Wal-Mart to slow growth of supercenters

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC

Wal-Mart will scale back the number of planned U.S. superstore openings this year by more than 25 percent in an effort to focus more on existing stores, the company announced Friday.

Wal-Mart will open 190 to 200 new supercenters in the current 2008 fiscal year, rather than the 265 to 270 it originally had announced. The company plans to open about 170 supercenters annually in future years.

The announcement was made at the company's annual shareholders meeting, where Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott called the slowdown a way to make existing stores more productive and profitable and grow overall sales.

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"The attacks from our opponents are just not working, and they are not going to work," Scott said at the meeting, a four-hour extravaganza featuring performances by comeditan Sinbad, singer Jennifer Lopez and "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18971266/

[ben_meyers]

1. Many "big box" retailers are doing the same thing

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The biggest of the big-box retailers are looking to get a lot smaller as they try to bring in more customers in areas where mega-buildings are neither practical nor affordable.

Discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile , Research), the world's largest retailer, and home improvement industry leader Home Depot Inc. (HD.N: Quote, Profile , Research) are rolling out stores that are much smaller as their bigger warehouse stores near a saturation point in the United States.

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=2007-05-02T162246Z_01_N02416237_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-RETAIL-BIGBOX-DC.XML

And say good by to what's left of the smaller retailers in this country. Home depot is building a "downsized" store near Me. It will basically be a large hardware store and will kill the small neighborhood "Tru-Value" type. Walmarts "Neighborhood Market" is mostly a grocery store now.

[greyghost]

2. Yet according to the MSM...

the economy isn't heading into a major recession?!

Excuse me if I don't quite buy that.

Walmart is either a leading indicator or it isn't, they can't have it both ways.

The MSM's corporate masters are trying to cover up the obvious economic down turn as long as they possibly can. Their only motivation is that they haven't stolen enough already.

Here's a tip for them, it isn't working.:evilgrin:

[piedmont]

5. Wal-Mart actually does quite well during recessions.

Lots of people end up shopping there to try to save money.

[greyghost]

8. They do REALLY well...

when gas and milk aren't close to $4.00 a gallon.

My point is that the economy is slowing a lot faster then the MSM is reporting.

[Nevernose]

12. Just in time for them to blame it on a Dem President?

And have you ever noticed that, if the economy goes good during a Rep president's term, it's because of his policies. If it goes good during a Democratic president's term, it's because of the last Republican president. And yet, if it goes BADLY during a Democratic president's term, it's because of his own policies, and if it goes good during a Republican president's term, it's because of a seven year cycle. Which just happens to miraculously coincide with liberal or conservative control of congress?

I think that statistics show that we generally do better -- at least most Americans -- under liberals than we do conservatives.

[greyghost]

15. No doubt about MOST Americans. n/t

[AX10]

3. It's about time. There can be only so many big box stores.

All I see going up in southwest CT are banks and strip malls. This started early 2006.
It's strange. All of the sudden there are banks everywhere I go and more big box stores.

[hedgehog]

4. Any way to find out which stores have been cancelled/delayed?

WalMart is supposed to put one in here that will just about strangle what retail is left.

[Honeycombe8]

6. In other words, business hasn't been as good lately. n/t

[greyghost]

7. Exactly...

They didn't meet their quarterly projections which indicates that the high gas prices are having a bigger affect then the MSM is reporting.

[DAMANgoldberg]

9. Where gas prices hits them...

is in the Supply Chain, Distribution, and Logistics. I'm currently in Columbia SC and Diesel is $2.60. This is cheap compared to most of the country, but when you have their business model, it's sensitive to fuel prices more so than other retailers.

[greyghost]

13. Absolutely n/t

[sleipnir]

10. But yet they still have the cash to put on the pre-911 style Corporate Theatre events

Trust me, very few companies bring in this much entertainment for their Corporate Theatre. It's just too expensive and it really isn't worth it. A four hour show? Did it include a boat tour?

In the 80's and 90's, Detroit used to put on shows that rivaled Broadway for their new car launches, and look where it got them.



Something fishy is going on, either Walmart is trying too hard or they aren't hurting that bad...

[Screwfly]

11. It's gas prices

I think it's the high price of gas that's killing Wal-Mart. It cost me about $7.00 for a round trip Wal-Mart (20 miles there & back) & it simple isn't worth it save a few bucks on soda pop or whatever. The prices at Wal-Mart are the same or higher than the little neighborhood grocery down the block anyway--unless Wal-Mart happens to have what I want on sale.

My only real reason for driving all the way to Wal-Mart used to be for cheap, generic over the counter medicine but they stopped selling that and now I have one less reason to go there. I don't think increases in public transportation to offset high gases would help Wal-Mart keep their customers, since who the hell wants to haul 30 bags of crap home from Wal-Mart on a bus.

[greyghost]

14. The gas prices are...

going to affect EVERYTHING.

Safeway, Giant, all stores that utilize the same business model as Wal-Mart.