I guess Wal-mart is falling on hard times. The business report for sales on
Friday for the Country was an amazing $7.5 Billion. A record. Wal-mart
only took in $1.5 Billion is sales. About 1/7 of all the Xmas shopping done
the day after Thanksgiving.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"RJ" wrote in message
m...


That's what's so odd: There IS no concept at Wal Mart. :-) If you
believe
there is, can you describe or name it?

A store with most of the mundane things you need day to day to run your
household. One stop to buy a wide variety of things. Open late, as
much as 24/7. How is that not a concept?

Any decent supermarket chain carries all those things. They'll charge you
a
bit more for Rubbermaid storage containers, but in return, they'll have
produce that wasn't driven over by the truck.


Is many small towns, they WERE the demise of smaller stores. In large
markets, supermarkets did them in, unless they offered something
special.
Many still do.

I grew up in a time and place when the only shopping was the little
stores on Main Street. The predominant characteristics of shopping that
way were (1) limited choices, (2) high prices, (3) no returns (You have
a problem, see the manufacturer.) The discounters that came before
WalMart killed off main street.

I'm focusing on groceries for now. Many of the "main street" stores
probably
didn't offer anything of value. We (Rochester NY, population about
600,000)
still have some stores which began as delis and now have grown into small
groceries. Each has something which differentiates them from a store which
was bulldozed. One near me has the best beef and homemade Italian
meatballs
I've ever tasted. A few other markets carry Italian specialties.


Of course! But Wal Mart makes virtually no contribution, unless you
think
the presence of salsa and chips on their shelves has great meaning to
your
average Hispanic customer.

When a new supermarket chain builds new stores in a city where they
haven't been before, is that a contribution? Do you have to make a
contribution to compete?

I think you have to differentiate your store somehow, unless you put the
store in a place that's much more convenient than your competitors. I
don't
know where you live, but if you're in the Northeast, visit
www.wegmans.com,
and make a point of seeing one of their stores if possible. You'll say
"Oh...now I get it". Wherever they open a store, they succeed.


If you really think about it, Wal Mart serves NO special function
as
a
grocery supplier, unless you're still under their advertising
spell
and
you
think your groceries cost less there. They have no more leverage,
and
often
less than the 20 largest grocery chains & wholesalers.

Then they're not a major competitor. What are you worried about?

I don't worry! :-) I'm simply saying that it's amazing how they suck
people
in for absolutely no benefit whatsoever, at least in the grocery
sector.

You sound worried.

Well, today's news mentioned that in a WM store in Florida, a woman was
injured when she was trampelled by a crowd rushing to grab DVD players
that
were on sale. I worry when consumers are so price-driven that quality (or
presence) or life becomes unimportant.