We smelly American proles are just getting too few crumbs from our Overlords (R).

...Great Recession pushed a lot of shoppers to Wal Mart

Wal-Mart (WMT) posted financial results Tuesday morning that aren't as encouraging as they may seem at first glance. Yes, net sales rose nearly 6%, to $108.6 billion, but that was fueled largely by a 10% increase at its Sam's Club warehouse clubs and a currency translation-padded 16% spike overseas. Sales at Wal-Mart's namesake domestic stores clocked in nearly flat.

Earnings per share from continuing operations did spike 12% to $1.09, but that also needs some clearing up. Aggressive share buybacks and a lower effective tax rate are forging the illusion that margins are expanding. In reality, pre-tax profits from continuing operations rose by less than 2%.

Investors may be somewhat relieved -- if not outright pleased -- by the report, but I'm not. Same-store sales at Wal-Mart locations across the United States fell by 0.9%. It's the ninth quarter in the row of cascading comps at the world's largest retailer.

What's Doing in the Discounter

There may be a thousand ways to make a Wal-Mart greeter cry, but all you need are three trends working against the meandering discounter to do it in.

Wal-Mart is losing shoppers. It's falling behind in the digital revolution. There are too many people out there relishing its failures, and it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy if Wal-Mart doesn't wake up and reposition itself properly.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/08/16/why-wal-mart-will-never-be-great-again/

Most of the people I know who shop there are far from broke. They just bought into the "lowest prices" bullshit, and they just automatically go there. That and, it's all under one roof. But, a lot of them are getting fed up with the crowds, the cluttered aisles, and the rest of the crap that one has to endure shopping there. Plus, with these "extreme couponing" shows, people are finally finding out that they can get better deals in the grocery stores and at Target, all of which I have noticed have been a little more crowded over the past several months.

"But, a lot of them are getting fed up with the crowds"



But it is a great Yogi-ism, isn't it?

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Yes, it is! Coffee's kicking in too slowly this morning.

Carts were full, and people were buying.

that they can continue their rapacious and venal policies and bring about a rw/DINO/free trade utopia of billionaires and broke shoppers?

the fucking money has to come from somewhere: you can't keep taking and taking and taking and taking from these able to absorb the hit and expect that well to always be full.

something's gotta give.

Good un.

excellent post

but their greed drives them to continue.

Perfect.

The truth is that MONEY (paper) doesn't matter, WEALTH (goods and services) does. An the when money changes hands is when wealth is created. The economy is stimulated when consumers have money. If that means some redistribution of money (not wealth, money) than so be it. The economy blossoms when you keep people hustling, working hard and spending money to reward others for their hard work. When you have people working hard but not making money, the whole thing crashes: There's nobody to sell the products of the hard work to!

Destroy American jobs and ship them offshore.

Destroy local businesses and take their market.

Pay your own employees substandard wages.

No jobs, no real income = no money.

Totally sums it up.

must be trying his damndest to get his self over to old man Walton's grave, to deliver the asskicking he so RICHLY deserves for NOT learning the lesson that Henery tried to teach:

If you dont pay them enough to buy your product, THEY CANT BUY ONE!!!

In other news, Sky found to be Blue. Full report at 11.

Best summation of the economy that I've read in a long while, summed up in four sentences.

As the poet said, "the center will not hold." If you continue to undermine the middle class, as what has happened here over the past few decades, things will collapse.

A hard lesson to learn, but I think most of us saw it coming.

But the pursuit of profit is mindless and mechanistic.

Sell underperforming crap. Maybe people are getting tired of that, too.

Butcher, baker and candlestick maker.

As it happens we can buy meat at the local meat store for cheaper, there is a bread store that is cheaper and a small fruit and vegetable market that is cheaper.

We don't really need candlesticks.

The other issue beyond the outsourcing; is the cheap shit. It seemed nice for a long time that you could get everything under one roof, but everything is plastic and it breaks. We go to second hand stores and often you can buy old tough stuff that will last forever; whereas the new plastic one that Walmart has will break in a week.

Beyond that, there are other stores that carry the same stuff. Why wait in line at Walmart when you can go right up to the register elsewhere (that's how Walmart drew us in initially, open registers, then they thought they had us and didn't have to keep them open).

They ran out local fabric stores and then stopped carrying fabric. Just because Walmart reopened their fabric department doesn't mean that people will come back.

I expect that they will continue to decline. They've lost their competitive edge because they decided it was all about making money.

cheap crap with economical product. They drove Dan River fabrics out out of business, all the quilters here in Marble Falls hate them and no shop has been able to re-establish themselves. I hand-dye fabric for quilters and I hear their HATRED of Wal-Mart for driving the shops out and then closing their fabric depts at every quilt show I attend. Most of them never ever bought fabric from Wal-Mart before the shops closed but garment sewers did and that's what closed the fabric shops.

She used to make almost all of her own clothes, but over the years good fabrics for clothing disappeared. The quilt fabrics are still what they should be. I'm pretty sure she has never bought material/fabric at WalMart. She knows all the good quilt supply stores in several states.

It's either thin polyester, fleece or thin cotton.

Absolutely no selection. I remember real fabric stores. My mother sewed and taught me how as well. I inherited a 401A Slant-O-Matic (1957 state of the art) and a black Featherweight. Both all-steel machines with electric motors. They will never wear out. No plastic parts.

I have to go to this place in Houston for actual nice fabric in silk, linen, etc. And I do my own pattern drafting. Learned it out of a book.

They have two stores across the street from each other. One for clothing fabrics and one for upholstery. I got some great sofa fabric that was navy blue with a sine wave pattern.

www.highfashionfabrics.com

But quilt shops, with lots and lots of quilt fabric, which is (I think) 100% cotton, exist and are doing well.

On the other hand, yarn shops are doing well. I think that's because knitters and crocheters and weavers are willing to pay for quality yarn, and do so. Yet another yarn shop has opened here in Santa Fe, and they all seem to do quite well, in part because they all fill slightly different niches.

Some exist, but you're right--not as many as there should be.

This shows only a small portion of their selection; but then, I have to drive to Houston to this place.

http://www.highfashionfabrics.com/about-us.html

Sis lives in the Kansas City area, and the only decent fabric store closed several years ago. Not sure if there are any freestanding ones left there.

I love thrift shops and smaller an/or local merchants. Good for you!!!! I will never set foot in Walmart or Sam's Club. I think of them as evil.

though they don't have everything; they have cropped up in places more convenient than Walmart.

That has to take its toll on the big stores. Once you can just run up to the Dollar General and grab a few items; it kind of liberates a person from the major trip to the big box store.

We still suffer through an occassional trip to Walmart but it isn't every day like it was not too long ago.

I can't judge anybody or tell people they're not pure enough. It's hard enough in this economy for so many people. But that's where Walmart shoppers go now, I bet. And I think it's 99 Cent Only that is a multibillion business now. It is a race to the bottom and I don't know what can possibly turn that around.

If there was a Made in Anerica store, I would shop there as much as possible.

I do get my animal feed from a mom and pop shop, but there aren't a lot of those kind of choices for all the things that a person needs these days.

I wish there was a 'Made in America' shop too. I guess for now I'll settle for shopping at Walmart less.

then Walmart will soon be winding down operations

When i do go there it is for things that only home despot or low's carry and so you pick your brand of evil,better the devil you know.

I do the bulk of my shopping at the Employee owned supermarkets,i do not know how true this "Employee Owned" thing is but it makes me feel better.

I can not say this enough,get to the polls every time they are open and vote progressive,stay on top of the school board and town hall meetings.
The Progressives have their backs to the wall and they do appreciate your support.
Lets outsource the so-called conservative bastards and see how they like "The Home Of Falling Profits" for a change!

I can count on one hand the number of times I've been in Wal-Mart over the past decade. I have no desire to shop there. Having worked there for a couple years in the 90s I had enough of that place to last me a lifetime.

Many do not require the miles of aisles in the average big box store. Their needs are simple. Many prefer the smaller bargain stores like Aldi's. Others even more the bargain hunter are not fussy about brands at all and will buy edible snacks at dollar type stores. They also require little in quantity so the dollar size soaps for example is all they need.
The bargain hunters have found that in many cases the internet is a shoppers best friend. They can shop on their lunch hour.They find a huge variety. They never have to deal with screaming kids,rude shoppers. "Greeters" have never been a most needed service at any store.
Lastly many barely have bus fare or have to walk to the store. They are not financially able to power shop nor able to buy any more items then necessary when they have two kids and a long bus ride home.
Attention Wal-Mart bigwigs-- most hard working people earned money very slowly,have saved very slowly and have to continue spending very slowly as the jobs shrink,the years to retirement seem to expand and there is less money all around. Shopping is not the "fun" activity the idiots at the top seem to think it is for the financially challenged. Maybe they need to check the bus stops for their next board meeting instead of Wall Street.

.... that a lot of customers are shifting to "dollar" stores. Around here (rural north Texas) the dollar stores have gone from a few to a lot, and they are always busy.

They are actually able to undercut WalMart on price and that is kind of funny.

I do think WalMart has hit the wall. No more easy growth for them.

Boycott Mall*Wart

and boy, it did not endear me to the store. I usually do not shop at Walmart, try to avoid it. I know Target is just as bad though but for some reason I will go there more frequently. Usually I try to just buy everything at Wegmans, Aldi or the warehouse store BJ's when I do my weekly shopping; sometimes Kmart as it is very close.

So I stopped at Walmart d/t time constraints. It was on my way home from the place I was visiting so I thought I could just get my small list shopped for in one place and get it over with and get home.

First, it was under renovation. I don't know if that is why it seemed excessively dirty-- the part under reno was blocked off by sheetrock on the other side of the store. The aisles were quite narrow and it did seem crowded, lots of people wandering around, hanging out-- which made me kind of nervous. I don't know if it was like that d/t the location (different part of town than where I usually shop). I could not find anything fresh (lettuce, spinach and tomato) that I needed even though they did have a grocery section. The Target by me has a fresh food section. But then, I don't know if I would select any fresh food in that store because of the dirty floor. Granted, it is winter here and people track in dirt/salt etc. But most stores put out carpets and mop. There was a tax preparer koisk in the store which I thought was odd.

I got a cashier right away-- no line, which seemed weird as there seemed to be lots of people there. She seemed a bit put off by my bags (I bring my own). I bagged them, she was surprised I put packaged food in with packaged toiletries (I don't understand that issue personally--I'm not shipping these, they go in a bag, into my car and home and then put away).

The prices were not great. I get better prices where I usually shop. I spent probably $10-15 more than normal on the items I selected. I won't be returning again.

My opinion, if I were older and had any joint pain/problems with mobility or breathing (getting short of breath on exertion), I would avoid warehouse stores and shops like Walmart and Target because they are too big. I would shop at Aldi, Dollar Stores and probably Rite Aid. Even better, I would shop at a local grocery store that offered home delivery--where they will collect your list and bring it to your house with coupons etc for a nominal fee. Then I could use my energy for walking in beautiful places like parks or the lake trail.

I bet they're getting a lot of business.

My family has gotten clothes with the original TAGS still on them for just a few dollars.

And if you have growing kids, as I do, it is THE place to go, if you don't want to spend a mint on clothes every other week (or so it seems).

Pretty much says it all.

When people stop shopping at Wal-Mart for basics, you know that the economy is really bad.

Drank the wrong color coffee today? Try to smile.

But I'm sure you already knew that.

Wal Mart's going to have a whole lot of company.

so their customers will have some extra grocery money.

maybe when they close some stores the mom and pop local stores walmart ruined, will come back.

Local family run small busineses used to be the backbone of America.

effect is less spending money for the customers they depend on. Wall Street investments and tax policy may make people rich quickly but to mistake them for the foundation of the economy is a fundamental mistake. I see the company I work for focusing on business-to-business and government contracts and doing quite well for it. But isn't it obvious that that is reaching for pooled money? What about the sources of these pools? Particularly for companies involved in retail such as Walmart, and even large telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon, they should see that the foundation of their company is based on a strong consumer market. And that means ordinary, everyday people having the means to buy their products. Yet these companies support policies that bleed dry the very people they depend upon. I'm not stating anything more than the obvious here.

I think we all know why this happens - greed. It's the net effect of millions of individuals looking to maximize their own personal gain in as short amount of time as possible without being concerned about long term consequences on the very system they depend on. And because many of these consequences occur over generations, too few are willing to sacrifice their personal gain for the benefit of people and a time they themselves will not be a part of. This is why good governance is required for the structure of a civilization to thrive.

God, how stupid can they be?

It must have been about 1990. Part of it was directed at his distributor owners, kind of a be careful what you wish for message. Lots of them were hard core conservatives, loved Reagan and hated unions. He stressed that they made their money selling premium beers to working people with good jobs

That was about the time the major brewers began their race to the bottom. Before that, AB, Miller and Coors all resisted getting into the cheap beer market. In the south they had Busch beer but there was no Keystone, no Milwaukees Best and Busch wasn't nation wide yet. The cheap beer sales were left to the smaller breweries.

I worked for a Budweiser distributor when I saw that Auggie video. We hated it when they forced the cheap beers on us. As a beer guy, that meant you had to work harder to generate the same in sales. Then it got worse. They started putting out cheap higher alcohol beers. It really couldn't have been any stupider from my point of view. On the other hand what were they to do? They were just going with the flow.

Walmart clothes are awful, but Target has some really cute things and what I've tried of the Sonia Kashuk cosmetic line is better than the stuff at Sephora or Mac.

We might show up at Walmart if we need to buy toys, but that's about it.

Their prices are nothing special anyway.

accruing as we speak. Since the reelection of our President,there is a shifting of the sands. Social Media is today's change agent. I don't use Twitter or Facebook,but,doing Retail as a part time Hobby,I've noticed many more folks with their I-Phones just clicking away as I wait on them. Hey,these are the angry old white people group,and you know whom they use to support. Conversations with these folks are getting interesting,they are starting to see the real truth. The Rethugs party line of ignorance and hate has come to a big time end.

Spent most of my career in the Food or Beverage Industry,noticed the parking lots of the three local Wally-Farts are becoming less filled with each passing week. Only item we purchase and this Turkey of a company can only be purchased east of Denver. Just the smell walking in their holes is enough to say,get it and get the hell out of here. What folks have to know is,Wally is the largest buyer of all food staples,there for,the manufactures and packagers build their product to meet Wally's price point. Same brand names,but,different quality in the package. If you want to take the time and do some QA,you will be surprised. No wonder they were able to wipe out the little guy.

Greed.

The prices are much lower, and they pay their employees very well. If there is a grocery item I can't get at Aldi, I don't really need it.

they have good prices but their workers are treated very nicely

I was going to apply for a position they had advertised, but it didn't fit with my school schedule. They were paying $11 or $13 an hour for working from 11am-3pm.

Geiger really needs to get his head out of his ass. Here are the answers, you dick: your customers aren't in your store because their money is in YOUR pocket.

Talks about sensible tax rates and more...

Not only because it's cheap crap made in china but because ours are always fithy and most of the workers, disgruntled. Have stepped inside one for as much as a tube of toothpaste for over a year.

Ask the Waltons. They've already got it all. D'uh.

and most of them are still getting over the shock of losing the election. As a group, they've been planning for nothing and dreading the future, sinking all their hopes into some imaginary white patriarchy that's going to take care of them, while drugging themselves into apathy with a host of addictions. Not a day goes by that I don't hear how the economy has tanked and is still sinking, by guys who are planning for nothing but doom and depression...while the more sensible among us have been watching the recovery, working toward better things, and looking forward.

One thing about societal evolution is that shrinking groups tend to get replaced by growing groups over time, both economically and in raw numbers. W-mart bet on a losing horse, and would have been smarter to stay out of politics. I don't think they have any future unless they change, and three things they could do are:

1. Pay a living wage, so their workers don't have to rely on government assistance to survive. Non-negotiable - they should be ashamed at how they treat their people.

2. Offer subsidized healthcare to all of their workers. When the ACA kicks in, their usual dance-and-shuffle to keep people on government assistance is going to be even more obnoxious and obvious.

3. Cap their profits at a reasonable multiple of average wages. A host of billionaire owners keeping their employers in poverty is not going to fly.

anything, but some behaviors are quiet and it's just a bonus when you can feel that you're taking a stand against China and for homegrown entrepreneurship.

these super rich assholes seem really super dumb, don't they? Romney and all the rest... wtf?

die by the sword.