Wal-Mart CEO Touts Changes

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. used its annual meeting Friday to tout changes to its stores, trumpet its expansion in the U.S. and abroad and emphasize that the world’s largest retailer is undergoing changes to sustain its rapid growth rate.

The company’s critics urged Wal-Mart to offer higher pay, better health insurance and make other changes for its 1.3 million U.S. workers.

Wal-Mart Chief Executive H. Lee Scott Jr. didn’t directly address the union-financed groups. Instead, Scott and other executives discussed Wal-Mart in terms of building on successes rather than righting wrongs.

The executives drew an enthusiastic response from the 15,000 shareholders and workers packed into Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus. The meeting sprinkled panel discussions and speeches between celebrity appearances.

Scott said Hurricane Katrina inspired a new vision at Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart. He noted the company’s rapid effort to provide relief supplies -- a move that drew praise from Wal-Mart’s critics. Scott said that at the time, he asked, “How can we use our unique strength to be that company all the time?”

Wal-Mart has several experimental stores where it is testing new designs and aisles that have merchandise targeted to the local demographics, including an “urban and multicultural” store in the Chicago area.

The company is streamlining its inventory to speed items to shelves and trim the time between manufacture and arrival of items in the stores. And many of those items will increasingly be geared to upscale shoppers, executives said.

Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe said the company could still build sales growth in existing stores while gaining market share in the U.S. and internationally. In the last year, Wal-Mart acquired stores in Brazil, entered into a partnership with a retail chain in Central America and gained a majority share of retailer Seiyu in Japan.

The company is adding about 600 stores this year, about a third of which will be international. Wal-Mart has more than 6,500 stores in 15 countries and serves 176 million customers a week.

Schoewe said the company intended to keep expanding its retail footprint by 8% annually.

Singer Beyonce performed at the end of the meeting, and “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks sang two songs.

Shares of Wal-Mart fell 56 cents to $47.83.