WAL-MART'S MESSAGE: Wal-Mart executives told analysts that they expect the retailer to keep the growing coming even as it becomes more disciplined in its spending on new stores.
THE BACKGROUND: Such confidence comes after the world's largest retailer finished what it described as a very strong back-to-school season and is confident it will do well in the crucial holiday shopping season.
THE STRATEGY: Wal-Mart plans to add about the same square footage for fiscal 2014 as it did in the current year that ends in January, but using fewer dollars. In the U.S., it will accelerate the growth of small stores under its Neighborhood Markets format, which are about a quarter the size the size of its supercenters.