Amid our economic strife, there's one business that's actually doing fairly well and it's Wal-Mart. In the latest edition of Business Week, there's a one-page story on the retail store and it's very successful "back-to-basics" strategy.

Wal-Mart's new strategy focuses on downsizing, simplifying and lowering prices on its popular products. According to the article, Chief Merchandising Officer John Fleming calls the strategy a "win, play, or show."

"Win categories are those where Wal-Mart can outmanueuver rivals with low prices on hot products such as flat-screen TVs, including higher-end models."

"Play" categories include apparel and shoes, a field Wal-Mart usually doesn't do well in, and "Show" categories are "one-stop-shopping essentials" like hardware, which is already sold at Lowe's and Home Depot.

However, Wal-Mart makes its money during holiday's like Christmas. The store is famous for reducing its prices on toys during the holiday season, but this year it will emphasize on its best-selling toys and sell them at $10.

While reading this article, I came across some very interesting information. To start, Wal-Mart uses wood flooring in the apparel section because it's trying to "upgrade the feel of its stores." It's beginning to use warmer, Earth tones to lighten the mood of stores. The next time you walk into Wal-Mart, look up and you can see the ceiling has skylights. The skylights brighten the store and it saves energy.

Even though most of us dread going to Wal-Mart, let's face it, we still go there. And we still go there because they have grocery and household items, it's cheap and convenient.