Wal Mart

Let's face it: We like big things in this country. We like big cars, big houses, big burgers we can stuff in our big mouths and Big Gulps to wash 'em down. We like big TVs, big malls and big sales. Who gets excited about a regular sale anymore? Now it has to be "THE BIGGEST LABOR DAY SALE EVER! DON'T MISS THIS SPECTACULAR EVENT!" Sometimes, even big won't do. Sometimes we need bigger than big. Super-sized, that's what we need. Like a pizza the size of a manhole cover, with 27 toppings and 10 pounds of cheese injected via cooking syringe into the crust, the biggest, thickest, gooiest pizza in the whole world.

A robbery at a bank inside an Ellicott City Wal-Mart store Wednesday has Howard County police searching for a quiet thief who showed no weapon. The robber, described as black, in his mid-30s, 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall, weighing 180 pounds, with slight facial hair and wearing a beige baseball cap and a long-sleeved beige shirt, entered the store in the 3200 block of Ridge Road and approached a Provident Bank teller at 12:48 p.m. He demanded cash,...

Ace Hardware and Hearth in Glen Burnie was doing a brisk business in high-end barbecues and hot tubs in the midst of the real estate boom. Now Pete Peterson, an owner of the store, is having trouble selling luxury items for the home as consumer budgets are squeezed. "When the value of homes went up quickly, people were able to take the money they didn't work for and spend it on things they wanted," Peterson said, referring to soaring home prices that made people feel richer and allowed some to cash out equity.

Wal-Mart and Home Depot sneezed yesterday. Will the economy catch a cold? The two companies, the nation's largest retailers and bellwethers for consumer spending, reported earnings disappointments for their fiscal second quarters and predicted an even bumpier year ahead because of higher energy costs and a sagging housing market. The sober forecasts reverberated across Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index down by nearly 2 percent.

LAST WEEK'S ISSUE: -- Although Wal-Mart has abandoned plans to build on a prime 20-acre parcel fronting Route 3 South in Crofton, the property owner and developer hasn't given up hopes of bringing in a big-box retailer. William D. Berkshire has pressed ahead on seeking key state approvals to build on the forested land within the 121,000-square-foot Wal-Mart footprint, while talking with several suitors about a variety of projects. Berkshire said this month that he is interested in pursuing a "mixed-use" project with shops, homes and offices.

ISSUE: Although Wal-Mart has abandoned plans to build on a prime 20-acre parcel fronting Route 3 South in Crofton, the property owner and developer hasn't given up hopes of bringing in a big-box retailer. William D. Berkshire has pressed ahead on seeking key state approvals to build on the forested land within the 121,000-square-foot Wal-Mart footprint, all the while talking with several suitors about a variety of projects. Berkshire said last week that he is interested in pursuing a "mixed-use" project with shops, homes and offices.

While Crofton residents expressed jubilation two months ago when Wal-Mart announced it would scrap its plan to build a store along the Route 3 corridor, the property owner and developer didn't necessarily scrap his plan to bring in a big-box retailer. William D. Berkshire has pressed ahead on seeking key state approvals to build on the forested 20-acre parcel within the 121,000-square-foot Wal-Mart footprint, all the while talking with several suitors on a variety of projects. County lawmakers and civic leaders say another big-box store could be in the offing.

Wal-Mart failed to get approval for a bank. But the giant discount chain is effectively building one anyway. Wal-Mart said yesterday that it would rapidly expand the financial services offered in its vast network of stores, extending the reach of its retailing empire into its shoppers' wallets and the traditional turf of the American banking industry. Over the next year, the company plans to introduce a prepaid debit card, intended for low-income consumers, and install money centers - which currently offer check cashing, bill paying and money order services - into at least 1,000 stores, up from 225 now. The moves are seen as a precursor to even wider offerings, like mortgages and home equity loans, which could turn Wal-Mart into a significant force in the banking world.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, will buy back as much as $15 billion of shares and reduce the number of new stores as Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott responds to investor demands to boost returns. The plan to repurchase as much as 7.4 percent of its stock sent shares to their biggest gain in 19 months. Wal-Mart also said yesterday that it will open no more than 200 supercenters this year, a reduction from the 270 it previously planned to create. "Wal-Mart has taken a major step in attempting to improve returns on investment," Neil Currie, an analyst with UBS Securities LLC, wrote in a research note after the company's annual shareholders' meeting.