public and they did not intend to open or operate any branches. According to a Walmart spokesman, it was estimated that the company would have saved $245 million in costs by opening its own bank. On March 16, 2007, Walmart announced that it had officially withdrawn its application with the Utah Department of Financial Institutions. Bud's Discount City was a unique store as retail stores go. The store chain, associated directly with Walmart itself, relied not on purchased goods for sale; but instead sold items which had been either a.) returned to a Walmart for exchange, b.) reconditioned items, such as electronics, or c.) items which had been discontinued and stock needed to be liquidated. The first location opened in 1990 and was named after Bud Walton, Sam Walton's brother and co-founder of Wal-Mart. Most Bud's Discount Stores (sometimes just called "Bud's", and until 1995 "Bud's Warehouse Outlet") were located in old Walmart storefronts, with the typical situation being a Bud's would replace the old storefront after Walmart had constructed a newer store for its main Walmart storefront, sometimes merely to satisfy existing lease agreements with those strip centers. As Walmart transitioned from selling items they themselves purchased, to a business model where vendors rented floor space, the need for an outlet store to deal with defective and discontinued items phased out. As a result of this, the Bud's Discount City chain was phased out in 1998. dot Discount Drugs Helen's Arts and Crafts Hypermart USA (joint venture, prototype store that led to Supercenters) McLane Company (acquired in 1990, sold to Berkshire Hathaway in 2003) OneSource nutrition centers Save-Co Home Improvement Center Vudu (acquired in 2010, sold to Fandango Media in 2020) Walmart Vacations See also Walmart Sam's Club Lists of corporate assets Notes Further information - About Walmart's ownership of Seiyu Group External links Walmartstores.com (corporate website) Wal-Mart International Operations Walmart China seiyu Walmart Wal-Mart