Tell me when you hear of them increasing the floor space devoted to guns and hunting supplies somewhere. Not cutting it doesn't count.
Howdy, El Gato, Kitty Cato! :)
"Tell me when you hear of them increasing the floor space devoted to guns and hunting supplies somewhere."
It's apples and oranges. Guns are not profitable for Wal-Mart, so they're cutting them. Here's an article newly-hatched from the NY Times & AP:
April 15, 2006
Wal-Mart Will Stop Selling Guns in a Third of Its U.S. Stores - AP
Wal-Mart Stores, the discount retail giant, has decided to stop selling guns in about a third of its American stores in what it calls a marketing decision based on lack of demand, a company spokeswoman said yesterday.
The company said it decided last month to remove firearms from about 1,000 stores in favor of stocking other sporting goods, in line with a strategy that is intended to increase sales by paying closer attention to local differences in demand.
"This decision is based on diminished customer relevancy and demand in these markets," the Wal-Mart spokeswoman, Jolanda Stewart, said.
Representatives at hunting and shooting organizations said they were surprised that Wal-Mart, which has a strong hunting 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, a spokesman for the hunting and conservation group Ducks Unlimited.
The National Rifle Association said it was concerned people in rural areas, where Wal-Mart might 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 chief lobbyist for the N.R.A., Chris Cox, said. "The N.R.A. and our members will be watching closely to make sure they stay true to their word."
Steve Wagner, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the shooting, hunting and firearms industry, said the change could be a boon for mom-and-pop hunting stores that lost business to Wal-Mart.
http://www.nytimes.com
Wal-Mart currently has 3500+ stores in America. (I've also been in Wal-Marts on the island of Kauaii and in Mexico's Puerto Vallarta; they truly ARE everywhere.) They're cutting back on gun sales in 1000 of their US stores that are not profiting from selling guns. It makes sense. They have plenty-o-stores on either coast and in Blue states that are "a-skeered" of guns. Those will be the first to go, I'm sure.
Come on. This is America. If someone needs a hunting or a hand gun, it's not like you can't find one just because they're not selling them at the Wal-Mart stores with cr@ppy gun sales and ignorant sales clerks in the area of firearms. And those poor Rural Folk that can't buy a gun? LOL! I have my Dad's guns, and DH has his father's guns. Guns rarely "wear out." It's not like you NEED to buy a new one each year; more like every other Generation or so. (Though cheap ammo prices are good, but if you pack your own shells, it's no different than rolling your own cigarettes as far as saving money. That was for you, Gabz!) :)
More of the article:
"'As with all merchandise decisions that we make,' Ms. Stewart said, '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.'
As Wal-Mart seeks growth by moving from rural America into cities and suburbs, it finds it needs to retune its inventory from hunting and fishing to more home fitness and exercise products." (For the 'Metrosexual' who isn't out in the field getting exercise while hunting for dinner, but is instead cabbing it downtown to a restaurant, LOL!)
The NY Slimes and The Brady Bunch, of course, want us all to believe that gun purchases are down, when in fact, they remain steady as a $2 billion dollar a year industry, of which Wal-Mart's share is total chicken feed compared to the billions of dollars in other merchandise Wal-Mart can move each year.
The NRA has to get their 2-cents in there too, because they lose funding & memberships if it looks like they're "not standing up" to imaginary gun grabbers. *Rolleyes* Private gun sales account for 30-40% of annual gun sales in the USA, per the latest statistics. Gun shows, on-line auctions, etc.
The left was just a bitchin' that Wal-Mart sold guns in the first place, so now they can have this little, imaginary "victory" to go with all of their other imaginary "victories" which mean squat in the Real World. :)