“The model of low prices and one-stop shopping will remain popular if the products are reliable. Saving money is the prime motivator for most of us, Wal-Mart and other have proved.”
Exactly!
As the economy tightens it will be more important to target the Walmart to specialize even more in meeting the needs of a particular area rather than a mass rollout of merchandise regardless of where the store is. Walmart is doing just that.
This author is incredible ignorant and has an agenda along with wishful thinking that Walmart and other stores like it will disappear and we'll go back to Ma and Pa small shops that offer NO volume discounts and limited variety. It won't happen.
Well let me ask you this, in an Economic collapse then what will happen? What will happen when the dollar's buying power is even less, gas is $5 a gallon and rising.
What if the China market is no longer viable and the cheap goods we are getting are no longer available?
In a year or less we will see who has called it.
The basic premise though is that an area that in in deep economic distress cannot support multiple Wal-Marts in small clusters.