Wal-Mart's grocery pickup adds 9 sites
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is expanding its grocery pickup service to nine new markets by the end of the month, including Columbus, Ohio; Omaha, Neb., and Raleigh, N.C.
Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon, during a prerecorded call Thursday for investors, announced the expansion of the service, which allows customers to order groceries online and have them delivered to their vehicles at participating stores. The expansion boosts the number of markets the service is available in to 40.
The service was available in 22 markets at the beginning of the year.
McMillon also said Wal-Mart is doubling the number of stores offering the service in some markets by the end of the month.
"We expect to continue to quickly expand to new markets," McMillon said.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Forum in LR to focus on federal contracts
The Army Corps of Engineers' Little Rock District office, 13 other federal agencies and the Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center will host a federal contracting forum June 14-15 for businesses interested in working with government agencies.
About $1.7 billion in government contracts are available in the region for fiscal 2016 and 2017, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
Topics covered during the Little Rock forum will include current and future contracting requirements as well as opportunities for companies to meet industry representatives and present their qualifications. Federal agencies also will be conducting research to establish acquisition plans for fiscal 2016 and 2017.
Among the agencies participating are the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Little Rock Air Force Base 19th Contracting Squadron and the Food and Drug Administration's National Center for Toxicological Research.
Preregistration is required by May 30 through the Federal Business Opportunities website.
-- Chris Bahn
Arkansas Index rises 2.70; 10 stocks fall
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 2.70 to 308.55 Thursday.
Of the 18 stocks that make up the Arkansas Index, 10 dropped. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rose 6.05, up 9.58 percent from the previous close. Acxiom Corp. dropped 0.49, down 2.49 percent from the previous close.
Total volume for the index was 24.4 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 05/20/2016