In a surprise move, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) replaced H. Lee Scott as chief executive with Mike Duke, the president of Wal-Mart International.

The timing of the move is curious. Wal-Mart seems to be the only retailer showing signs of strength during the economic downturn as cash-strapped middle-class shoppers flock to the chain, lured by its low prices. I count myself among this group. Moreover, shares of the world's largest retailer are up 6.6% this year, making them the only component in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to post a gain.

Of course, Wal-Mart is spinning this like a dreidel at Hanukkah. Rob Walton, the chairman of the board of directors, said in a press release that "Lee Scott has made an extraordinary contribution to Wal-Mart during his almost thirty years of service as an associate, and as our president and CEO for the last nine year [...] Lee has earned the respect and affection of our associates around the world, and of the Walton family."

Alright Mr. Walton, if this is true, why would you want to replace him? Perhaps Scott and the Waltons had some sort of dispute. Maybe it was over strategy. Maybe it was over something else. I found it odd that the announcement had no verbiage about Scott wanting "to spend more time with his family" or wishing him luck to "pursue other interests." Scott, though, maybe has decided it was time to call it a career.

Wal-Mart deserves credit for not rushing Scott, 59, out the door. Effective February 1, he will become chairman of the executive committee. The 58-year-old Duke won kudos from investors for guiding Wal-Mart's international business. Eduardo Castro-Wright, the head of Wal-Mart's U.S. operations, becomes vice chairman.

The new Wal-Mart will continue to be as big of a juggernaut as it has been in the past.

After reading this article at TIME, I was left wondering if Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) can really come back from what is considered "a brink" and reinvent itself as the retailer of the world. Wal-Mart's already had a second act in a manner of speaking, adding grocery lines and auto centers (and more) to its Supercenters to become the world's largest retailer.

How can the company top that? Well, it doesn't need to top that but the laggard mentality can cause problems when consumer and economic changes happen to core customer bases, and that's what Wal-Mart is facing right now. It's hard to imagine Wal-Mart going anywhere, but then again, the unrealistic expectations of Wall Street means that it must constantly find new life amid the competition and even in its boring stores.

Eduardo Castro-Wright, who was hailed the savior to the U.S. sales for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s (NYSE:WMT) U.S. operations, denies that he will be leaving the company any time soon. There are rumors that Wright will soon be replaced by Doug McMillon, head of U.S. operations for the Sam's Club division.

With the jumpstart that Wright needed in the U.S. since the middle of 2006 not really happening in any measurable way, it's easy to see how this rumor may have been started. John Fleming, head of Wal-Mart's Marketing group and a former Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) alumnus, is changing the way Wal-Mart buys its goods from suppliers, which caused the rumor about Wright's departure apparently.

If there are any further developments to this story, rest assured I'll be posting a follow-up.

Wal-Mart's U.S. sales Chief Eduardo Castro-Wright recently said that the retailing giant was going to being targeting specific customer demographic groups in its stores in an attempt to market in a more customized and personable way to its core base of consumers. Although I will believe that when I see it, Wright said that the process would take about 24 months -- a time period I can't believe based on the sheer number of Wal-Mart stores and the incredible undertaking to get this rather-large show on the road.

But, will abandoning its one-size-fits-all approach be the downfall of the company? Ok, that may be a little bit melodramatic, but Newswise talks about this very prospect, and I found the idea intriguing. Wal-Mart's IT, logistics and merchandising systems were designed for a fragmented and shotgun approach to selling and merchandising the same goods in a "cookie cutter" type of way across the nation.

As Wal-Mart has found out, though, this approach has not worked well in overseas markets, which did not acclimate to Wal-Mart's global one-size-fits-all store approach. Quite the contrary, in fact, and so much that it closed up shop in Germany and moved out. International markets were probably a harbinger on what Wal-Mart was soon to face here in the U.S. as it tries to stoke growth and draw more customers into stores.

So, can Wal-Mart radically change the way it merchandises its inventory as it targets specific groups like it's never done before? Is a rather-large systems change in order for the global retailing giant to ensure this? My guess is yes, and with Wal-Mart's reputation for logistical expertise in the retail field, I would expect nothing less.

This is quite a shocker - the new U.S. chief for Wal-Mart's American sales division says the one-third of American consumers that pay a visit to a Wal-Mart each week are being "under-served". To anyone who has actually had a decent customer service experience at Wal-Mart, we'd love to hear from you.

Seriously - the former head of the Mexican division of Wal-Mart, Eduardo Castro-Wright, wants to make each Wal-Mart more sensitive to strategic product placement for individial neighborhoods and demographics along with "sticky" customer tactics such as clean women's restrooms (where many babies are changed) to tortilla-making machines. The "custom" approach he envisions would surely throw more sales from the same customers already in the store, and perhaps make each Wal-Mart more friendly instead of the same, boring big ole' box we always see. Is this guy a master merchandiser? Appears so.