Carol Spieckerman

Wal-Mart Looks to Reverse Same-Store Slide

August 18, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
The good news for Wal-Mart and its investors is the world's largest retailer posted a higher-than-expected profit in the latest quarter. The bad news is that same-store sales fell for the fifth consecutive quarter. What is your assessment of Wal-Mart's performance in the past year or so and what do you expect from the retailer going forward?      [more...]

Considering Walmart's exponential advantage in the international arena (vs. Target and Dollar Stores), the numbers are indeed disappointing. If Walmart's big strategy was to simply bring back brands and products that were rationalized under Project Impact, I would be very concerned. As it is, I see them bringing in new brands that expand their reach (ala Seventh Generation and Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products) at the same time.

I am optimistic that Walmart will continue to introduce new brands in other categories so that they will be able to differentiate in urban markets against entrenched players (the Aldi's, dollar stores and now, Walgreens of the world). This will be key to growing domestic numbers and a glance at dollar store door counts will bring a new perspective on "saturation" points in the U.S. As others expand and encroach in grocery (Target, Walgreens), beauty (everyone from dollar stores to CVS), home/hardware (did you notice that Home Depot's and Lowe's numbers are both on the uptick?), toys ('R Us is getting its footing again)...Walmart can't take anything for granted and price cuts won't cut it when many of these players have been able to expand commodity categories without competing on price.