WalMart is indeed start to show signs of its weakness and decline.
They have become nothing more than KMart circa 1984.
Cluttered Isles, not enough checkers on duty, dirty dingy stores, cheap poorly made merchandise... Folks will only put up with it for so long before they realize a few pennies more saves them tons of frustration, faster shopping and better products.
Growth by expansion only happens for so long, and then you have to remember what business you are in.. happened to Wendy's happened to Krispy Kreme, and looks like WalMart is in that space now... Will be interesting to see what happens.
Supercenters in my opinion is what will kill Walmart. They are over managed. I never seen Micromanagement in a job like I do working at Walmart.
They are just too big for another thing. The old style Walmarts was much easier to shop and work in and the employees enjoyed their jobs more. Now you might have to walk a mile to get something in an other part of the store. If a big flu epidemic hits I predict those supercenters will be hit harder than smaller stores because noone wants to walk any more than they have to while sick.
As for the lack of Cashiers and the long lines because of it. Chances are good that those stores is hiring Cashiers but the turnover is so great that they are always short. You can treat people poorly and pay them good and they stay, you can treat people good and pay them poorly and they stay but you can't treat people poorly and pay them poorly.
Cashiers is the heart on any retail operation but your typical Walmart Supercenter cashier has a heck a lot more volume than most others but the hours and pay sucks so as soon as they can they get better jobs.
I like Walmart for some stuff and would hate to see it go under but unless something happens to improve management it will be the next K-Mart.