That's not how I read the article. At most, the article--of questionable veracity--indicates that Wal-Mart will give more shelf space to the GV brand at the expense of name brands. Entirely removing name-brand products from their shelves would be tremendously stupid.
As an aside, though, there is definitely a niche to be had in selling private label products only. Trader Joe's, for instance, sells only private label products and its stuff is on par with, or better than, premium name brand products.
That's not how I read the article. At most, the article--of questionable veracity--indicates that Wal-Mart will give more shelf space to the GV brand at the expense of name brands. Entirely removing name-brand products from their shelves would be tremendously stupid.
Yes, it would be tremendously stupid, and that's what Walmart has done, with a selection of products. :-) ...
Here's the crux of the article, which is what caused it to be written in the first place. The rest of the stuff in the article is just "extra"...
There are a few thing that I could settle for, that is not name brand, but when I was shopping during the Thanksgiving holiday, I was looking for McCormick’s vanilla, this is the only brand that I use to make my pies. I discovered that Walmart had completely removed McCormick’s brand and replaced it with their own brand Great Value. I rely on McCormick’s products to prepare many of my meals.
...
It would now seem that I am being forces to shop somewhere else. Walmart no longer stock all the brand names that I desire.
And hence, that's why I'm saying that Walmart has now "sent" their customers to competitors of Walmart. Now how smart is that?