Wal-Mart changes familiar store logo Wal-Mart or Walmart ?
That depends, the company says.
With the June 30 announcement of its new, nonhyphenated store logo, “Walmart” started showing up in some of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ’s news releases and other statements and has been appearing in its printed advertising and in-store signs since then.
The new logo is “Walmart” followed by an asterisklike symbol — the company calls it a spark — as big as the letters. The spelling itself is a throwback to the original store logo.
Details about the change were outlined in the announcement statement topped by the Wal-Mart logo — with a star between Wal and Mart — that still adorns most Wal-Mart, or Walmart, stores, and the star version remains atop news releases.
Bentonville-based Wal-Mart has no intention of changing its official company name, spokesman Christi Gallagher says.
But nowadays, “Walmart” refers to the company’s U. S. stores, and storefronts eventually will reflect that change. The new logo went up on store No. 1 in central Rogers on Tuesday.
“Wal-Mart” refers to the entire company, which includes stores in 14 other nations, soon to be 15 when operations in India, with a partner, open in 2009.
Gallagher said the hyphen, dash or star used over the years will remain as the “squiggly” in the company cheer.
During the cheer, a staple of Wal-Mart gatherings, a leader has the group spell out the company’s name one letter at a time, beginning with “Give me a W.” When the cheer comes to the element that separates the “Wal” and “Mart” — “Give me a squiggly” — the cheerers render it by gyrating their hips. Forecast for fall: Diesel to slip more SPRINGDALE — Diesel is predicted to keep dropping in price this fall as the trucking industry exits a fuel trend that posted record-setting rates at the pump and eliminated many smaller players.
Consumers will still feel the sting of higher retail prices because diesel prices remain higher than a year ago, trucking insiders say.
James Williams, an energy economist who owns WTRG Economics near Russellville, predicted prices at the pump will slide as much as 15 more cents per gallon.
The national weekly price of diesel fuel — $ 4. 28 per gallon Wednesday — has tumbled 11 percent since topping out at $ 4. 84 per gallon July 17, according to AAA data.
“Diesel benefits in two ways,” Williams said Tuesday. Prices go down when “crude oil prices are lower and when the refiner’s mark-up is lower. ’’ And with a worldwide deficit of the petroleum distillate getting back to normal, refiners are charging less, Williams said.
“ Diesel prices have reflected crude-oil prices and the shortage of the fuel,” he said. “The refiner’s part of the [pricing problem ] is going away.” Diesel is up about $ 1. 28 per gallon in the year-over-year comparison.
The fuel powers most semitrucks, buses, trains, ships and barges. “It’s like if wind in a hurricane drops from 140 miles per hour to 130 miles per hour, you’re still in a hurricane,” said Lane Kidd, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association. The Little Rock-based trade group represents about 246 carrier members. Russia cuts imports, producers shares fall MILWAUKEE — Shares of the nation’s top meat producers tumbled Wednesday after a Russian official said the country could cut imports of pork and chicken, potentially shrinking a key market for U. S. producers.
Shares of the nation’s largest chicken producer, Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., fell $ 1. 64, or 11. 16 percent, to $ 13. 06 in trading, while shares of Smithfield Foods Inc., the nation’s largest hog producer and pork processor, fell 35 cents, or 1. 6 percent, to $ 21. 56.
Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc., the world’s largest meat producer, saw shares increase slightly for the day, up 14 cents, or 0. 92 percent, to close at $ 15. 35 on the New York Stock Exchange. Tyson shares have traded between $ 12. 81 and $ 22. 12 over the past year.
Russia’s agriculture minister said Wednesday that the country could cut poultry and pork import quotas by hundreds of thousands of tons.
“It is time to change the quota regime and reduce imports, which have unfortunately built up in recent years,” Alexei Gordeyev told reporters, according to the ITARTass news agency.
He said domestic producers could make up the shortfall.
U. S. producers, including Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride and Smithfield, are seeing growth in Russia and other foreign markets. These international markets have been helping offset the weak U. S. economy, and producers are seeing a lot of growth because of the weak U. S. dollar. Synthetic jet-fuel venture on track Dynamic Fuels LLC, a joint venture of Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale and Syntroleum Corp. of Tulsa, has named L-Con Constructors of Houston as lead contractor for a Louisiana plant that will turn low-grade fats into synthetic fuel.
The partners intend to begin construction of the plant at Geismar, La., this fall and expect to complete it before the end of 2009.
L-Con Constructors is a division of Lexicon Inc. of Little Rock, a privately held company that includes Schueck Steel, Prospect Steel and Custom Metals, all with headquarters in Little Rock, plus engineering firm L-Con Constructors and Engineers and golf-course construction firm Heritage Links, both in Houston.
The Louisiana plant will render inedible fats from Tyson’s poultry, beef and pork processing plants into synthetic jet, diesel and military fuel. Tyson now exports a large volume of those fats, spokesman Gary Mickelson said Monday, and a portion is sold in U. S. markets to make products such as soaps and cosmetics.
“This would be another way to add additional value to these products,” Mickelson said.
The partners expect the plant to produce 75 million gallons of synthetic fuel a year when it is in full operation.
Tyson also is partnering with ConocoPhillips Co. of Houston to produce diesel fuel in Borger, Texas, that is made from fats shipped from Tyson’s Amarillo beef plant. The plant has been in production since December. The Week in Review capsulizes state and local news from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s business pages.
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