml

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened its first store in Shenzhen a decade ago, the local newspaper headline proclaimed, "The Wolf is Coming."

The world's biggest retailer has not exactly devoured China's retail sector since then, opening just 56 stores, but it has learned a few lessons that may prove useful for its next major project -- India.

"China and India really represent the future of Wal-Mart," Joe Hatfield, chief executive officer for Wal-Mart Asia, told Reuters in Shenzhen, the retailer's China headquarters. Foreign retailers are not permitted to directly invest in India's retail sector, but they have been lobbying hard for a change to those rules.

Analysts say that will likely happen within a year or two.

<snip>

His best advice? "Steal shamelessly," Hatfield said, quoting from Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, who routinely visited competitors' stores to get new ideas.

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