Ha ha ha ha ha. Oh it's just too too delicious. Hmmm guys, do you think if your new stores are taking sales away from existing stores, maybe just maybe, you're building more than the area can support?

In one speech, Thomas Schoewe, the chief financial officer, said that because of Wal-Mart's practice of building as many new stores as an area can support, same-store sales might slip. (With a string of new stores opening five miles apart, as they have in Phoenix, sales volume in the old ones will suffer, he said.)

Sounds like they're suffering a real lack of skill at the top.

Has Walmart failed to realize that a large segment of the population simply refuses to shop there for a variety of reasons? Many of the more educated customers won't shop at Walmart even if they sell a $200 56" plasma TV because it's likely to be tainted in their perception by associations with chinese slave labor, poor quality, no warranty, and the icky stigma of Walmart. Not to mention everyone who read Nickled and Dimed...

The very people that they're trying to lure in are the least lureable because they care less about prices and more about principles and quality. Who would choose 400 thread count Walmart sheets over 400 thread count Target sheets even if they are $20 more? I suppose you have a number of marginal folks, but if you're already spending $50 on sheets and you want the 400 thread count, your situation is probably such that the $20 won't make that much difference. Especially since sheets last for years and you really only need 2 sets. Does anyone believe that the sheets will really be of comparable quality?

Rather than trying to break into the market that Target and Ikea are quite ably dominating, stick with your strengths, cheap consumables like toilet paper and koolaid. I just can't see Walmart managing to nail the 'inexpensive but attractive and not embarrassing to own' style that Target and Ikea have been mastering for years. Not and keep the price edge, since both companies are large enough to use a similar business model.

The question is, can Walmart change their MO from metastatic growth to stable marketshare?

posted by Rachel 4/09/2005

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