Hmm... Wal-Mart starting to more live up to the name we give it here!
http://www.cafepress.com/chinamart/From:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/288906_walmartchina17.html
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Acquisition helps Wal-Mart grow in China
THE NEW YORK TIMES
SHANGHAI, China -- Wal-Mart Stores, the largest retailer in the United States, is poised to become the biggest foreign chain in China with the $1 billion purchase of a major foreign-run retailer here, people briefed on the deal said.
The move represents a large step for Wal-Mart's strategy in China, allowing the American retailer to more than double its presence in a country that, despite its size and growing middle class, remains largely untapped by foreign retailers.
Though the size of the acquisition -- of a Taiwanese-owned supermarket chain called Trust-Mart -- may be modest for Wal-Mart, it is a critical one, because the China market is becoming much more pivotal in the retailer's international strategy.
For Wal-Mart, China represents an opportunity to tap a vast and fast-growing market abroad at a time when Wal-Mart is lagging elsewhere and has run into obstacles to growth at home.
"China is the only country in the world that offers Wal-Mart the chance to replicate what they have accomplished in the U.S.," said Bill Dreher, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities.