Wal-Mart's start-up incubator Store No 8 wants to find the next big technology that will disrupt the retail industry not in the next few years, but in the next few *decades*.
Co-founder Katie Finnegan joined Cheddar to discuss the business's mission.
"What we're trying to do is incubate new ideas that are generally being driven by emerging technologies," she said. "Things that are may be too nascent for the 160 million or so Americans we, Wal-mart, serve every week, but that we believe, when it becomes a viable operational reality, will have a material step-change impact."
Among those technologies: virtual reality. Store No 8 recently held an "Innovate" event in Los Angeles highlighting those advancements. Finnegan says VR will "really change the game in terms of merchandising".
While the subsidiary aims to create businesses that will eventually be acquired by the retail giant, it also knows there could be third party options.
"We have discussed that some of these things might have revenue streams outside of [Wal-Mart] and we would definitely be open to that."
Finnegan calls Store No 8 a "unicorn opportunity" for entrepreneurs. The company recently acquired Bart Stein and the team over at Wim Yogurt. It's planning at least two more acquisitions by the end of the year.
To watch the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/wal-mart-and-the-future-of-retail).
The KC-46 was to be the ideal candidate for a fixed-price development program. Instead, it has cost Boeing billions, and made industry wary of such deals.
Dave Long, CEO and Co-Founder of Orangetheory Fitness joins Cheddar to chat trends in the industry for 2024. He updates us on the company's plans to expand and what the state of the economy has meant for business.
One of the world's largest renewable energy developers will be getting hundreds of wind turbines from General Electric spinoff GE Vernova as part of a record equipment order and long-term service deal.
A moon landing attempt by a private US company appears doomed because of a fuel leak on the newly launched spacecraft. Astrobotic Technology managed to orient the lander toward the sun Monday so its solar panel could capture sunlight and charge its onboard battery.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced that 100,000 businesses have signed up for a new database that collects ownership information intended to help unmask shell company owners. Yellen says the database will send the message that “the United States is not a haven for dirty money.”
A new version of the federal student aid application known as the FAFSA is available for the 2024-2025 school year, but only on a limited basis as the U.S. Department of Education works on a redesign meant to make it easier to apply.
A steep budget deficit caused by plummeting tax revenues and escalating school voucher costs will be in focus Monday as Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature return for a new session at the state Capitol.
The first U.S. lunar lander in more than 50 years is on its way to the moon. The private lander from Astrobotic Technology blasted off Monday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, catching a ride on United Launch Alliance's brand new rocket Vulcan.
Global prices for food commodities like grain and vegetable oil fell last year from record highs in 2022, when Russia’s war in Ukraine, drought and other factors helped worsen hunger worldwide, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.
