Walmart

There were several big shifts, but Walmart maintains its No. 1 position on Interbrand's U.S. Most Valuable Retail Brands list for 2012 by a huge margin. Meanwhile, Amazon.com, which increased its brand value by 32 percent, is the largest riser on this year's list.

For a long time, the ability to get a product into a retail store was at the sole discretion of the store buyer. Walmart is removing these barriers by giving anyone a chance to launch their product at Walmart and reach millions of shoppers nationwide.

Sam's Club CEO Cornell shares his plans to leave and is replaced by current Walmart U.S. east business unit President Brewer; new corporate CAO, CIO and Walmart U.S. COO are named.

The year 2011 provided a bumpy ride, filled with turbulent economic uncertainty, yet the brands featured in the ninth edition of Americas Greatest Brands landed safely and are thriving. Find out which consumer goods brands were deemed leaders alongside big names, like Walmart, NASCAR and UPS.

Known as the Supermarket Guru, Phil Lempert can predict the future and then help businesses and consumers understand it. In a recent blog article, he called 2011 one of the most exciting and game-changing years in the food world. Using last year as a backdrop, Lempert provided his top 10 predictions for the food industry in 2012.

2011 has been an exciting and transformational year in the consumer goods industry. Here, we revisit a handful of the biggest news stories from Walmart's decision to finally share POS data to Kraft Foods big split which will undoubtedly have a continuing impact on the state of the industry.