Wal-Mart Profits Up 7%, Consumers Deserting Other Retailers

money-rx.com — Wal-Mart is actually benefiting because consumers are migrating to it from other retailers. Researchers from Loyola University Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago tracked 191 stores within a 3-mile radius of Wal-Mart from March 2006, six months before the store opened, through Nov 2007. The team found 23 stores shut down last year.