Brussels, Belgium, May 25--Wal-Mart wants stores in every country in Europe and will consider opening its own outlets as well as making large acquisitions, according to the retail giant's chief executive.
During his first trip to Brussels, Lee Scott said Wal-Mart would consider expanding in Europe via Asda, the British supermarket chain it bought for £6.7bn (€10bn) almost five years ago.
Scott refused to be drawn on countries Wal-Mart might enter, or companies it might buy, but said he could not think "of any country in Europe that we wouldn't want to be in over the long course of time". He added: "If you get an attractive deal in Europe at some point that would be an opportunity. But our growth internationally will be a combination of strategic acquisitions and greenfield opportunities. And we could have Asda stores in some different countries."
It is a significant shift in emphasis for the world's largest retailer, which many analysts have accused of a half-hearted approach to international expansion.
Wal-Mart's European expansion has been limited to the Asda deal and its 1997 acquisition of two smaller retailers in Germany, where it has yet to make a profit.
Scott was speaking before a series of meetings in Brussels with European Commission officials including Mario Monti, the competition commissioner, and David Byrne, consumer affairs commissioner.
The group has endured a wave of bad publicity in its home market about how its vast stores affect local communities.
Scott said the trip was part of a "charm offensive" in the wake of the bad publicity. Wal-Mart recently failed in efforts to build a store in California after losing a local ballot, and it has seen a series of labour grievances become public.
"I will have to spend more time out in public making sure that the other side of the Wal-Mart story gets told: the good things that the company does."
But customers saw through the negative publicity, Scott said, citing his own booming sales figures.
"It is not that consumers are insensitive to the issues, but they understand the context in which we operate," he said.
And Scott had a warning for rivals already struggling to match Wal-Mart's famous levels of efficiency. He said new technology--in particular radio frequency tagging--offered the potential for massive efficiency gains in the supply chain. Wal-Mart would then be able to increase choice in stores and lower prices further.
