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Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) is reacting to data from its earnings report indicating that fourth quarter same-store sales from 2009 were down by more than 2% compared to the same quarter in 2008. One of the first moves that the company is returning about 300 items to shelves that were removed during last year that the company believes hurt traffic levels at its stores.

The Bentonville, AR based company restored certain flavors and packaging sizes and other consumable goods even though they didn’t necessarily sell very well when they were previously on store shelves.

Wal-Mart COO of U.S. stores Bill Simon said that the items removed accounted for a small percentage of merchandise, but narrowing the selections of certain products disappointed customers who could no longer find the size or brand of product they were looking for, according to Simon.

Speaking at a retailers conference sponsored by Bank of America in New York, Simon commented that some customers would not shop as often when they did not find the size or brands of products they were looking for.

“What we did discontinue were things that didn’t sell well and were only bought infrequently but cost us a trip,” Simon said. “We disappointed them by taking them out, and we put them back in.” U.S. store remodelings also hurt traffic, he said.

Wal-Mart said that its U.S. stores recorded an overall decline in customer traffic in the three months ending in January.

Separately, Credit Suisse said on Friday that Wal-Mart might return specially priced displays of name-brand items to the main aisles of its U.S. stores in hopes of boosting sales.

“We believe Wal-Mart is likely to refill some portion of ‘Action Alley,’” the analysts said. “This strategy could help boost traffic and move sales in the right direction.” Credit Suisse rates Wal-Mart shares “neutral.”