Wal-Mart Opens First Store in Yueyang

Dec 31, 2005

(December 31, 2005, Yueyang, Hunan) Today, Wal-Mart celebrated the grand opening of its first store in Yueyang, Hunan Province – the Wal-Mart Supercenter Baling Road Middle Store, located on Taihe Business Square. Leaders from Yueyang Municipal Government and Yueyang Economy Zone joined Mr. Joe Hatfield, Senior Vice President of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and President & CEO of Wal-Mart Asia and Mr. Stanley Yu, COO of Wal-Mart (China) Investment Co., Ltd. at the opening ceremony.

Following the Company’s tradition of Good Works, Wal-Mart donated RMB 200,000 to Ecology Bureau for the establishment of 100 firedamp pools in the outskirts of Yueyang city as well as public awareness campaigns named “green energy sources to benefit humankind”. Wal-Mart hopes that its effort can help raising people’s awareness of environment protection and hence contributes to the construction of an environmental-friendly city.

At the opening ceremony, officials from various government organizations expressed their welcome and appreciation for the first Wal-Mart store in Yueyang city. They expect that Wal-Mart will bring along advanced retail expertise and will promote the development of logistics and manufacture industry. Mr. Stanley Yu, Vice President & COO of Wal-Mart China said that Wal-Mart has successfully operating 55 outlets in 27 cities since it entered China almost ten years ago. Wal-Mart has become a favorite destination for more and more shoppers thanks to its high quality merchandise at low prices under the philosophy of “Every Day Low Price”. Yueyang store is the 56th store Wal-Mart opened in China and the first one in Yueyang. Wal-Mart is confident that it will be well received by Yueyang residents and will contribute to Yueyang’s economy.

Located on the first and second level of Taihe Business Square on Baling Road Central, a prosperous business area, the new Wal-Mart Supercenter has a floor area of 19,000 square meters. It carries over 18,000 merchandises, including fresh food, apparel, electrical appliances, cosmetics, etc. It also has three special service areas featuring optical service, jewelry and one-hour photo service. For instance, the newly introduced self-service digital photo developing machine can develop photos from mobile phones and digital cameras within 11 seconds. Besides, it offers old photo face-lifting service.

Supercenter is the major business format of Wal-Mart China, providing customers with high quality merchandise at low prices under the philosophy of “Every Day Low Price”. Wal-Mart associates are committed to providing the customers with great shopping experience. The new Wal-Mart store will be able to provide customers with a “One Stop Shopping” experience, saving them time and money. As a return to customers’ support, Wal-Mart Yueyang store offered great value merchandise and provided a series of retailtainment events during the grand opening.

Wal-Mart China opened its first Supercenter and SAM’S CLUB in August 1996 in Shenzhen. Till now, Wal-Mart China has opened 55 stores in 27 cities, including Shenzhen, Kunming, Fuzhou, Dalian, Xiamen, Shantou, Dongguan, Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Changsha, Beijing, Nanchang, Jinan, Qingdao, Tianjin, Nanjing, Nanning, Guiyang, Wuhan, Taiyuan, Chongqing, Shanghai, Jinjiang, Yuxi, Wuhu and Weifang. Wal-Mart Supercenter Yueyang Baling Road Middle Store is the 56th unit opened in China.

Wal-Mart adheres to the corporate culture of “Respect for the Individual, Service to Our Customers and Strive for Excellence” and applies itself to provide customers with high quality products at low prices and great service. Wal-Mart’s direct and indirect procurement from China exceeded USD 18 billion in 2004, which made tremendous contribution to China’s economy and foreign trade development. Wal-Mart also actively contributes to various charitable programs. Since 1997, Wal-Mart’s donations to charitable organizations have reached over RMB 20 million. By the end of November, 2005, Wal-Mart has employed more than 27,000 associates in China with a total investment of RMB1.7 billion and paid taxes of over RMB 1.5 billion.

Wal-Mart is one of the world’s largest retailers. In 2004, Wal-Mart achieved global sales of USD 285.2 billion. It topped the Fortune Global 500 for four consecutive years and was also named as one of the “Most Admired Companies” and the “Best Companies to Work for” in many countries. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million associates, operates over 6,000 stores and serves nearly 140 million customers on a weekly basis in 16 countries worldwide.