Wal-Mart first ever sales drop

Walmart’s first-ever revenue drop: end of an era?


Ten years ago people thought they were unstoppable but I said they were probably at their peak. This might be a lagging sign.

My take is that it is not really online that is killing them. What is killing them is that their store experience is lousy. They have tried to fix it of course. I said what I said 10 years ago because back then register lines were far worse and the stores more crappily kept. Lines are now not that bad, but the stores look so 1990s. So much stuff looks the cheap junk that it is. The biggie is that they are now about half dependent on lower margin groceries than discount retail.

In my life I think I have met two people that said they liked the place. Everyone else just accepts the trade-offs of shopping there. I doubt they fade anytime soon, but the door is now cracked open for someone else.

Guess I'm #3.

It's mostly s$!#, but I don't care. Most of the stuff I need for my day to day doesn't require quality, and all of that stuff can be found at WMT.

On those rare times I want a choice cut, I'll go to a proper butcher. If I want a GOOD tool, I'll go online. Car parts, same thing. But wiper blades, fishing hooks, oil, tires, chips, pop, bread, milk, who cares? The Upstate Farms 2% is the same at WMT as it is at Wegmans.

Plus, even when I go in oily sweatpants shredded by welding slag, I still feel overdressed. It's my weekly dose of self esteem =p

#4 here.

Other than clothes, about the only store I shop at is Walmart. Granted, I now buy most items online but if I need it same day I am going to Walmart.

Haven't shopped at Walmart going on 19 years now. Not about to start.

People complain about the loss of manu jobs in the US. Guess where they went, (China) and guess who's the buying power behind it? Walmart.

How many small and medium manufacturers are out of business, squeezed by below-wholesale pricing they couldn't afford to make? Hundreds, if not thousands. Rubbermaid was just one of them, barely recovered after they were attacked, and only made it through by bowing to the power of Walmart.

How many hundreds of thousands of Walmart employees are on welfare? Ask Bernie, then ask yourself if you're willing to continue paying taxes for them, because Walmart doesn't pay them. (Not a Bernie supporter, BTW, but he's right about this).

How many independent small businesses were driven out of business by predatory pricing in their sales zones? Walmart cuts prices drastically in new store areas, subsidized by their other stores until the locals have gone under, then prices come back up. This is how the Chinese cheat us, by subsidizing pricing artificially until competition is quashed; Walmart has made it their primary mode of operation.

How many people have they fired or locked out in order to keep unions from even being considered in their operations? It's 10's of thousands over the last 25 years. They claim they put cameras in their parking lots for security; it was actually to spy on their employees, who was meeting, who was talking, who was organizing.

But y'all don't care cuz s*(T is cheap there. And then you wonder why nobody can find a job that pays a living wage. There IS a connection.

And, yeah, I own all kinds of things made in China now. I don't think it can be avoided any more. But it didn't pass through Walmart's cash register. Sometimes it's worth paying a little more for something.

Wow, I think we found something that Babs is passionate about.

I would feel bad because I am negotiating on a new car for my wife and it is a Kia, but I am pretty sure it was assembled in the U.S.

I love Walmart and have a thread with
that title on WoV. I have a Walmart
Super Store 4 miles from me and I do
90% of my shopping there. Their
everyday prices are lower than most
stores sale prices. My store is very clean,
in a nice neighborhood. It's only 3 years
old. If it was old and rundown with
aisles full of screaming minorities, I'm
sure I would feel differently. But when I
go it's mostly seniors like me doing their
weekly shopping. The people who work
there are very friendly.

Quote: beachbumbabs

How many independent small businesses were driven out of business by predatory pricing in their sales zones? Walmart cuts prices drastically in new store areas, subsidized by their other stores until the locals have gone under, then prices come back up.

But that's how it's been done since the
late 1800's, it wasn't invented by Walmart.
Standard Oil became the largest in the
world by selling their products below cost
in certain towns till their competitors went
out of business. Ford became the number
1 car maker because Henry sold his cars
at the razor thin profit line. He did it to put
the competition out of business, and it worked
like a charm.

I remember when when there were no Walmart
type stores. It was a pain in the beehind, you had
to go to half a dozen places to get what you
can now buy under one roof. It's called progress.
How many family restaurants did McD's and BK
and KFC put out of business. The world of retail
is a far better place than when I got my first
drivers license in 1965, fifty years ago.

Quote: beachbumbabs

But y'all don't care cuz s*(T is cheap there. And then you wonder why nobody can find a job that pays a living wage. There IS a connection.

I was the same way for a long time. Still am, I could now or have in the past agreed with every word you wrote.

But what's the alternative? Like you said, it's all cheap garbage now. Even Craftsman I'm starting to suspect has found it cheaper to make garbage and replace it with warranty than it is to keep making quality tools (though an independent test will likely find I'm at least partially at fault for their failures =p).

I try to practice what I preach when I can. Just today I passed AutoZone, PepBoys, AND Napa, all right on my way home. And I'll make the extra trip just to buy bondo at my local mom and pop hardware store. I might have to buy the lumber at a Lowe's, but the drill bit, fasteners, clamps, all come from mom and pop. I even drive 4 miles past Tru Value to do so.

But Walmart's just too good. Ain't about cheap for me; they save me my most precious resource - time. I can get everything there that would take 7 different stops in the 80s.

Quote: Evenbob

I remember when when there were no Walmart
type stores. It was a pain in the beehind, you had
to go to half a dozen places to get what you
can now buy under one roof.

Walmart didn't invent the department store they changed the model from high end to low end. Single level stores, cheap suburban land etc. You could buy everything from tires to groceries at major department stores in the 50's.

Quote: kenarman

Walmart didn't invent the department store they changed the model from high end to low end.

I'll let you in on a little secret: The Walmart model was standard for supermarkets in Mexico since the 70s or even earlier.

Also, Walmart entered in a joint venture with a Mexican supermarket chain called Aurrera in the 90s. Eventually Walmart bought them out and changed the name of the corporation to Nueva Walmart de Mexico.