Wal-Mart: smiling all the way to the bank

Maybe Wal-Mart should give up on trademarking the smiley face and make a deal to license the Death Star for its ads. The bad boy of box stores, already suffering from a reputation as a low-wage, union-busting employer, is scuffling with local residents in Putnam County, Fla. According this story in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a Wal-Mart consultant sent a letter to rural landowners that said if they refuse to sell their land, earmarked for a new, 925,000-square-foot distribution center, the company will ask the county to invoke eminent domain.