Posted on 01/15/2016 8:36:15 AM PST by Citizen Zed
Walmart will shutter more than 250 stores worldwide and exit its Walmart Express small-store format entirely as the company adjusts to stiff competition from its online nemesis, Amazon.
Walmart said in a statement on Friday that it would close 269 stores globally, of which 154 would be in the United States. That is about 2 percent of Walmart's global footprint of 11,600 stores, and 3 percent of its 5,310 locations in the United States. Those stores are scheduled to close by the end of January.
The company has been slow to pull out of a flat sales period after the recession. And although sales have improved at Walmart recently, the retailer, the world's largest by sales, has warned investors of lower profits next year because of its investments in its work force and its e-commerce operations.
About 16,000 store employees will be affected worldwide by the closings, Walmart said, including about 10,000 in the United States.
Walmart said it intended to transfer as many workers as it could to nearby stores and offer severance pay to those who do not find new positions. The company is the nation's largest private-sector employer.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Comrade Bernie will fix it.
To many of these freak in Wal-Mart’s we have about 5 within a 15 mile radius of our house and one is a super store. Close them all down for all I care.
Proving once again that the true minimum wage is zero.
IF we didn’t have the Fed manipulating things and since our money is based not on anything solid we would have officially been in a depression for a very long time now.
I’m not saying the fed has saved us, no actually the opposite, they are covering up the depression, as the monster grows bigger and bigger as they keep shifting the rug that is covering it....
The monster is growing larger day by day...
I can just see the $15 minimum wage cretins dancing in the street at the news! Just think of all the people in the 154 U.S. stores that are being freed from their low paying crappy Walmart jobs, they can rejoice that they can now find higher pay and benefits at........................oh shit!
“lower profits next year because of its investments in its work force and its e-commerce operations.”
Raised minimum wage means they can afford fewer employees, and hence, investing in avenues of business that take less employees...i.e. e-commerce.
Yup. It looks like they over-expanded and now need to contract.
Haven’t they heard that the economy is doing great?
Actually it is non news for a slow day.
Buildings get old, and demographics change. They close a similar number every few years.
Think about the cities where you live or near to you.
Are walmart stores in all the same buildings they were in twenty years ago?
For being one of the largest retailers in the world they have about the crappiest inventory/supply network known to man. Ever consistently visited a Wal*Mart? Week by week they simply cannot keep items in stock, even the most basic and common items. For example, recently a local Wal*Mart was out of stock of a leading national brand of bar soap — for multiple weeks! How does that happen?
And that example is repeated over and over again at this Wal*Mart and anecdotally from other stores around the country. The largest retailer!
Maybe Wal*Mart ought to focus on quality inventory control and get the basics of retailing down before thinking of other things.
Walmart has a similar problem to McDonalds.
It’s not the company that is the issue so much as the customers that frequent them.
When I walk around Walmart... I can’t help but think... Am I actually the same species as most of these people?!!
I agree about WalMart’s crappy inventory/supply, and their need to focus on basics.
The WalMart supercenters in my area are pretty new, much better than the ancient disasters in some ares, but still can’t stock the basics/big brands consistently.
That’s the only problem I have with Wal-Mart, but it has driven me to buy some items from Amazon. I guess WM wants to present as wide a variety of brands as possible, but in so doing their stock levels are too thin, I don’t mind keeping extra items on reserve in my cabinet, but when I use those up and WM still hasn’t restocked, it’s time to look elsewhere.
I used to buy video games there, but it takes so long for them to put up new releases, impatience takes over and I’ve grown accustomed to Steam. I’ll continue being a WM customer for groceries and stuff, though, as their prices can’t be beat.
That’s the only problem I have with Wal-Mart, but it has driven me to buy some items from Amazon. I guess WM wants to present as wide a variety of brands as possible, but in so doing their stock levels are too thin, I don’t mind keeping extra items on reserve in my cabinet, but when I use those up and WM still hasn’t restocked, it’s time to look elsewhere.
I used to buy video games there, but it takes so long for them to put up new releases, impatience takes over and I’ve grown accustomed to Steam. I’ll continue being a WM customer for groceries and stuff, though, as their prices can’t be beat.
The economy is strong!/s
News story out of Drudge talking about the flat retail holiday season, no increases in spending from last year, etc, etc.
Well, I wonder why? People in debt, can’t find jobs, struggling against the high taxes, the healthcare deductibles ...
We make nice money between my husband and I ...on paper. Once the tax man comes, we’re knocked back down to the middle rung over and over. WE can’t get ahead ...I can’t imagine what it must be like for so many who are struggling, on low incomes, or out of work. No one can spend anything.
Figure it out, stupid Americans. You have a government that continues to tax and spend ...it’s getting us nowhere. There is no free lunch. When are we ever going to learn?
>>When I walk around Walmart... I can’t help but think... Am I actually the same species as most of these people?!!
You’re not. You are far superior. It’s a crime that they get to share living space with you. This is why a sustainable future for the planet should only have 1.5 billion of the RIGHT people living on it. The inferior people must be removed. /sarc
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