Wal-Mart Says It Will Open as Many as 325 Stores Next Year

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said Tuesday that it will open as many as 325 stores next year and move or enlarge 115, its largest expansion, even as other merchants suffer in the slowing economy.

The number of new stores will be about 40 more than Wal-Mart had planned to open this year. About 310 will be in the U.S.; more than half of those will be warehouse stores with full grocery departments.

Chief Executive H. Lee Scott is expanding Wal-Mart’s grocery business and keeping prices low to win sales from supermarket rivals.

Wal-Mart Chief Financial Officer Thomas Schoewe also said the company remains committed to delivering fiscal third-quarter earnings of 33 cents a share, which is the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call.

Fourth-quarter earnings probably will be 48 cents to 49 cents, he said. The First Call average is 49 cents.

Shares of Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart rose $2.24 to close at $52 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have risen 12% the last two weeks as discounts on food and household goods attracted shoppers and pushed September same-store sales up about 5%, analysts said.

Shopper traffic in Wal-Mart’s stores increased the last two weeks, and September sales were in line with forecasts, the company said. That contrasts with such chains as Target Corp. and Office Depot Inc., which said last month’s sales trailed expectations.

Target, the third-largest U.S. discount chain, said Tuesday that sales at stores open at least a year rose at a “low-single-digit” percentage rate last month, missing its forecasts. Same-store sales were “somewhat below” forecasts at Target and “well below” expectations at its Mervyn’s stores, the company said.

Office Depot said same-store sales fell more than expected, but it expects third-quarter earnings to meet forecasts.

The U.S. retail industry’s September sales at stores open at least a year rose 1% to 1.5%, according to Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., which had cut its forecast from 3%.

Same-store sales last week rose 2.4%, less than the previous week’s 2.6% increase but more than the 2.2% rise the week of the attacks, the bank said.

Many economists projected that the U.S. economy contracted in the third quarter as consumers reduced spending and companies, including airlines, cut jobs after the attacks. The economy may shrink again in the fourth quarter, they said.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart set plans to open next year 180 to 185 Wal-Mart Supercenters, its larger-format stores with grocery departments, as well as 50 smaller discount stores, 55 Sam’s Club wholesale stores and 15 to 20 Neighborhood Markets, which are traditional-size grocery stores.

Relocations or expansions of existing discount stores will account for 110 to 115 of the new Wal-Mart Supercenters. Outside the U.S., Wal-Mart plans to open 120 to 130 stores.

Target shares rose 63 cents to close at $32.04, while Office Depot shares fell 12 cents to $14.05, both on the New York Stock Exchange.