Wal-Mart Estimates December Sales Low

[deadparrot]

NEW YORK (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which made a big push this holiday season to woo customers with aggressive discounts and marketing, estimated that its December sales will meet only the low end of its forecast.

The world's largest retailer said Saturday that sales at stores open for at least a year, known as same-store sales, are expected to be up 2.2 percent in December. The forecast was for a 2 percent to 4 percent gain. Same-store sales are considered the best indicator of a retailers' health.

The company said that general merchandise sales outpaced demand for food.

Wal-Mart, which stumbled during the holiday 2004 shopping season, came out with a holiday campaign two weeks earlier than last year. The retailer had a solid start to the season, but like many merchants, struggled with shoppers delaying their purchases longer than last year.

http://channels.netscape.com/pf/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001/20060101/1422167890.htm&sc=1333

[DainBramaged]

1. May their stores be swallowed up in great holes

[Nomen Tuum]

21. Go Costco!

http://www.costco.com

Better deals and nicer people.

[DrRang]

25. They're one of the few corporations that contribute heavily to Dems. n/t

[reprobate]

30. And Costco treats is employees very well. How Quaint.

[Jayhawk Lib]

43. I sure wish we had a Costco in Wichita....nt

[znowboarding]

40. LOL ok

just checking.... LOL

[Lisa]

41. our local Wal-Mart got struck by lightning last week!

Very unusual, especially in the wintertime. It blew out a rooftop transformer and left a big black burn.

Somebody up there not happy with them?

[Angry Girl]

2. Haven't you been the bearer of happy news!

Not that I'm knocking you, DP, far from it - I like your posts! There just ain't no happy economic news these days, unless you live in New Delhi....

Things I noticed this Christmas in my Phoenix, AZ, suburb:

This year just before the holidays, everybody and their mother had a yard sale going. Didn't see that last year.... Also, several nice-looking SUVs were parked on corners with FOR SALE signs on them.

Last year, on Christmas Day and the day after, there were kids playing all up and down the street, with new scooters, remote control cars, and whatnot and there were even a couple of new dune buggies. This year all we saw was ONE kid with a new skateboard. Nobody in the streets (and they were out on the streets for Halloween and the weather's been nice).

But Happy New Year to everybody anyway! :toast:

[AndyTiedye]

4. The BOYCOTT is WORKING

The media would NEVER say it, but the BOYCOTT IS WORKING!

BOYCOTT WALMART



The number of kids out on the steets with new toys would not be a reliable indicator here.
Nobody was out on the streets because of pouring rain and a howling gale.

[cliss]

29. Yes - you're right.

I think I must have told 100 people to "shop Costco". Those stores are so crowded, people shop for big amounts. I have also been urging people to "Can Wal Mart".

And it's interesting because last year, Costco's sales went up 10% while Wal-Mart's sales went down I think 4%. Also, Wal-Mart has started seriously looking at their company policies. Ya think?

THE BOYCOTT IS WORKING

[AndyTiedye]

34. I Don't Think People Around Here Like Walmart Very Much

On the Peninsula there are 7 Costcos and 1 Walmart.

[RobertSeattle]

3. Damn - I forgot to shop at Wal-mart again last year!

[LiberalFighter]

31. I was going to say it isn't too late...

but I was thinking last year was 2004

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mr_Spock]

6. Oh, man, are their shoppers rude.

Been almost 2 years since I've been a shopper there :D

I am so glad not to have to see the 45 year old redneck grannies breaking the spirit of the kids they hate to take care of. :(

[bbinacan]

7. Yep, and

there is always some fat ass in flip flops and not enough clothing to cover that ass who insists on blocking the whole lane with the cart. And if you try to get by...well you know the rest. :banghead:

[Mr_Spock]

8. LOL - tell me about it.

How about the pin-heads that insist on bringing a cart into the card aisle. I DO NOT miss that place!

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mr_Spock]

14. I'll never have to witness that crap again

Boycott Walmart!

[bbinacan]

15. Haven't been in a year or so and

don't plan to go back. Where do they get their workers? Are they so inept that they can't get a better job?

[clixtox]

10. Wal-mart hires zombies

I just finished Barbara Ehrenreich's book "NICKEL AND DIMED", subtitled: "On (Not) Getting By In America". While working at low wage jobs in Florida, Maine and a Wal-Mart in Minneapolis she learned and explained how these employers grind down typical workers with subtle techniques that begin when someone applies for a "associates" job, takes a piss to be tested for drugs and endures the orientation which revolves a lot around demonizing labor unions.
Please do not paint these poor, downtrodden people badly with your ignorance, and a too broad brush. Better that you blame the capitalist system, which is all about exploiting labor and resources. Blame the Wal-Mart companies culture of hypocrisy. Blame WM for not respecting their employees time or physical well-being. Don't blame the victims, who are all their workers and those other workers in the developing world who often literally slave away their lives creating the products sold at WM.
Corporate America, from McDonalds, Merry Maids, Holiday Inns, etc to GM, Monsanto and Halliburton are the problem, not their entry level workers.
Stay focused please, your confusion is what they are counting on to continue ruining lives, neighborhoods and our civil liberties in pursuit of more profits in the next Quarter (3 months) then during the last 3 months or the corresponding quarter last year! That is their "bottom line". Nothing else really matters.
Corporations don't have consciences, they have huge staffs of lying public relations minions.
Stay out of Wal-marts and encourage everyone you know to stay out of them also.
Happy New Year from Vietnam! A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT NOW! It is sweet and getting better constantly...

[Binka]

17. Nice Post! Welcome To DU

I see you are from Cotati nice place..I lived in Sonoma Co for 10 years before leaving the States in 2002. Hope to see you around the board. :hi:

[QC]

23. Great post! Welcome, and be sure to stick around.

We need more like you here to counteract the GOP-like snobbery above.

[QC]

22. Quite right, my good man. These plebeians are most unseemly!

[Scurrilous]

9. The cheap plastic crap from China trade...

...ain't what it used to be.

Alas.

[demnan]

12. Since Internet sales are up and other sales are mixed

I can only deduce that people have gotten tired of buying slave-shop crap for their loved ones.

[ShockediSay]

13. This year I went to KMart online

How can you hate a company that gives a 2d chance to a rehabilitated jailbird like Martha Stewart? And hell, she didn't make her money in the Big Government Bribery/Influence Peddling Business (probably the most profitable, most untaxed industry in these United States). She didn't even make money trading on inside information.

Let Wal-Mart take the fall.

[NI4NI]

16. Dild O'Reilly will say

it's because WalMart employees didn't say "Merry Christmas"

[LiberalFighter]

32. Got to have something to merry about to say it

[fujiyama]

18. Boo hoo...

Cry me a river you evil corporation!

Can't say I'm shedding any tears over them...

Granted, ultimately it really doesn't matter. The strength that Wal Mart has makes it virtually immune from a weak holiday season.

[wakeme2008]

19. Inflation eats all that 2.2% up

and more. Sounds like they broke even with last year or lost.

[Rene]

20. Proud to say I didn't step foot in one WalMart for Christmas....

Didn't buy a thing from WalMart or Target. Had a lot of success shopping for everything in those old American standby's....JC Penney, Sears, Filenes and Macys.....plus small, unique, local gift shops.

I'd bought 2 packages of 100 gift tags....and had to open the 2nd package. So I know I wrapped about 133 gifts.

[kineneb]

27. Have to admit I went to Target

but I was given a gift card. Bought such exciting things as underwear, water filters and heater filters. Still have some money on the card. Have to use the card when I go visiting, as there is no Target in my county (unfortunately there is a MallWart, where I refuse to shop). Otherwise, I knitted my gifts and spent less than $50 total, mostly for supplies.

[AndyTiedye]

35. Picked up some LED Holiday Lights at Target @ 30% Off

I'd been looking all over for them, but nobody else had them.

[Ilsa]

24. A friend from another board was telling how bad her gift return

experience was when she took her godson there to get a refund on a gift. Said some woman tried to push her and her godson out of line and start a fight. The manager came over and said he'd had to call the police the day before to stop a fight there.

I keep waiting for a riot to break out over their cheap shit, one so bad that it take two Texas Rangers to quiet ("One riot, one Ranger.")

[AnneD]

36. Uh oh...

you know it is bad when it takes 2 Texas Rangers. They are tough hombres (I always remember Lonsome Dove when I think of Rangers). Thanks for the chuckle-it is a Texas thang.

[Ilsa]

37. Yeah, I believe that was their motto. eom

[AnneD]

39. If it isn't it should be....

It comes from the time a Ranger faced down a big KKK lynch mob that appeared at the jail house (and I think he may have been unarmed -but definitely underarmed). Actually heard a tape of the Ranger describing the incident a long time ago (my memory might be a tad foggy). If you every are in the area, Waco houses the Texas Ranger Museum. The guys in Lonesome Dove do have a basis in fact. I have some deep Texas roots and had many pioneer relatives that told some fascinating stories of Texas history. I have always thought that the state motto should not be 'friendship' but 'mess with me and I'll kick your ass'. You really had to have an extra set of cajones (men AND women) to survive and settle Texas. I can usually size up a true native very quickly. This is why Bush's claims of being Texan stick in my craw. Johnson was a real Texan, Bush is nothing but a pudknocker wanna be Texan that doesn't get it. All hat no cattle.

[Ilsa]

42. Yeah, I live in Texas, but I still haven't been able to get

to the museum when they are open. I live about five hours away. I've reviewed memorabilia at one of the museums in Breckinridge Park in San Antonio, and I think the grandfather of a friend might have been a TR. Also, one of the first two women to become Texas Rangers (1993, I believe) graduated the year after me in high school. Her dad was a state trooper. She was always a tough cookie.

Yeah, the two biggest, fastest moves in Lonesome Dove were 1) when Gus broke the bartender's nose for being a smartass and whipped around, tossed up and shot the shot glass; and 2)when Call charged, dismounted, ran over, and kicked the shit out of that dude messing with Newt. Robert Urich said when he did his hanging scene, he spurred the horse a few seconds early to save "Gus" the agony of having to do it. Robert Duvall said he was so into being Gus that his face reflected the grief and nobility of what Jake Spoon had done. LD is one of my favorite movies of all time.

I was born in Houston, but have lived in Dallas, Corpus Christi, Austin, and Victoria, and an area that looked alot like where LD was filmed. Personally, I don't think it's much of a picnic anywhere, and we have water problems almost everywhere. One end of the state looks like a foreign country compared to the other end. alot of other problems seem to be getting worse also.

[area51]

26. economy.

I think the crappy sales are also due to Bush's bad economy (in addition to the boycott). If the economy was booming like Bush & his brain-dead followers believe, Mal-Wart's sales would be skyrocketing.

[Rainscents]

28. I am a proud member of... Anti-WalMart!

I'm glad it's working!!! I tell everyone I meet, stay the fuck out of slave-shop!

[tsuki]

33. Who would buy their food at WalMarts? n/t

[Sadie5]

38. WalMart card was present

Used it for oil change+ a few things in store to use it up. Knew the cashier and talked for a minute. She said that a lot of the sales this holiday season were on credit cards. Most of those using those cards were hispanic.(high pop in my area) She also said that as they withdrew the card from their wallet/purse she noticed that each customer has at least two or three CCs and most had a wallet full. These people were probably bombarded with CC applications and will get in over their heads.

[orleans]

44. walmart & target BIG doners to the REPUKIE party

http://www.buyblue.org/directory/w

http://www.buyblue.org/directory/t

damn! where can a person get some cheap crap without donating to the repukes?