Stories by Steve Painter

  • Car-Mart reports growth, 114 stores

    America’s Car-Mart, the Bentonville-based buyhere /pay-here car dealer, continued its steady growth in the past year, according to the company’s annual report …

  • State’s jobless rate up a little

    Arkansas’ unemployment rate edged slightly higher in May, driven in part by more people re-entering the work force, seeking jobs, the state Department of Workf…

  • Claims of bias at 1,975 for retailer

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which prevailed a year ago when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected class-action status for a federal lawsuit in which female employees claim…

  • Wal-Mart hits 50 years

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. delivered another star-studded presentation Friday as thousands of shareholders and employees celebrated a year of resurgence in U.S. sale…

  • Chain execs boast of sales, environment

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executives delivered a generally upbeat message to national and international reporters Thursday as they prepared to host shareholders fro…

  • Wal-Mart investors can cheer sales surge

    Key events at Wal-Mart in 2011 Key events at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. during the past year: July: Wal-Mart announces plans for up to 300 new stores over the next 4…

  • Order center plans to relocate

    Nashville, Tenn.’s loss is Maumelle’s gain as Dillard’s Inc. prepares to move its Internet-order center to central Arkansas.

  • Wal-Mart profit tops expectations

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported fiscal first-quarter profit and sales Thursday that surpassed its own guidance and retail analysts’ expectations.

  • State’s home sales, prices rise in March

    Home sales in Arkansas rose slightly in March compared with a year earlier, after a 15 percent spike in February sales, according to figures released Thursday …

  • Video security raised at Harps

    Harps Food Stores Inc., the 65-store regional grocery chain based in Springdale, says it has installed video recognition technology aimed at reducing theft at …

  • Are big-box stores dinosaurs?

    Baby boomers helped fuel the growth of the big-box retail format in recent decades. Increasingly, it appears, they are growing less fond of the superstore, and…

  • Wal-Mart to push U.S. model abroad

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executives said Thursday that the company intends to push its everyday-low-price, everyday-low-cost approach in its international operatio…

  • Divided by cola, united by charity work

    Two former rivals in the highly competitive world of soft-drink production and sales shared a stage recently to talk about their unexpected friendship and subs…

  • Report: Space in area fills well

    Commercial and multifamily vacancy rates in Benton and Washington counties continued to decline in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the latest Skyline …

  • Tactics paying off, says top exec

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has turned the corner on declining sales and store traffic, despite rising gasoline prices and high unemployment that has many of its cust…

  • Firm helping entrepreneurs get foot in door

    In a small, spartan office in a strip center just down the street from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. headquarters, a small group of people has some big ideas about gett…

  • Wal-Mart to offer DVD conversion

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced plans Tuesday to enable customers to convert their DVD and Blu-ray movie collections to digital versions that could be accessed …

  • Over-air TV filling the bill for some

    David Medlock, owner of Hollywood Satellite and Sound Inc. of Benton, runs a business that has a steady demand for services such as hanging flat screen televis…

  • Wal-Mart’s S. Africa deal OK’d

    South Africa’s Competition Appeals Court approved Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s pending acquisition of Massmart Holdings Ltd. on Friday but attached two conditions.

  • Patent review ordered for GE

    General Electric Co. has won a partial victory in a patent infringement dispute that has kept Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas Inc. from opening a completed b…

  • 3% sales rise fuels Dillard’s profit

    Dillard’s Inc. of Little Rock reported Thursday fourth quarter income for the period ending Jan. 28 of $141.5 million, or $2.77 per share, bolstered by a 3 per…

  • Wal-Mart up at fiscal year’s end

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. closed out its fiscal year ending Jan. 27 with a mostly strong performance, reporting Tuesday an increase in store traffic and in sales at…

  • Car-Mart earnings up 28%

    America’s Car-Mart Inc., the Bentonville-based buyhere, pay-here auto chain, reported third-quarter net income Thursday of $7.3 million, or 73 cents a share, u…

  • Liquor sales petition drive in works

    Proponents of allowing package liquor sales in Benton County are preparing a petition drive to put the issue on the ballot.

  • Forbes urges financial overhaul

    Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, called on the nation’s elected officials and policymakers Wednesday to establish a consistent monet…

  • Wal-Mart icon to note healthy foods

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday introduced a new “Great for You” icon for food products to help shoppers identify nutritious foods that also are low in fat, sa…

  • Drive-By Shooting Reported

    Police are investigating a drive-by shooting reported on Braxton Drive on Friday night.

  • Firm’s move raises profile

    A 66-year-old Fort Smith wholesale distributing company appears poised for growth after gaining membership in one of the nation’s largest wholesale grocery sup…

  • State jobs uptick forecast for ’12

    Northwest Arkansas and the rest of the state are likely to see only modest business and job growth in the near term, according to economists and business exper…

  • Wal-Mart shuffling some executive jobs

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that it is making several executive-level changes, including the top spot at Sam’s Club, effective with the beginning of its n…

  • Retailer seeking drop of lawsuit

    Attorneys for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are seeking dismissal of a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, that claims the retailer dis…

  • 5 years marked at call center

    Experian, a key employer for the city, marked the fifth anniversary of its call center Wednesday, as the region and the state see more better-paying manufactur…

  • Bargains cut into retail profits

    Retailers on Thursday reported a mostly positive end to the Christmas shopping season, although some of the gain in sales came at the expense of profit margins.

  • Christmas sales pick up at end

    Shoppers recovered from their post-Thanksgiving lull to provide U.S. retailers with a strong finish to the Christmas shopping season, according early tallies f…

  • 77% still shopping, survey says

    The nation’s retailers are wrapping up a heavily promotional Christmas shopping season featuring deep discounts, after a lull in shopping activity that came af…

  • Bentonville firm finds its market niche

    The rapid growth and popularity of social media is proving to be a boon for a Bentonville company approaching its third year of operations.

  • Hub’s goal is to shelter businesses

    If all goes as planned, downtown Fayetteville will soon be home to budding entrepreneurs seeking to turn their business ideas into viable companies that will c…

  • Wal-Mart agrees to transfer family stock

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said in a regulatory filing Thursday that it has agreed to transfer 70.6 million shares of its stock held by Walton Enterprises LLC, which…

  • Exec expecting season at Wal-Mart to be jolly

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is well-positioned for a strong finish to the Christmas shopping season, despite economic conditions that are challenging its customers, t…

  • Survey: Black Friday rings up record

    The Black Friday numbers are coming in, and they point to record sales for the day-after-Thanksgiving, unofficial launch of the Christmas shopping season.

  • Fayetteville hotel getting redo

    Renovation began Monday on the newly renamed Chancellor Hotel, formerly the Cosmopolitan Hotel, in downtown Fayetteville after a nearly two-month delay in clos…

  • Early shopping called good sign for retail

    As Black Friday officially arrived at midnight Thursday, a group of four shoppers had been patiently waiting at the Best Buy in Rogers since 8 a.m. Sunday.

  • Black Friday door-busters starting early

    Retailers eager to launch the Christmas shopping season have pushed Black Friday opening times into Thanksgiving Day in a few cases. Others are starting their …

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