Posted on 04/15/2006 5:40:19 AM PDT by wallcrawlr
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has decided to stop selling guns in about a third of its U.S. stores in what it calls a marketing decision based on lack of demand in some places, a company spokeswoman said Friday.
The world's largest retailer decided last month to remove firearms from about 1,000 stores in favor of stocking other sporting goods, in line with a "Store of the Community" strategy for boosting sales by paying closer attention to local differences in demand.
"This decision is based on diminished customer relevancy and demand in these markets," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jolanda Stewart.
Hunting and shooting advocates said it was a surprise that Wal-Mart, which has a strong hunting and fishing tradition, would surrender the field in at least some areas to big-box outfitting stores like Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's.
"For some folks, it will affect them as far as where they get their deer rifle or shotgun," said Gregg Patterson, spokesman for the hunting and conservation group Ducks Unlimited.
Wal-Mart declined to say which stores in Minnesota may be affected by its gun sales policy. "In stores where there is sufficient demand, nothing will change," a spokeswoman said in an e-mail.
The National Rifle Association said it was concerned that people in rural areas, where Wal-Mart may be the only purveyor, may no longer have access to guns.
"We've been told by Wal-Mart that the decision would be made on a store-by-store basis based on demand. The NRA and our members will be watching closely to make sure they stay true to their word," NRA chief lobbyist Chris Cox said.
The change could be a boon for mom-and-pop hunting stores that lost business when Wal-Mart moved in, said Steve Wagner, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the shooting, hunting and firearms industry.
Wal-Mart's critics and gun control advocates welcomed the move.
"This a good first step," said Paul Blank, director of the union-funded group WakeUpWalMart.com, which contends there is a growing public safety concern about violence and crime at Wal-Mart stores.
The Violence Policy Center, a gun control group, said Wal-Mart's decision reflected what it called a decline in gun ownership. "The marketplace has spoken, and the losers are America's gun industry and the gun lobby," VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann said in a statement.
Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has about 1,200 discount stores and 1,900 Supercenters, which include a full grocery section, in all 50 states.
"As with all merchandise decisions that we make, our decision to remove guns from Wal-Mart locations is simply based on the lack of customer purchase history of firearms in a given community," Stewart said.
Wal-Mart's experimental new Supercenter for more upscale shoppers, which opened last month in the affluent Dallas suburb of Plano, does not carry guns.
As Wal-Mart seeks growth by moving from rural America into cities and suburbs, it finds it needs to retune its inventory to appeal to more urban consumers.
The Plano store is a testing ground for ideas, from trendier products to more-subdued interiors, that are part of a broad effort at Wal-Mart to rekindle sluggish growth by luring more affluent shoppers away from faster-growing rivals such as Target Corp.
Chief Executive Lee Scott has said that in communities like Plano, Wal-Mart's sports department should shift from a traditional emphasis on hunting and fishing to more home fitness and exercise products.
Tell me when you hear of them increasing the floor space devoted to guns and hunting supplies somewhere. Not cutting it doesn't count.
That particular crap, and crap it is, was a description of the position of union funded, anti WalMart group.
That used to be, pre 1968, very common. Many hardware stores, and other sorts of stores as well, would sell firearms. This was especially true in smaller towns . I know I used buy my "ammo" at the hardware store, but that was steel BB's. Although I did buy some house brand ammo, and could have bought a shotgun or a rifle at a Holiday convenience store and gas station as late as '75 or '76.
Of course in those days you could buy house brand firearms and ammunition at both Sears and Wards, and could order them from the Penny's catalog (but after '68 you had to pick them up at a retail store).
I thought I could get a good price on ammunition at Wal-Mart, but that wasnt the case....ammoman.com beats all!
Political assassinations may have had a lot to do with that, with the libs firmly convinced that guns were some how responsible for the deaths of the Kennedys and MLK.
No, Wal-Mart doesnt employ illegal aliens....good grief!
(but a lot of illegals shop there!)
I was very surprised at how few places there are around here to purchase firearms, considering how rural this area is.
No doubt about it.
I was suggesting "retired generals" because those traitorous scum suckers have been all over the alphabet media shilling for our enemies.
I wouldn't buy a gun from WallWorld either, but they have had some of the most spectacular sales on shotgun ammo I've ever seen. Don't know how this move will affect stores in South Florida. A number of chains like Walmart have pulled the same move in this area. Still, the best deals are to be had at the gunshows. As far as ammo goes I have seen some great deals on both practice and defense ammo at CLICK HERE
The clinton administration changed the rules to make it harder to sell firearms.
I don't blame anyone who changes their business model in response to changing business climate.
I don't hate the player, I hate the game. I want to make the laws such that Walmart would want back in to that market.
No, Wal-Mart doesnt employ illegal aliens....good grief!
(but a lot of illegals shop there!)
I don't know why you are saying this to me. This was not even close to what I said on my post, but you know as long as Walmart stock keeps going up (I have quite a bit of shares). I will support them. I am getting sick of everyone bashing an extremely effective store that has given to the economy more than most stores. IF IF IF they hire some illegals, I was proof.
Fountain Firearms in Houston rocks!
I might buy socks at Walmart, but I buy my guns at a gun store.
I also like the fact that its the only store I've ever been in where they are actively smoking in there too! Adam is good but Bob is a virtual encyclopedia of knowlege. Pre-hunting season in the fall the place is a SRO madhouse.......which tells you alot about their reputation.
I usually buy in bulk online, but that is often more expensive than W-M and I also have to wait for it. I can go to the local Wally-World (less than 2 miles away) and pick-up 1000 rds of Winchester Wite Box and spend a little more than 100 bucks (tax included).
Can Walmart's pharmacy not carry the morning-after abortifacient pill "based on diminished customer relevancy and demand" in certain markets?
I understand your point about liberal gungrabbers and other anti2A types - but I'm not seeing that here or else I'm missing something.
If a product isn't selling well in a particular store, it makes sense to remove the product from the shelves regardless of what the product is. there are numerous products that I can now buy in the WalMart I shop in Maryland, that are not stocked in the WalMarts I used to shop in Delaware. It seems that WalMarts in the more sparsely populated real rural areas (like where I live now) tend to stock different items than the ones that are in and or near larger towns/cities (like where I used to live).......supply and demand, I guess.
But wiht that said - as I said in my initial post - if the anti-WalMart bahsers and thugs like it - it can't be good.
...coming to Rutherford next year!
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