Posted on 04/24/2011 12:48:46 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Seeking to reverse seven straight quarters of same-store-sales declines at its U.S. namesake chain, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday that it’s expanding the number of items on its shelves, launching TV advertising and working with its suppliers to lower costs.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant, which was hurt by a previous strategy to narrow its product assortment, said it’s adding about 8,500 items, or 11 percent, to an average store.
Fishing supplies, crafts and fabric are among items being added back to store shelves, Walmart U.S. Chief Merchandising Officer Duncan Mac Naughton told reporters, adding that the company is tailoring some merchandise to local demand, such as selling ice-fishing tools in markets such as Minnesota.
To make room for more items, Walmart U.S. is raising the height of its shelves and bringing back what it calls “action alleys” – or products in the center of busy aisles – which the company said has boosted comparable sales. Previously, the retailer had embarked on a remodeling campaign to lower shelf heights and de-clutter its aisles to make its stores more appealing to higher-income shoppers.
The company is now pitching its stores as a one-stop shop at a time when its low-income shoppers are facing rising prices for gasoline, food and possibly apparel, analysts said.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has lost traction to its rival Target Corp. and to dollar-store chains such as Dollar General Corp. and Family Dollar Stores Inc., the analysts said.
Wal-Mart also is refocusing on its everyday low-price strategy after a previous move to cut prices temporarily on some items didn’t fare as well as expected.
As part of the low-price moves, the retailer said its store managers and product buyers will check on competitors’ prices more often. It also said it will match a lower advertised price even if customers don’t bring in a competitor’s advertisement, and it is training employees to make sure the simplified policy is implemented consistently across all stores.
Workers, for instance, engage in role-playing and watch videos as part of their training to better assist customers, Mac Naughton told MarketWatch.
Walmart U.S. is launching a national TV campaign to tout its ad-match guarantee and will install in-store signs nationwide in May. Products that have returned to shelves will be placed next to signs that read, “It’s back.”
About 80 percent of products such as pasta, beverages and snacks have been added to its dry grocery aisles, and that will continue, the company said. In the next few months, the company plans to add to its fresh grocery and consumables aisles, including such items as paper towels, toilet paper and laundry detergent.
General-merchandise categories such as electronics, sporting goods, apparel, fabrics/crafts and outdoor living will expand later this year, Wal-Mart said.
In March, Bill Simon, president and chief executive of the company’s biggest sales division, said he’s seen “an improving trend in business.”
I was really upset when our Wal-Mart dropped fabrics because I love to sew and there is nowhere nearby that sells fabrics. We have one of the largest WM’s in the country and I couldn’t believe they discontinued fabrics. I hope they bring it back.
also boycot all huge shopping malls, their crap comes from china too
They kicked that idea and I am sue peson to the curb.
Yeah, it's kind of fun to watch these fads sweep through business -- and then sweep out again. I can't help but wonder if they've imported too many young coastal elites with MBA's in Bentonville. Too sensitive to the media and liberal opinion to recognize a winning formula when they had one.
Taller shelves would be OK, but clogging up the aisles with junk will repel potential shoppers. I hate that kind of crap. It's bad enough when some idiots park their cart on one side of the aisle and stand on the other completely blocking others from passing through. Now, the store deliberately block the aisle partially instead.
Their proper mane is ChinaMart. The PLA’s retail chain
Maybe they’ll start selling fabric by the yard.
That’s how I am. I have to feel the material before I’m sure it’s what I want.
LOL
SF
I know, like 50 registers and not a single self-checkout. I like self-checkouts because I usually don’t buy more than a few things.
Dollar General has anything I would be interested in purchasing at Wal-Mart and I save money because I don’t walk around the store wasting, energy and picking up more useless Chinese junk
For the most part I agree. But they are very limited in their 'gardening' supplies such as potting soil. And thus far this spring WalMart has had the best buy on 2 cu' potting soil in my area. Interesting though it has been so wet and cold here last couple of times at WalMart their supplies had not even taken a dent.
” And thus far this spring WalMart has had the best buy on 2 cu’ potting soil in my area. “
This year, the local WM’s “Garden Corral” is only 2/3 the size of last year’s - and they’ve discontinued all of their compost products... (Last year, they had 4 or 5 different varieties, all of which appeared to be selling really well - so I, and the Garden Department personnel, don’t understand why they would discontinue...)
It's the same around here. If you are in a hurry, go to K-Mart, park anywhere you like because the lot is empty. Even during the Christmas season, the lot is practically empty. I don't know how they stay in business.
Fortunately, all I needed was potting soil for starting seeds indoors. I have a big compost cooker that I use during the spring/summer/fall so I am not having to buy compost any longer. I also needed some peat moss cups to start my squash and melons in so I can plant them directly in the ground and not disrupt their roots.
I cannot really speak to how much my WM has changed its garden center this year, other than they had quite a stockpile of various sizes and brands of potting soil a month ago and last week its size had not diminished. I really try to get through the garden center as quickly as possible because that is where I could fill my cart up really quick.
The CD selections won’t return. There’s no money in that.
25 or so years or so ago I went to a Kmart to get a pair of those green rubber boots with the steel shanks in the bottom. No one could be bothered to help me find them. I never went back to that store.
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