NEW YORK -Executives at Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s warehouse club division, told investors Tuesday that the company plans to open a new Mas Club store that sells products imported from Mexico to cater to Hispanic customers.

“Mas” means more in Spanish.

The news - announced on the second day of Wal-Mart’s annual investors meeting in Bentonville, Ark. - come as Sam’s Club is studying different store formats in a bid to expand its business amid a challenging environment.

Doug McMillon, Sam’s Club president and chief executive, told investors that membership income is not growing as fast as sales. As a result, executives are focusing on improving offerings while trying to better communicating its value message to members.

Sam’s Club officials noted that while food sales have been strong, general merchandise sales remain challenging.

This past summer, Sam’s Club began testing a new concept called Sam’s Club Business Center in Houston, which caters only to small business owners. McMillon said that at the new format, which does not have such categories as jewelry and pharmacy, business is beating the sales plan. Sam’s Club executives also told investors that they are testing a smaller format for both small business and average consumers in Garden City, Kan. This 100,000-square-foot format would allow Sam’s Club to move into smaller markets.

Mas Club will sell produce, meats and Hispanic food, drink, spices and candy. It will also have a full-service meat and seafood counter, an event area, a gas station and a cafe that will sell fresh-made tortillas. The store is scheduled to open during the first half of 2009 in Houston. Customers will have to buy separate memberships to Mas Club.

Popularity: 10% [?]

A tax practitioner has teamed up with a software engineer to create a new tax prep program aimed at preparers who service Spanish-speaking taxpayers, especially undocumented immigrants who are ready to begin filing tax returns.

Latino Tax Software’s MultiTax distinguishes itself from more established tax software packages by helping clients obtain Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers from the Internal Revenue Service and allowing them to file multiple years of tax returns they have avoided filing earlier. The software also lets preparers toggle quickly between screens in English and Spanish.

Company president Manuel Alvarez (pictured) started his practice, Latino Taxes, four years ago in California and has since grown it to 1,000 clients. About 85 percent of his clients are Hispanic and Brazilian, while the rest are Latino.

“Within the Hispanic and Latino community, there are some specific challenges,” said Alvarez. “Many people have never filed their taxes in the past, so we help them prepare multiple years of taxes at a time. We work with a lot of undocumented immigrants. Many of them do not have a valid tax ID number, and we work with them so the IRS can choose an ITIN for them.”

Alvarez, a Stanford University MBA, came up with the idea for the software a few years ago and met an engineer at Stanford who helped him develop the program after tax season this year. He previewed the software at the IRS’s National Convention of ITIN Acceptance Agents in Dallas last month and plans to show it later this month at an IRS Tax Forum in New York.

Alvarez sees a lot of upside potential for his software, especially with the presidential candidates in both parties talking about the need for immigration reform.

Read Full Article

Popularity: 15% [?]

In today’s wacky dessert world, in which paying $3 for a dolled-up cupcake is de rigueur, the next hot thing actually is a humble snack with a storied tradition: churros.

Spurred by an explosion of interest in all things Latino, the fried batons of dough — traditionally sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar — are popping up on menus across the country. When the president’s daughter serves churros at her wedding, it’s probably safe to say they have hit the mainstream.

Jenna Bush definitely is not alone. Entrepreneurs and big-name chefs have hopped onto the bandwagon, too, and have pushed this modest, deep-fried snack into the spotlight.

These days you can find churros on menus from coast to coast, from West LA’s well-loved Literati 2 (helmed by Chris Kidder, formerly of Campanile) to New York’s trendy Dos Caminos.

Churros are believed to have their origins in Spain, though they’re also extremely popular in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, where they’re found at street carts, markets and cafes.

The key to their appeal is their distinctive ridges, achieved with the help of a churrera , an extruder with a star-shape attachment. When the thick batter is pressed and dropped into boiling-hot oil, each ridge fries up wonderfully crisp, giving the churro its texture — crunchy on the outside, soft and almost creamy inside.

A number of businesses have sprung up to accommodate the booming interest in the U.S.

“Five years ago, there were lots and lots of people who’d never heard of a churro, and many of the people who did know what one was had had one at Disneyland or at a ballpark,” said Melanie Farkas, the owner of the 5-year-old Churro Station franchise based in San Rafael, Calif.

Learn More

Popularity: 14% [?]