Wal-Mart offers Obama administration help

Wal-Mart’s CEO has said he is seeing changes in the habits of the US chain's customers as they contend with the recession and that the US retailer had offered to help the incoming Obama administration with health care and environmental issues. Lee Scott said: "The number one issue today is [consumers'] concern about their job. In our pharmacy group, we have increases in prescription drugs, but not at the same rate it was. What we're seeing is an increase in self-treatment." Strained consumers are also changing the food they buy at Wal-Mart, he said that the retailer was seeing an increase in food storage as people are cooking more at home and that customers are using leftovers more extensively, and buying more frozen food. www.planetretail.net