Walmart's sales flop as the economy heals

No tears shed here. Walmart is a prime example of predatory capitalism. It bullies suppliers into low prices and then enters the retail market of a small city and depresses prices and wages. Local companies go out of business and we are left with Walmart and a weakened local economy as profits flow out of town and Walmarts poor wages and benefits to not make up for the loss.

I would love to see a decline in big box stores in general and in Walmart in particular.

Good! Maybe we can see some people start buying at other locations. Wal-Mart here has driven business mostly towards the highway.. we just got a Lowe's recently. Of course, our Wal-Mart is across the highway from a shopping mall, which had already driven business towards the highway, as is typical in most cities.

WalMart sucks BTW... their prices aren't much different from other places, and their selection is limited.

I shop everywhere for deals, I give no favor to the chain it is coming from, when dealing with Walmart in particular - I just ensure to have an entry exit plan as the place is over crowded on a regular basis.

walmart must go, small businesses are dying in droves, never mind customers

Here we go again. I will always shop at Walmart, unless the way they do business drastically changes. Why?? Well, personally, my belief is, I get a quality product at a decent price. That is why I shop, where I shop. Money or no money...I will still be financially responsible. It just makes sense and I'm an adult, so I have decided to be responsible.

Good that Wal-Mart is in the hurt, should run the bastards right out of town. Wal-Mart does absolutly notheing for the local economy but crush small local business, and peddle nothing but chinese made garbage. Send them back to the U.S. where they can drown in their own crap.

RE: John Gaul

You really think local businesses pre-WM really paid their employees high wages? Not likely. And would you prefer high prices vs 'depressed' prices?

I agree with Lisa and John Gaul. Why would you choose to shop elsewhere now when you thought that Wal-Mart was a suitable supplier when you didn't have disposable income?

And, if anyone thinks that employees were getting rich on retail wages at local stores they must have arrived on the planet yesterday.

As part of my business, I am personally aquainted with many of our local retail owners (city of 80,000). They are not shy about telling me about their cottages and boats and trips and ad nauseum while I know the markup on their merchandise is obscene. I see their books.

Well I really dont support this Walmart saving you money. Everytime Ive shopped there and I go by a list its usually 10-20 dollars more than what I expected. I used to see that commercial with the person in shock looking at the receipt, yes they are in shock because they expected the total to be lower not as high as it truly is. I like going to my different stores and taking advantage of all the sales. I will not throw my support and hard working dollars for some American company that does not take car of its employees period. The same for the japanese auto maker Toyota, they are bold, and really quick to blame others. I honestly think we shoudl boycott Walmart and Toyota....

Walmart a good example of the decline of the North American Economy.Buying low cost goods from China & South East Asia at the expense of once good paying manufaturing jobs here in North America.
A simple case of Multi national companies shifting capital over labour at the expense of a once vibrant dynamic economy.We have been sold down the river and with it standards of living that was once the envy of the world a case of once was against what is.
If the mind set of people is" if I shop here i'm saving money" is the mantra of the day you are paying for what you get.Makes no difference how cheap goods are if you have not got a job or at best a low paying job with limited "disposable income" then it makes no difference how cheap it is.
You have been hood winked into this mind set.
Wake up my Fellow Americans.

As a Walmart Employee i can say yes we are not paid very much but as a small town resident i can tell you that i save money going to Walmart to shop. I understand that Walmart kills the small business or so people think, Small business kills small business they more times then not charge higher prices and if Walmart can find the product cheeper then so can they and charge accordingly. As for the retailer paying bad i agree but it also pays and that is more then i could say i would have if i did not work at Walmart. Also as a company Walmart donates millions of dollars each and every year to local and national charities and not just what customes donate but as a company it matches the donations. How many small business's do that??????

I live up in canada and Walmart here is busy at least where I live anyways. I used to work for Walmart as well. Its a great place to work but they pay CRAP its a multi billion company and they pay sales associates and cashiers SHIT. I can run my ass off wearing that red vest and they see how hard you work everyday and the minute you ask for a raise its a big fat NO but others walk in and get one just like that but I seem to forget I am not an ASS kisser. I busted my ass for 2 years and got no where fast plus I was boat rocker. I didnt like something I would say something. I do still shop there everyday or at least 4 times a week. They have good prices and when you have three kids its also good. So no matter what the economy is like I will probably still shop there.

Cheers
Janice

Not sorry to see Walmart having trouble. I don't like shopping there because they pressure their suppliers to supply at such low cost that all the suppliers can offer is cheap lousy low quality products.

I would rather pay a little more for quality - a point that seems lost on Walmart - price is only component to consider

I rarely shop at Walmart because the store is just a pain in the ___. From the gridlock in the parking lot to the lineups in the store. On top of all that half the time they don't have any of their advertised specials. Their prices aren't that great because you can find sales that are just as good in a lot of other stores. I find the store a very unpleasant shopping experience generally and so I go there only if absolutely necessary.

I hate Walmart and don't shop there. They should be pressured to source product from some place other than China, where Walmart gets rich benefiting from unpaid prison labour. An absolutely disgusting, explotive, immoral organization. And the quality stinks!

It is unfortunate that some of their merits of Walmart are overlooked. They provide a benchmark so that consumers can determine what is a fair price to pay for food, clothes, drugs, etc given mark ups we as end users are not aware of. Ultimately, the choice resides with the consumer if they want to spend their money at Walmart or some other establishment. Don't blame Walmart for the way they conduct business. I see it as it working to our advantage when the price of the same item at another store is 10% to 15% higher.

As a retail store owner, I can honestly say that I do pay my employees well and have more compassion for them then any big corporation could ever have. As for the Wal mart employee who says small businesses charge to much money is crap. You seem to forget that Walmarts buying power is far superior then that of a small business owner because they force manufacturers and suppliers to make and sell their products for next to nothing. Then you wonder why all our maufacturing is now in China and Pakiistan. And another point is that I do not have the same margins as those big box stores but I do try to keep my prices in line and give my customers the personal attention they deserve when shopping locally. I find when I have shopped at Walmart for just staples I get frustrated by the line ups and waiting forever in certain departments to find an associate. I do not find it a pleasant experience. So please keep in mind that the small business were what drove this country to begin with.

I'm not sure if Lisa is going to come back to these comments but I have children and am the shopper in my household. I used to think the same way as you. I just want to share an example that I read in a book about Walmart. For example. when I was young our lawn sprinkler was made of metal parts. You bought one and it last a "lifetime" almost as long as an appliance. Today, Walmart makes sprinklers with plastic parts. Do you know why? So we have to buy one every year!!! Not because they can't get metal parts but because they feel no one will notice. so instead of buying one sprinkle for $30 that lasts a number of years we now have to buy a sprinkler for $19.99 every year. That's just one example but multiply that by all the products they have and it's as close to brainwashing on a mass scale as you can get. I challenge you to look back even a year ago to things you bought at Walmart. Do you still have them? Probably not right? That's being responsible and so is refusing to buy things made in Asia. Every single cent we spend has power. Tons of it. The next time you are at a get together and someone mentions a great deal they got at Walmart. Just say "I never shop at Walmart." Just sit back and see how defensive people become. They usually say "I know I shouldn't shop there because....." you will have an entertaining time for sure.

I don't shop in WalMart because they are a typical ultra right wing conglomerate. Plus they peddle low quality goods and their stores are usually dirty. Canadians would do well to sendthat nasty Yank store home!

I haven't shopped at WalMart since the 90's and I've never looked back. I hope they crash and burn. I don't have to shop at WM to get deals, I certainly can't shop there if I want service. And they don't need my money.

And of course, I love Canada, WalMart is bad for Canada, so I will never go back.