Wal-Mart's brand equity

I see that Wal-Mart is reorganizing its apparel unit, with jobs moving out of Bentonville and into New York City. From the CNN story:

Apparel has been a weak spot for Wal-Mart since a 2005 push for higher fashion, including skinny jeans, failed to sell. Executives say the retailer is now focusing on what it calls 'key items', or more basic clothing staples like tanktops or shorts, with fewer styles but a wider range of colors and low prices.

It is also pushing for more license deals with popular brands.


TK: There is also speculation that Wal-Mart may seek to buy brand equity by purchasing Jordache or other labels. Does this have any implications for produce? Will Wal-Mart continue to trade on the produce brand equity of Dole, Del Monte, Chiquita and others the produce department or will it mimic the multi-tiered private label approach of Tesco? Or is the idea of brand marketing in the produce department irrelevant to the world's largest retailer - and more importantly - to its consumers?. I have a feeling Wal-Mart will need to rethink its brand image in perishables as it seeks to roll out smaller format stores to compete with Tesco's Fresh & Easy format.