Wal Mart cuts prices again

http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_business10nov04,1,1392797.story?coll=la-wires-business

42-inch HD plasma TVs, slashed to $1,294 from $1,794; the Polaroid LCD HDTVs, reduced to $997, from $1,297; and Cingular C139 prepaid phones, marked down to $19.97 from $29.98.

 

Also slashes their poorly-paid employees' benefits and work hours.

 

ugh

 

They're desperate. They're forecasting zero sales growth in November, coming off a dismal October with only .5 percent growth in October.

Also, their strategy of going "upmarket", particularly in the women's fashion category, has been far less than successful.

If you're a retailer, slashing prices is the easy way to move shit out of the store. But you end up slashing your profit margins as well.

 

I don't do Wal-Mart. Their deli section sucks eggs. They never offer deals on their grocery products, which means that I can shop the ads and buy cheaper elsewhere. Sure, they do ad match, but if I'm going to pay $3 for a gallon of milk, I'd rather go to the store that employs friendly workers who have most of their teeth. Plus, their vendors almost never offer deals. And there are a lot of vendors in a grocery store. I worked in one, and most of the branded pizzas, chips, soda products, water, beer, bread and so on are brought into the store. I can buy that stuff for a better price at other stores, where vendor items are on sale. Wal-Mart needs to start offering specials on those kinds of items to draw customers.

I've seen two stories in the past year where reporters bought the same list of common items from several stores. Target beat Wal-Mart on price in both of them. So I go to Target for my household items, and I buy groceries at Publix. Not everyone has a great store like Publix, of course.

As for the electronics, I can't really offer much input. It's a one-time purchase sort of situation. They might get some holiday traffic by slashing their prices on TVs, but that traffic is going to be at home eating a ham sandwich made with Publix deli meats the following Christmas.

 

publix is da bomb. i miss it.

 

With my hours, Wal-Mart is just the easiest (and cheapest) option. No Publix. Neighborhood grocery closes at 9 or 10.

Viva la Wal-Mart!

 

Never shop at Wal-Mart. Never.

 

JR, you know I love you, so I'm going to ask for a clarification before I jump your shit.

Are you saying YOU never shop at Wal-Mart? Or are you deigning yourself high priest of shopping and trying to spread your word to make us all think it means more than what we've come to learn from our own experiences?

 

IJAG, I never shop at Wal-Mart. (Well, the occasional decal for my car, maybe.

It's just a personal line in the sand thing.

 

I very much miss Publix's fried chicken.

I bought a vacuum cleaner at Wal-Mart for $49 two weeks ago. It was my first visit to Wal-Mart Darwin's Waiting Room in two or three years.

 

Ah, you crazy Canadians and your decals.