Wal-Mart Sales Are Worst in 28 Years

[jefferson_dem]

Source: WSJ

Wal-Mart Sales Are Worst in 28 Years
By Kris Hudson

Word Count: 976 | Companies Featured in This Article: Wal-Mart Stores, Target
DALLAS -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted its worst monthly same-store sales results in at least 28 years, tallying a 3.5% decline in April due to this year's early Easter as well as generally challenging economic conditions for consumers.

Wal-Mart's 3.5% drop in the four-week period ending May 4 at U.S. stores fell below its earlier forecast of "flat" sales to a 2% decline. In a recorded phone message Thursday, Wal-Mart blamed bad weather last month in most U.S. regions and the early Easter on April 8, which pushed many Easter sales into March.

Same-store sales measure sales gains or losses ...


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117880185064598518.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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:nopity: Bwahahahahahahah...

[no_hypocrisy]

1. You're not saying this to cheer me up, are you?

[Orrin_73]

2. Ughhhhhhhhhh, I feel sorry for wal-mart

:sarcasm:

[orleans]

3. tomorrow the headlines will read: walmart files bankruptcy n/t

[thunder35]

4. gas prices anyone

[Warpy]

5. Inflation + stagnant wages + tightening credit +

depreciating assets + staggering debt load + concentration of wealth away from the consumer class = depression.

[RamboLiberal]

6. All those factors plus

I think some shoppers with a conscience are boycotting them, I know I only buy there if that's my only choice which isn't often.

Plus their stock is junky in many cases, stocking sometimes looks sloppy. They never have enough checkout clerks on duty so the lines can be horrendous.

And I think their core customers are having serious debt & financial problems in this Bush economy.

[Canuckistanian]

24. I think everyone's been burned by a flimsy Walmart product

They sell cheap crap that doesn't last long.

[Tight_rope]

7. Challenging economic conditions for consumers...That would be me!

Got laid off from a job that was 8 miles/15 minutes from home with company that paid full benefits. Now I work for a company that is 40 miles from home/25 minutes. And my benefits cost me $200 a month. Let's not talk about gas prices going up and not the tollway which I pay $4.00 per day. With the same salary, in all my income went down $400.00 a month. So of course I have to fucking money to shop at Wal-mart. And I only use to go there 2 twice a year. Don't think I'll be visiting this year for sure. :nopity: Bwahahahahahahah...

[AndyTiedye]

18. 40 Miles in 25 Minutes? You Commute at 100 MPH?

[Tight_rope]

21. Pretty Much!

No traffic going to work or coming home. Add the tollway and I do average 80-90 mph.

[mnhtnbb]

8. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the rich ain't shoppin' at Mal-Wart

[thereismore]

9. Nailed it. nt

[uppityperson]

10. Yet the economy is doing well, I hear from bushites. Odd.

:sarcasm:

[CANDO]

11. But the economy is doing wonderful!

People's spending money is going into their gas tanks.

[file83]

12. Wal-Mart is one of the most depressing places to shop.

That's my take on it.

[CrispyQ]

13. They are building a super Walmart about a half a mile from my home.

I suspect it will worsen an already bad intersection & make the other two in the area worse & that they will do booming sales. ~retch

[SheilaT]

14. Wow. Maybe more people really are

no longer shopping there. I haven't been inside one in years. I tell all of my like-minded friends they should not shop there at all and tell them that they may as well mail money directly to Republicans as shop at WalMart.

[PassingFair]

25. People aren't shopping ANYWHERE.

Our nation is going BROKE.

[Pale Blue Dot]

42. You are absolutely right. Retail sales are down across the board.

I can't help but think that things are about to get really scary.

[Gregorian]

15. Everyone should watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C9s4GcQbvE

[rurallib]

16. to effing bad, huh

In my more rural area it is almost impossible to find an alternative to Wally world. Our monthly purchases are now down to @ $30. That is usually one very grudging trip. But it is hard to find an alternative.

[NMDemDist2]

20. I hear ya. so far I've been able to avoid Wally World in my rural town

but I do pay a premium to do so

DollarGeneral is my friend and quarterly trips 70 miles to KMart

[DarkTirade]

66. I know the feeling.

I live in the middle of urban sprawl, so there are plenty of choices around... unfortunately I work the night shift, so when I'm free to go shopping it's usually 4 in the morning. :\ I try to shop during the day when I can, so I can go elsewhere, but most of the time I end up having to stop at the store on my way home from work.

[daleo]

17. Wal-Mart is associated with Chinese products

And Chinese products have been linked to health and safety issues (e.g. melamine in gluten, lead in baby bibs). I wonder if that is taking a toll?

[AndyTiedye]

19. Could It Be the BOYCOTT?

They, never, never, mention the "B" word in these reports on Walmart's declining fortunes.

BOYCOTT WALMART

[AnneD]

22. When in doubt...

blame it on the weather.:eyes:

[hatrack]

41. Yes, even though this April had one more shopping day than April 2006 . ..

It just HAD to have been the weather.

[AnneD]

62. And don't forget

Easter. One of the largest candy holidays, new Sunday clothes, etc.

[mikelgb]

23. 28 Years Later

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. What? Helping elect a president who would destroy the Middle Class

and create more Wal Mart customers didn't work for them?

[mnhtnbb]

27. Not just Wal-Mart feeling the pain

AP
Discount Chain Sales Results
Thursday May 10, 12:07 pm ET
Discount Chain Sales Results for April

NEW YORK (AP) -- Summary of April sales results for discount category store chains, with percentage increase or decrease over the same month last year.

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. -2.1 pct

Costco Wholesale Corp. 7 pct

Dollar General Corp. -2.4 pct

Family Dollar Stores Inc. -4.9 pct

Target Corp. -6.1 pct

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. -3.5



pchttp://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070510/apfn_retail_sales_discount.html?.v=1

[Dora]

28. Costco UP 7%!!!! n/t

[Paulie]

30. Costco up 7%....

all others are negative.

[Pale Blue Dot]

44. Not to mention Circuit City, Office Depot, Office Max....

Retail earnings reports from the first quarter have been overwhelmingly bad news.

[ProudDad]

61. Interesting

Costco is the only decently managed and "blue" company in the list...

[Manifestor_of_Light]

29. Yes in the country you have to look HARD to find alternatives.

As far as groceries, there is HEB and Brookshire Brothers, and even a Kroger if I go to the big town with 20K people, but as far as household shopping, if it's an appliance or something that the Dollar Store doesn't carry, you either go to Lowe's in the aforementioned city, or else you drive 60 miles to get to a Target.

The little town I'm moving to has not had a grocery store for the last 6 years or so because of Wallyworld. And they won't put in a Kroger, HEB or Brookshire Brothers because the town is too small, again you gotta go twenty miles to the big town with 20,000 people.

Oh and when we tried to tip the sacker boy who put our groks in the car, at Brookshire Brothers, he told us he wasn't ALLOWED to take tips.

:wtf:

[rucky]

54. That's because your sacker boy was UNION

union rules, not the store's, typically. and when I was that sacker boy at a UFCW shop, I was proud to not accept tips (healthcare being a more than fair trade-off)

[fidgeting wildly]

57. Unlikely.

I think that poster lives in Texas, which makes a union sacker unlikely. Back in high school I sacked groceries at a chain supermarket in a small town in Texas, and store policy was that we couldn't accept tips. (Not that they were offered frequently.) We always did accept them, though. Unless a manager was standing nearby. :) I do know that the the commissary sackers at the local Air Force base worked for tips.

[CRH]

31. Dow Jones soaring to records, while consumer spending down? ...

If the Walmart trend continues and broadens into other areas in the economy, nothing will make people pay attention to politics faster than when they are forced to curtail their consumption. Consumption is what keeps the average American in their political slumber. Take away their frivolous consumption, and well, what could be more un-American?

It might be helpful if the economy takes a major dump, and makes the average citizen ask the question, Why.

[Odin2005]

32. More proof that the "official" economic numbers are BS

People just don't have the purchasing power to buy stuff.

As I posted here ( http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=114&topic_id=25003&mesg_id=25003 ) the real GDP growth is -2% and the real inflation rate is 10%. We are going into a depression, folks...

[mnhtnbb]

33. Depression? More data needed. Recession? Very likely.

[Odin2005]

36. We've been in a recession for 6 years, now.

GDP growth has been entirely negitive for almost the entire time since the Dot.Com crash, if that's not a recession I'll eat my hat.

[mnhtnbb]

40. I don't think you'd get too many economists to agree with that.

Yes, I know the Feds/Bushies have redefined everything to skew measures
to make it look like we have less inflation and more growth than is actually occurring. I also know they stopped keeping track of M3. Do I trust
the GDP numbers? Mmmm, probably not. There is no doubt there are segments
of the economy doing very poorly, and areas of the country that have been
in recession (Michigan comes to mind). But on the whole, I don't agree
with your statement that the whole country's been in recession for 6 years.
I do think the whole country is in danger of sliding into recession.

For an interesting discussion of the implications of no longer tracking M3

http://www.safehaven.com/article-4331.htm

[Up2Late]

34. Excellent! Everything is going extremely well...

Now maybe people will begin to see how much these High Gasoline prices damage our
so-called "good economy," which is truly a house of Straw.

[CK_John]

35. WalMart's business model is totally broken, going rural and having to truck in

everything from regional centers after shipping its products 1/2 way around the world makes no sense whatever. WalMart stock will trade at less than a dollar within two years, IMO.

I can see it now, ex WarMart exec. sitting around some sleaze bar saying "I could have been a contender".

[Odin2005]

37. Old Mr. Walton is rolling in his grave.

His kids really fucked up the company. Wal-Mart used to pride itself on selling stuff made in the US back when Sam Walton was in charge.

[bikebloke]

38. Oh No! It's my fault.

I've never set foot in a Wal-Mart. I don't even know if there's one near me. Those poor, poor billionaires.

:sarcasm:

[Orsino]

39. Misleading headline.

Worst year-to-year performance change ever, maybe, comparing revenue of stores to that of a year before. Wal-Mart's profits are probably bigger than ever, with ever more stores.

[Eurobabe]

43. But we're turning a corner...

[AndyTiedye]

46. Turning a Corner All Right

[LiberalFighter]

45. Prices are that cheaper than other local grocery stores here.

I think on average they are a bit more expensive if not about the same.

[Politicub]

47. Early Easter...

Big f'ing whatever, Wal-Mart.

The fact is 28 years ago = 1979. Wal Mart is in trouble if its growth has stopped. Watch as Wall Street's dollars start to move from Wal-Mart to more lucrative investments in growth industries.


:eyes:

[Morgana LaFey]

48. Not a problem. The Chinese market is wide open...

India too, I'm sure. :sarcasm:

I find this news absolutely chilling. What the HELL does this say about our economy? (Only validation of what I've known, I'm afraid.)

[Harper_is_Bush]

49. Maybe everyone has all the shit they need? n/t

[rucky]

55. it'll break soon

they'll be back.

[heliarc]

67. This is the smartest thing I've heard here

I have so much junk I don't know what to do with it all. The Consumer now spends twice on gas now than they did. That's significant when the percentage of SUV's on the road is so high... Lots of people laying low, and doing some spring cleaning.

[Bluestar]

50. Good work, people

They can't survive if they destroy those who support them through their hard-earned paychecks. This is a lesson that Wal*Mart has not learned. BWAHAHAHAHA!!

[Warren Stupidity]

51. Lets see: half of america works for walmart,

walmart sales are in the gutter. Anyone see a problem here?

[april]

52. I do not shop at Wal-mart ..will not go into their stores

[ryanmuegge]

53. I'm with the person who said this is a chilling indication of our overall economy

Also, look for the an employees of Wal-Mart to pay the price for this.

Around here, Wal-Mart's significantly cutting back hours (these people depend on the check; as horrible as the company is). One person's running the cash register from 9:00 PM on (of course, in 3 to 4-hour shifts). The employees are going to really get squeezed hard by this, even more so than they already are.

[David__77]

56. I'm NOT defending Walmart, but is shopping at Target, for instance, better?

But are conglomerates and both contribute heavily to the right. I see no appreciable difference in wages and benefits to employees.

[ryanmuegge]

58. I agree. Wal-Mart was a trend-setter and the biggest retailer

So that's where a lot of the well-deserved hatred comes from.

I don't think shopping at another store's a more ethic alternative in the least.

Wal-Mart started this trend of importing a ton of Chinese shit in retail in the early 90s when their stock prices were dipping a lot.

[candice]

64. Costco and its executives give to the Dems, and treat their employees

better. If one dept. is making too much money, they adjust so that the customer comes out ahead. Costco also buys products locally. But, if at all possible support your local farmer's markets and independent stores before buying at Costco. Paying a bit more makes your community better in the end. I know that I have too much stuff as it is, and that stuff and its packaging is really taking its toll on the environment. Better to buy used and enjoy what you already have. I am going to write to Costco to ask that Kirkland paper products contain some recycled paper.

[callous taoboy]

59. Doesn't see how this is possible-

Oh shit- Excuse me, I just came from the post fest uppityperson started in GD.

But, I mean I am floating in a sea of plastic Wal-Mart detritus over to the school where I work. Everything from cupcakes to crayons.... It's all covered in the
:) symbol.

[Decruiter]

60. Oh happy DAY!!!

:bounce: one thousand and one thousand more times!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Hey Wal-Mart, read it and weep!!!!!!!!!!!

on edit,

Oh and by the way, I die first before I ever walk into one! Ironically enough the last time I went into to one a couple of years ago it was for supplies to freeway blog re the "downing street memos". www.afterdowningstreet.

[durablend]

63. What's wrong with Americans?

By not shopping they're aiding and abetting the terrorists! Don't they understand this? :sarcasm:

[GliderGuider]

65. Mwa-ha-ha-ha from Canada, too

Source: Globe & Mail

Emo in Wal-Mart's crosshairs with its everyday lower prices

MARINA STRAUSS
May 3, 2007

Wal-Mart is such a dominating force that when it enters a market, few rivals are left unscathed. But in the tiny town of Emo, Ont. - population, 1,186 - grocers Dan and Mark Loney found a formula for their store to take on the discount titan.

And they're doing it with Wal-Mart's own products.

A few years ago, Wal-Mart Canada Corp. set up shop in nearby Fort Frances, Ont., forcing the brothers to come up with a new game plan. Emo sits on the U.S. border, so they began crossing regularly to pick up bargain-priced merchandise to stock in their store. They do most of their U.S. bulk buying at Sam's Club, the warehouse chain owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

They don't stop at that. They post signs on the shelves of their Cloverleaf Grocery touting their prices as lower than Wal-Mart's.

snip...

He said he complies with Canadian laws by sticking bilingual labels on the goods. In Emo Cloverleaf enjoys something of a monopoly, having bought out the only other grocer in town. "It's been good business," he said. "Our sales are way up since Wal-Mart came."