A Wal-Mart store in Baltimore covered several magazines in the men's section with plastic.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest retailer, said yesterday that it had halted sales of Maxim, Stuff and FHM, men's magazines that feature a mix of scantily clad starlets and bawdy humor but go to some lengths to avoid being labeled as pornography.
The decision came after "listening to our customers and associates," Melissa Berryhill, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said. "I know we've heard on at least one of those magazines, they weren't pleased with the offering."
Maxim has been sold in Wal-Mart for the last three years, while FHM was added recently. The standards and general content of the magazines have not changed, but Wal-Mart, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., has been under pressure from Christian groups in the past over its distribution of various magazines.
The decision to stop selling the so-called lads' magazines is the latest in a series of moves by the company to limit...