Wal-Mart Stores, admitting defeat in Germany's giant but cutthroat retail market, announced Friday that it would sell its 85 stores here to a German retailer, incurring a loss of $1 billion.The decision to sell out to the Metro Group came two months after Wal- Mart sold its stores in South Korea and amounts to a rare retreat by the world's largest retailer from its breakneck global expansion.

沃尔马承认在德国具大但竞争激烈的零售市场受到挫败，并于星期五宣布会将85家超市卖给德国的一零售商，这将导致10亿美元的损失。两个月前出售在韩国的超市，现在又决定把德国的分店出售给Metro Group,在这家世界上最大零售商迅猛的全球扩张的过程中，这样全部撤离某个国家的情况是很少见的。