Walking through Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) with my brother was frustrating me to no end last night: I couldn't find anything and the store was a complete mess.
"It would be easier to find stuff if people worked here," I said, referring to the fact that we couldn't find an employee to save our lives.
"I think Wal-Mart might be God's punishment for cheap people," he replied.
Apparently, we're not the only ones who are fed up. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The Wal-Mart Era, the retailer's time of overwhelming business and social influence in America, is drawing to a close."
Basically, retailers have found a way to compete with Wal-Mart. Conceding that consumers can save money by shopping at Wal-Mart, competitors have focused on atmosphere, customer service and selection. And their findings have been encouraging: Low prices are not the be-all and end-all for many consumers. People are also skipping Wal-Mart -- and willing to pay more -- for the peace of mind that comes from patronizing a store with a better reputation on employee relations.
So, is Wal-Mart losing its relevance? Maybe not. I would argue that Wal-Mart's focus on low prices has forced other retailers to compete on quality; Bentonville's stinginess may actually be serving to raise the bar at other companies that can no longer take for granted that their prices are about the same as other stores.
So even if you don't shop at Wal-Mart -- and even if the company is past its prime in terms of influence -- it may be making shopping (elsewhere) a better experience for you.
The end of the Wal-Mart (WMT) era?
Posted Oct 3rd 2007 1:43PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Products and services, Newspapers, Wal-Mart (WMT), Marketing and advertising
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-03-2007 @ 2:53PM
Jon N said...
I (and many of our friends) shop and save at WalMart and are really tired of the back-handed compliments that are being directed at the chain. Many sloppy, greedy, store owners have cleaned up their acts or closed thanks to WalMart, and we really have to laugh at the ridiculous comments being made, especially from those who shop and save there, then moan about how bad the service is or how terrible they treat their employees. Do any of the other stores really treat their employees any better? It seems to us many people are working thanks to WalMart. JonN
10-03-2007 @ 3:17PM
Laura said...
Wal-Mart really has lost its edge since Lee Scott has taken over as President. The stock was trading at around $70 per share in April of 2000, about the time Scott became CEO. Now, almost eight years later it hoovers around $44. How long is the Board of Directors going to let that go on? When is Rob Walton going to truely hold Scott accoutable? The bottom line is Lee Scott needs to go. Now! But unfortunately the Walton family controls the company and they only care about the dividend. To heck with we little shareholders who bought the stock for appreciation!
10-03-2007 @ 3:31PM
wally said...
If not for Wal-Mart we all would be paying 25% or more on everyday items! I worked for major food company for 30 years and WM squeezed every penny out of us. They wanted to be lowest priced every day!
10-03-2007 @ 11:37PM
roudy11z said...
#2 Laura is right on the money as I've been saying for months. Lee(Wennie Fuzz) Scott has got to go and Rob(Baby Robbie) Walton needs to be bought out by someone like Warren Buffett. As I have noted previously ,if and when Warren sells his WMT stock I will sell mine immediately if I have enough advance notice, hopefully. I've owned WMT since 1981 and am really ashamed of the whole bunch to be honest with you.
10-04-2007 @ 12:03AM
SHAREHOLDER said...
i HAVE TOLD WALMART ABOUT THE MESS, LACK OF MERCHANDISE, AND BAD LOCATIONS. EMPLOYEES DON'T CARE. IT'S A SHAME AND SAM WALTON WOULD TURN OVER TWICE IF HE KNEW THE CEO WAS NOT MAKING BETTER CHANGES. THEY JUST DON'T CARE. I AM A SHAREHOLDER BUT TARGET IS CLOSER MORE OF THEM AND THEIR PRICES ARE GOOD. AND THE STORE IS CLEAN, PEOPLE AROUND TO HELP AND MERCHANDISE ON THE SHELVES. NO SPANISH OVER THE LOUD SPEAKER LIKE A FARM YARD.
SORRY BUT IT'S TRUE. THE IS AMERICA AND ALL SHOULD BE PROUD TO SPEAK THE LANGUAGE.
10-04-2007 @ 12:34PM
dee morris said...
shame on your comments about wal-mart and the employees...i find less and less employees in every store...big or little.... studies still show on the whole items cost less in wal-mart and they save every family who shops there over $2200.00 a year... times have changed over the last few years for any large company and please do not blame wal-mart's ceo or say that old sam walton would turn over in his grave... no one could stop the
downhill home sales,value of the u.s. dollar and many otlher things that have happened this past year. you go wal-mart and keep saving us money!!!!
10-04-2007 @ 7:06PM
Nancy said...
EXCUSE me. I don't shop at Walley world because I have some morals and ethics! Mostly stingy, well-to-do people shop at Wal-mart and I'm sure they're glad to 'steal' a particularly Cheap china, sweatshop knock-offs. (Yeah, why don't they buy some of their cheap China to eat off of!) And these are the people trying to dictate 'morals' to the rest of us....jerks, give me a break.
10-06-2007 @ 11:57AM
Jan said...
Wal-Mart stock hasn't done anything in many years. It is pointless to even own it. It's a greedy company that doesn't give back to it's shareholders. It is evident when you go into the stores and can't even get waited on. They have 30 plus registers and only have two or three open. No wonder the meat is ruining. It's going bad waiting to be checked out. Whoever is running the company now, is running it into the ground. When I'm in Wal-Mart, I have the urge to scream out, "Does any body work here, I need assistance." I bet if shoplifting was going on someone would come out of the woodworks. If Wal-Mart doesn't wake up and do something very obvious about their problems, it will be the next business to go down the drain. If anyone is listening, bring your business in with a different attitude than Wal-Mart and you can come in and put Wal-Mart out of business easily. They need to do something about their problems or get the hell out of Dodge.
10-08-2007 @ 12:39PM
misty said...
i think that every thing that goes around, comes around, and i hope to be here when it comes back around and kicks w-mart in the butt