Wal-Mart heads north of the border - reprint of article from 2/7/94

Discount Store News, Oct, 1999

BENTONVILLE, ARK., FEB. 7,1994

Wal-Mart's planned acquisition of Woolco Canada will take the American discounter into yet another foreign market as it strives to replicate internationally its phenomenal U.S. growth.

Wa1-Mart's drive to rapidly become a global marketing power became clear last month when it formed Wal-Mart International and appointed Bobby L. Martin, who was executive vice president and chief information officer, as president and chief executive officer of the new division. Martin is charged with opening as many stores internationally as the discounter unveils in the United States.

The retailing conglomerate's latest and most trenchant international move was the pending expansion into Canada through the acquisition of 120 Woolcos from Woolworth Canada Inc. The deal is expected to be approved by the Canadian government and be completed by March 1, after which the stores, in eight of eight of Canada's 10 provinces, are to become Wal-Marts.

The acquisition doesn't include any distribution centers that supply the Woolcos. Wal-Mart would rather rely on its own state-of-the-art DCs that supply its U.S. discount stores to service the Canadian operation.

Terms of the cash transaction were not announced, but Woolworth Corp., the American parent of Woolworth Canada, reported it would receive about $300 million from the sale and that it plans to take a $45 million charge to cover currency-exchange losses. The deal involves subleasing the stores from Woolworth...

Just three years after getting its feet wet with international retailing with a joint venture partner in Mexico, Wal-Mart shook up the Canadian retail industry by acquiring its way into the country. Within another three years, Wal-Mart Canada would become the leading retail company in that country. Wal-Mart's success in adapting its formula to Canada has also made the operation the template for all international entries.