interestrateripoff Report post Posted February 22, 2011 http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=180636 ... you know the end is approaching. The world's largest retailer has struggled with pricing as it has lost customers to dollar stores while it also is still recovering from a poorly executed decision, since reversed, to pare down the number of items it offered. Lost customers to dollar stores? You mean to tell me that the price ramps that everyone sees are real, and they're hurting people to the point that they can't afford to shop at WalMart any more? Hmmm...... but I thought there was no impact of Bernanke's policies on America, and that we should all pay attention to "core" inflation? Who knew that food and energy had to be consumed by..... everyone? Yeah. Reality is this: Price ramps in input costs can only go one of two places - it can either hit margins or it can be passed through to consumers. When the consumer is broke and has no job, any attempt to pass it through simply results in lower sales. Welcome to Hell WallyWorld - a Hell of Bernanke's making for the explicit purpose of bailing out the banksters that created the economic mess with their Ponzi-based debt accumulation schemes over the previous 30 years - and a scheme which used to benefit you. From Denniger. Still I'm sure the bankers will get their bonuses after all they are worth it. Luckily it's contained.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Take Me Back To London! Report post Posted February 22, 2011 This didn't do Walmart any favours. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tiger Woods? Report post Posted February 22, 2011 This didn't do Walmart any favours. I'd like to say "unbelievable," but that would be a lie. Land of the free, home of the brave... How the heck do people sing the Star Spangled Banner without having absolute fits of cognitive dissonance? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
200p Report post Posted February 22, 2011 Asda just needs to raise its prices just like everyone else to protect margin. Their current 10% lower than anyone else guarantee is stupid. I mean 100 baby wipes for 18p? Large Ribena for £2 (elsewhere £4). Insane. People will shop at their closest supermarket usually. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
okaycuckoo Report post Posted February 22, 2011 This didn't do Walmart any favours. LOL! The OP missed out on Denninger's neat conclusion: "The problem with playing such games is that the benefits are fleeting but the costs are not." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longtomsilver Report post Posted February 22, 2011 I agree with tr1ck5t3er, the chocolate in Aldi is topnotch, tomato soup tastes like 5hit though. I've only just begun shopping there for longlife stuff and a few other things. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ruffneck Report post Posted February 23, 2011 I would say they are losing more market share to the internet than the $1 stores. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frank Hovis Report post Posted February 23, 2011 For anybody not a £1 store regular - you're missing out. Ignore the cheap plastic tat. They have very active buyers who will pick up end-of-line / bankrupt stock anywhere and it goes into the shop at £1. Once it's gone it's gone though. I usually nip in when passing on a Saturday, got some very decent sunglasses last year for £1, looked them up on the net and they were about £20 IIRC. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
winkie Report post Posted February 23, 2011 For anybody not a £1 store regular - you're missing out. Ignore the cheap plastic tat. They have very active buyers who will pick up end-of-line / bankrupt stock anywhere and it goes into the shop at £1. Once it's gone it's gone though. I usually nip in when passing on a Saturday, got some very decent sunglasses last year for £1, looked them up on the net and they were about £20 IIRC. TK Maxx / Home sense is also a good place where you can pick up some good deals end of lines etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JustAnotherProle Report post Posted February 23, 2011 TK Maxx / Home sense is also a good place where you can pick up some good deals end of lines etc. The best online clothing retailer I have found so far ( and use) are M and M Direct, you can get top brand clothes for 50-70% off, delivery is fautless and service is good, why put up with the crappy in shop service and messy racks frull of random clothes to find a bargain, i wish I had found them years ago. ( and no I dont work for them or have shares) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PrivateerMk2 Report post Posted February 23, 2011 I get a lot of food at farmer's markets and local butchers etc., but a lot of good stuff can be found of an evening on a yellow sticker trawl through Marks and Spencers, who do like to err well on the side of caution with their sell-by dates. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tim123 Report post Posted February 23, 2011 http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=180636 You mean to tell me that the price ramps that everyone sees are real, and they're hurting people to the point that they can't afford to shop at WalMart any more? I think the problem is that Wallmart target the bottom demographic anyway. For these people, shopping in Wallmart is upmarket. People who are really upmarket wouldn't be seen dead in Wallmart even if the product that they were selling was identical to that which they buy elsewhere. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Austin Allegro Report post Posted February 23, 2011 I get a lot of food at farmer's markets and local butchers etc., but a lot of good stuff can be found of an evening on a yellow sticker trawl through Marks and Spencers, who do like to err well on the side of caution with their sell-by dates. Yes, I go shopping just before the supermarket closes (which is good to because there are fewer people there) and they usually mark down meat etc which you can then put in your freezer. Pound shops need a bit of careful shopping to sort the bargains from the tat, but you can get some very good deals. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
erranta Report post Posted February 23, 2011 Fascinating example of uber Big Business sticking its neck out so far that it started to get hacked back at the base! Wal-mart cocky executives gagging over multi-thousands deserting them - cutting down their profits! It's base customers deserting them in droves for ripping them off in quality and overcharging them! Well I never! The sheer bile aimed at them in the 'comment' sections is amazing! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
200p Report post Posted July 10, 2011 Asda just needs to raise its prices just like everyone else to protect margin. Their current 10% lower than anyone else guarantee is stupid. I mean 100 baby wipes for 18p? Large Ribena for £2 (elsewhere £4). Insane. People will shop at their closest supermarket usually. Now they are 36p - BOO! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
50sQuiff Report post Posted July 10, 2011 (edited) has sounded the alarm about fragile consumer confidence, warning that "anxious" shoppers were behaving as though the country was heading back into recession – running down their cupboard stocks and buying scratch cards in the hope a winning ticket might provide an "escape".Britain's second largest supermarket said one in three shoppers was buying exactly £30, £40 or £50 worth of petrol. That compares with one in five before the recession and is seen to be evidence that shoppers are sticking to strict budgets. Just back from Waitrose. Rather than pissing my money away on scratch cards I prefer to buy expensive food. Edited July 10, 2011 by 50sQuiff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wonderpup Report post Posted July 10, 2011 I thought Walmart approved of people earning low wages- what are they complaining about? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
erranta Report post Posted July 10, 2011 (edited) <br />I think the problem is that Wallmart target the bottom demographic anyway.  For these people, shopping in Wallmart is <b>upmarket</b>.<br /><br />People who are really upmarket wouldn't be seen dead in Wallmart even if the product that they were selling was identical to that which they buy elsewhere.<br /> The old Feb-thread! Wal-mart ('tram-law' to arrogant Elitists) screwed up a few years ago. Their management switched loads of food/meat to lowest quality crap. Ditto they brought in cheapest Chinese rip-off tat. They then jacked all the prices sky-high for short-termist management bonuses. A huge internet campaign backlash started against the Big Business Bullies as outraged customers started to boycott them in droves - this spread throughout the USA where they all switched to the Dollar stores. Walmart 'mafia' family sacked tiers of their top US management as US profits nose-dived. The profits keeping them afloat for last few years have been from foreign owned chains like - ASDA They reduced prices and went back to old suppliers for better quality stuff but can't get millions of their old customers back from the $ stores! Edited July 10, 2011 by erranta Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kraft Report post Posted July 10, 2011 I often wonder what percentage of wal-mart's profits actually come from the various forms of welfare and food stamps. What % they are government subsidized in a way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
'Bart' Report post Posted July 10, 2011 Who knew that food and energy had to be consumed by..... everyone? The deflationists seem to get by without it somehow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
200p Report post Posted July 31, 2011 Now they are 36p - BOO! Now they are 49p boo! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
200p Report post Posted July 31, 2011 To celebrate the destruction of the purchasing power of £, I have created a graph. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
winkie Report post Posted July 31, 2011 I would say they are losing more market share to the internet than the $1 stores. I went to a £$1 store last week and they are not as cheap as they make out they are you have to be very selective in what you buy.....the volumes are less the containers and packets are smaller and the quality is also not always up to standard.....they were charging £1 for a packet of tate and lyle sugar that you can get elsewhere for 80 something pence.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
interestrateripoff Report post Posted August 3, 2011 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/confidential-wal-mart-memo-discloses-substantial-drop-store-traffic-compared-year-ago As if we needed another confirmation that the US consumer is running on empty, here comes Bloomberg with valuable disclosure from an internal, and supposedly confidential, Wal-Mart memo on store traffic patterns which indicate that in US store locations open for at least a year have seen a 2.6% drop in traffic in the February to June period compared to a year earlier. While this may not sound huge, keep in mind the company is massively leveraged to even the smallest marginal moves in traffic, courtesy of already razor thin margins. Specificall, the Wal-Mart stores in question had "82.8 million fewer visits through the first five months of the company’s fiscal year." More than anything this is an indication of just how exhausted the US consumer is becoming if even the most beloved, widespread and cheapest option for purchases is now being shunned outright. Bloomberg continues: "Wal-Mart’s plan to recapture customers by returning thousands of products to U.S. store shelves has failed to reverse a decline in foot traffic at the world’s largest retailer, said Jeff Stinson, an analyst at Cleveland Research Co. That’s primarily because Wal-Mart’s core low-income customers are shopping less and going to other retailers more often, according to two recent shopper surveys." This should not come as a surprise to anyone, since frequent Zero Hedge readers will recall the post in which the CEO of Wal Mart America said that "shoppers are running out of money"; and there is no sign of a recovery." When it comes to marginal traffic, it appears shoppers have just run out of money. How leveraged is Walmart? Was the Asda buyout all leverage? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DTMark Report post Posted August 3, 2011 (edited) Just back from Waitrose. Rather than pissing my money away on scratch cards I prefer to buy expensive food. Edited August 3, 2011 by DTMark Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
