George Home headed to Wal-Mart Canada  

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 10/24/2007 1:03:00 PM

Bentonville, Ark. – George Home will soon roll into Wal-Mart’s Canadian stores.

In Britain, the extension of the U.K. apparel-based brand George into bed, bath, dining and home accessories has been judged satisfactory, with 270 product “lines” averaging $20 million per month in sales, according to Wan Ling Martello, international cfo and svp strategy, who addressed Wal-Mart’s annual analyst and investor meeting earlier today in a presentation focused on Wal-Mart International.

To those concerned about the high risks undertaken by the International division, Mike Duke, vice chairman Wal-Mart Stores and ceo, Wal-Mart International, emphasized that 80% of new store square-footage expansion next year will take place in Canada, Mexico and China.

The first two are runaway success stories for Wal-Mart. More than 100 towns and communities in Canada have lobbied to get a Wal-Mart, said Martello.

In Mexico, Wal-Mart will open its first Banco Wal-Mart branch in Mexico within a few days, an initiative Martello characterized as not a “sidebar business” but another way to “serve our customers with the same value proposition” as in merchandise. She noted that 80% of the Mexican population is “unbanked.”

The bank will be Wal-Mart International’s 10th store type in a range of that includes hypermarket, superstore, supermarket, soft discount store, general merchandise store, member club, cash and carry, apparel store and restaurant formats.