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Thursday, January 23, 2014

Wal-Mart creates $10 million fund to back U.S. manufacturing, (NYSE: WMT)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, said on Thursday it has created a $10 million fund to support manufacturing in the United States, and that one of its bicycle suppliers plans to start production in the U.S. this year. Bill Simon, Wal-Mart's U.S. president, said at the United States Conference of Mayors' winter meeting in Washington, DC, that Wal-Mart and its philanthropic arm, the Walmart Foundation, will provide the funds for the five-year program, offering grants to innovators in U.S. manufacturing.The announcement was the latest in Wal-Mart's year-old push to boost U.S. manufacturing. It has vowed to purchase an additional $50 billion in U.S.-made products over the next decade.A number of the company's long-time suppliers are returning production to the United States, as rising wages in China and elsewhere have made offshore production less lucrative.Kent International, a New Jersey-based bicycle maker, announced with Wal-Mart on Thursday that it will move its production to Clarendon, South Carolina, and create 175 new jobs and assemble 500,000 bicycles annually by 2016.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Walmart) operates retail stores in various formats globally. Shares of WMT fell by 0.61% or $-0.46/share to $74.89. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $68.13 and as high as $81.37. On average, 5849920 shares of WMT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2439929.



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