Walmart raising pay at Supercenters
Walmart Inc. said Thursday it’s increasing wages for some employees as part of a restructuring of roles at its Super-centers.
Dacona Smith, chief operating officer for Walmart U.S., said in a news release that the new operating model is similar to the one already in use at Sam’s Club, Walmart’s members-only warehouse division, and its smaller-format Neighborhood Markets.
The new wage structure will start in October and affect about 165,000 hourly workers across all Walmart’s U.S. stores, Smith said.
New salaried and hourly team leader positions come with higher pay, Smith said. Wages for hourly team leaders will start between $18 and $21 an hour and can go up to $30 an hour.
Salaried assistant managers in the digital, asset protection and auto care center departments will also see a pay increase, though Smith did not specify the amount.
In addition, minimum pay for hourly workers in the bakery and deli areas will increase from $11 an hour to $15 or more. And some hourly employees in the auto care centers will get a base pay increase of $1 an hour or more.
— Serenah McKay
Simmons Foods sells energy assets
Simmons Foods Inc. has left the energy business and sold its propane assets to MFA Oil Co., a farmer-owned cooperative.
The price was not disclosed. With the deal, MFA Oil plans to offer jobs to a majority of workers at Simmons Energy Solutions, a small propane supplier with locations in Decatur and Jay, Okla.
Siloam Springs-based chicken processor Simmons Foods will help all workers affected by the transition, said David Jackson, the company’s chief operational officer.
“As a food company, we have determined that propane operations are outside of our core business,” he said in a statement. “We are confident that we leave our customers in good hands.”
MFA Oil, based in Columbia, Mo., has been supplying fuels, propane and other petroleum products to farmers for tractors, chicken houses and other needs since 1929.
The sale was completed Aug. 31, Simmons Foods spokesman Julie Maus said in an email Thursday.
— Nathan Owens
State-based stocks retreat just a bit
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Thursday at 429.83, down 0.32 points.
“Stocks fell for a second straight day but found support again from the S&P 500 50-day moving average as cyclical stocks outperformed ahead of the quarterly options and futures expiration on Friday,” said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.