Walmart’s First-Ever Revenue Drop: End Of An Era?

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

BY SHELLY BANJO
Bloomberg News

Not every milestone is worth celebrating.

For the first time ever – or at least since the company went public some 45 years ago – Walmart's revenues shrank from the year before, according to its annual financial filing released Wednesday.

Walmart is clearly having trouble adapting its gigantic stores to the Internet age. To be sure, it is a retail juggernaut that brings in half a trillion dollars (that’s right, trillion) in sales every year. And with more than 11,500 stores in 28 countries,there’s no way it will disappear anytime soon.

Still, Walmart might have just hit its growth limit.

And the sales dip comes despite the fact that Walmart spent $11.5 billion (roughly matching what J.C. Penney made in sales last year) to build more than 400 new stores, remodel old locations, and revamp its website and other technology to better serve its customers.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article69265187.html

[charliea]

1. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!

In other words, yeah!

[Human101948]

2. Eff 'em....they are bloodsuckers...

and the Walton family should drop dead.

[Skittles]

3. I'd like to live long enough to see the demise of Walmart and Facebook

yes indeed

[Tikki]

4. Is a drop like a dump? Because my local walmart certainly is one.

Tikki

[dogman]

5. That's what happens when you destroy your customer base.

It needs customers. Customers need a paycheck to spend. Dumping your workforce on the public safety net taxes other customers who then have less money to spend. This, and the vendors they have destroyed, has cost so many jobs but these people deserve huge paychecks because they are so brilliant.

[rurallib]

6. wish I could rec your comment

[cstanleytech]

17. I doubt they had much of a direct impact on those paying for the safety net itself causing them to

have less money to spend but they have strained the safety net and have caused it to break with their jobs that offer low wages and few hours which has caused a trickle down effect of people having less and less money to spend which then impacted some businesses and caused some of them to lay people off and or reduce their employees hours in order to maintain their own growth in profits which then caused more and more people to have less money to spend in a feedback loop.

[dogman]

20. A lot of property tax relief that is not afforded homeowners and other small businesses.

Usually about a half-million local tax relief per store. I just read about a new store in the town I lived in. They collect sales tax from the customer but do not have to remit the total to the state until they have retained $500,000. How do competitors survive in that environment? Another trick is use a store until it has depreciated and then build a new one and make the same demands over again. The community has just gained a building they need to get back on the tax rolls. They must then grant the new breaks on the new store or they will move down the road to the next town that will give it to them. Of course it's not just Walmart, most box stores have followed their model.

[jalan48]

7. Bad day for Hillary. First the Greenpeace protester and now the WalMart news.

[redstatebluegirl]

8. Now that they have killed many small towns and put many small businesses out of business.

I honestly don't care what happens to them at this point.

[Purveyor]

9. There was a article just a few weeks ago about the small town

that had a Wal-mart move in and all the small businesses closed up.

Walmart then announced they were closing that store and now the town has no where to shop.

[redstatebluegirl]

11. They opened one of those Walmart Markets in a small town in Oklahoma.

They forced the family owned store to close and now after only a year or so they are pulling out, leaving the town with no grocery store. The residents have to drive a long distance for groceries now. They are toads.

[valerief]

10. Well, they'll just have to cut their employees' pay and make the federal govt provide

more in subsidies to the employees. Because Walmart never does without. God forbid those gazillionaires should lose fuckin' penny!

[zentrum]

12. It's not just the internet that's hurt them.

It's their own greedy greed. They don't pay their workers enough that their families can shop there.

[Sherman A1]

13. I read an article this past weekend

in the local paper, Aldi is handing them their lunch.

[djean111]

14. Aldi's is so much cheaper and so much better than Walmart that it is almost funny.

Walmart, here in Florida, is more expensive and has less variety than Publix. Seriously.
And when I am especially broke, and can get there, Aldi's is fantastic.

[Purveyor]

15. Locally at least, Aldi pays their employees rather well. $14hr in the

last help wanted ad I seen from them. Around here that is a pretty good wage.

[cstanleytech]

19. What about the hours per week though? If they require you to keep an open time for them to schedule

you if you want any hours at all and are scheduling people for 2 shifts a week of 6 hours each like Walmart or Bi-Lo does in my area then its gonna suck.

[cstanleytech]

18. Depends what you buy, for basic produce they have very good prices on things like lettuce

but I can get grapes cheaper at the local grocery stores and their version of raisin bran is lousy which has caused me to hesitate at trying some of their other private label stuff.

[djean111]

21. I am pretty much a very-low-carber, so I stick to vegetables, mostly, anyway.

And some fruit, but not too much. And meat. And cheese. and butter and olive oil. Have not eaten cereal - or drunk milk, really - since I was a kid, and I just last week got to the amazing age of 70! Doing pretty well, too.

[mdbl]

32. isn't aldi's that store that sells generics of the generics?

I couldn't find any brands I recognized.

[djean111]

34. They sell some brands from Germany, and have their own store brands.

I buy very little processed food, so it is not an issue for me. I look at the ingredients and the carb counts for anything I buy. No, I am not a 'health nut", just have been very poor and learned that a box of salty chemicals is not getting much for my money. And then, I avoid carbs when possible and when resolute.

I believe the same German family that started Aldi's over in Europe also owns Trader Joe's.

[lordsummerisle]

16. Love that name

Shelly Banjo

[Avalon Sparks]

22. I shop there about 3 times a month....

I don't need to, but it's the store that is close to me.

The new remodel changed the store to have smaller aisles length-wise, and it's fight or flight with the weird layout, like I'm going to either get run into, or run into someone with my cart, with all the turns you have to make now to navigate around the different aisles. I'm constantly having to say excuse me too, at all these intersections. I know, first world problem....but I start feeling anxiety in there now, can't wait to get out of there....even when it's not crowded...it's like shopping in a maze.

The other thing they have started, is really pushing there crappy store brand, they've eliminated some other brands completely and given their own stuff way more shelf space. And what's left of other brands have less real estate too, and when they run out, it's just Great Value brand left...

Most of there great value choices really do suck.

I think both of these decisions were bad, I find myself going to other grocery stores more now, then before these changes. They no longer sell about 7 or 8 things I buy all the time so I have to go to other stores to get them now anyway.

[Purveyor]

23. I too shop there about once every 2 months to get my dogs insulin. Cost $25 at Walmart with the

next cheapest price in town being around $90 for the exact same Novolin N.

For that savings, I can make the effort to shop there for sure. About all I ever get though...

[Avalon Sparks]

24. That is a very good reason

I really need to stop going there, it really is mostly about convenience. We have a Winco going up next year, i believe the store employees are owners, suppose to be a great company, can't wait til it opens.

[CountAllVotes]

28. There is a WINCO where I live

I shop there a couple of times a month even though it is a 50 mile r/t drive. I easily say the money it costs to drive there on what I buy there.

Their produce (fresh) is not that great but I settle for it.

Meat = I do not buy the cheap cuts of meat they sell (not much of a meat eater anyway).

Everything else: This is the place to go for everything else.

You cannot beat their prices most of the time and the WINCO here does a great business!

I'm sure you'll like it, just watch out for the fresh produce and meats that they sell is my advice.

[Avalon Sparks]

29. Thank you very much for the review...

I really appreciate it.

[CountAllVotes]

30. a lot of the WINCO brands are fairly good

They make their own butter, milk, etc. I haven't tried the milk but have bought the butter before and it is AOK.

You find WINCO products throughout the store and they tend to be half the price of what a competitor's product is like (real similar IMO).

The one where I live sells money orders for $.50 and the ATM in the store charges a $1.00 fee for withdrawals which helps saved a couple of bucks.

Real good for cat food, cat litter, anything to do with pets.

I happen to like non-alcoholic beer and they sell it there for $5.90 a six pack whereas you'll find the same thing at Safeway for $6.99 a six pack.

So as you can tell, there are savings throughout the store and it adds up.

They had Progresso soup on sell for $.98 a can in December. I stocked up and bought 40 cans of it (this sells for $3.59/can at CVS!). That right there is a saving of $2.61/can X 40 which is over $100 right there.

So shop and save at WINCO and nice folks running the place too. The employees own the stores.

for WINCO

[Manifestor_of_Light]

26. a few months ago

I got some Great Value organic milk. I opened it and it smelled horrible. It did not smell rotten like it had gone bad. The liquid and solid were completely separated. Have never seen anything like this and will never buy it again.

[Avalon Sparks]

27. Yuck....

I had to buy some cream cheese for a recipe for these awesome cookies I've made for years, and my Grandmother and Mother made before me.....

The Walfart was out of Philly, just a small couple rows were allocated.....but plenty of Great Value....and no other brand. I was in a hurry, and got the GV.

Cookies came out like crap....

i read a few months ago they were trying to attract more middle class shoppers, however by offering fewer brands and dominating the shelf space with GV products, good luck with that counterproductive plan.

One last story, again involves the super small shelf space for name brands...

I was making tomato soup and bought the canned tomatos. Wasn't paying attention and grabbed one can of Hunts and the can of GV next to it.

When I got home and realized it, I opened both and did a taste test. Omg, the GV was awful.

Now, I don't have much experience with GV products except really these two... But I do resent the push and dominance in the store, and the limits of so many other brands now.

I think as far as food goes, this is gonna back fire on them. We shall see

[Manifestor_of_Light]

31. I still can't figure out how that milk spoiled. Because it wasn't just spoiled milk yucky smell.

And the nearly complete separation of solids and liquids.

Never again. I live in one of those rural shitholes where we don't have choices.

[Adrahil]

25. Let's hope so. NT

[davidpdx]

33. Wal-Mart was in South Korea from 1998 until 2006 and failed miserably

They essentially used the same store format and everything thinking it would work here. Wal-Mart ended up selling their stores off to another chain and leaving South Korea.

I've also been in two of their stores in China. One was fairly nice, the other was a fucking stinkhole.

[Marthe48]

35. I don't shop at Walmart

I did until about 24 years ago, when I feel like I woke up. I picked up medicine there for my Mom and then my mother-in-law and switched their prescriptions to Kroger pharmacy as quick as I could. I don't even want to be in Walmart to get things for somebody else.
A few years ago, I went in the Walmart in my town with my adult daughter, and she kept asking me if I was sure there wasn't anything I could use and I kept saying no. We got separated and when we met up, I said, 'I found something in here I can use!' She was so happy and asked me what I had found. 'The restroom!' I said. She doesn't think I'm that funny lol

I do shop at Aldi's, mostly for fresh produce, cheese and a few frozen items. We're trying to stop using canned goods, but if I buy GV, it is ok for what I use it for.

[Javaman]

36. simple fix...

not that I love walmart, but it serves a need.

give all your employees a living wage.

most are on food-stamps and Medicaid.

you put more money in their pocket, the more they will spend

the failure of corporations to understand this very basic concept never fails to amaze me.

[Mad-in-Mo]

37. No doubt Wally World will CLAIM their revenue drop

is due to having had to increase wages.....