Walmart observations

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
storewanderer
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by storewanderer »

pseudo3d wrote: March 4th, 2020, 9:07 am Despite the fact that the local Walmart has pulled annoying things like receipt checks in the past, I walked out of my last Walmart run empty-handed because they have replaced Georgia Pacific printer paper and Avery plastic sleeves with their own house brand. I ended up finding the brand of plastic sleeves I wanted at H-E-B(!) but the printer paper was a real disappointment, used to be that Walmart reliably had GP, even when others (like Target) didn't.
I am noticing a lot more private label at Sam's Club, to the point where it is often the only choice, and in Wal Mart it seems to vary by category more but some categories are being literally overtaken by private label.

Given Wal Mart has switched to a 90% self checkout model it seems like somehow the receipt checking is to deter theft. Thing is they look at your receipt and scan the receipt and then sometimes the handheld tells them to scan one of your items (same program Sam's Club uses). I don't see how this addresses the risk of unscanned merchandise.

The process of checking a receipt for unbagged merchandise, I suppose potentially does.

I actually bought a huge yard tool there and put a bag around it despite the bag covering like 20% of the thing, just to walk out with it "bagged" last year and not wait in line to get out of the place.

The receipt check is basically a deterrent that some people seem to think is actually mandatory/serious. Some retailers now don't even provide receipts to every customer to save on paper and reduce litter. Just a matter of time before this process will no longer work.
arizonaguy
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by arizonaguy »

It appears Walmart is quietly announcing a round of store closures. So far I've seen news reports on the following stores.

Lumberton, NC (Neighborhood Market)
Wadesboro, NC
Ypsilanti, MI

All three are expected to close by April 3.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by buckguy »

The big picture with WM is that they have mostly been stagnating for almost 20 years. When people take away the food revenue, they literally have been stagnating. They had a good year last year and at the beginning of the recession, but the overall trend is a no growth situation and, in inflation corrected dollars, a decline and importantly a decline that is in the higher margin (non-food) end of the business. WM is doing things to increase revenue and are having some success online, although their higher margin online businesses aren't doing well and they are looking to sell them.

Wall Street, institutional investors and the Walton family probably want more revenue but it seems as though they can live with flat revenue if profits continue to rise. Cutting costs helps raise profits, but WM has always been relatively lean and there is only so much they can wring out of self-checkout, etc. Reducing shrink is probably a new front and if it means closing a few more stores, then they can live with the revenue consequences. The problem is that most shrink comes from employees and unless they have new surveillance measures there, that will remain a problem. It sounds as though they really don't have a consistent way to reduce it with customers and the deterrent value isn't that great. My guess is that anything WM does these days needs to be viewed in a prism of trying to get more profit out of a mature business. Their outsized role in retail has kept them from having the same problems Sears had once they became stagnated. OTOH, whereas Sears had helped build suppliers and often complemented other retail, WM strong-armed everyone, including communities and when they're fall comes, a lot of people will be applauding and at a certain point, WM will run out of options. Dollar stores have chipped away although the mergers suggest that the field has reached saturation. Retail in the US generally is overbuilt compared with other countries and WM no longer has the price advantages they once did---customers with choices (i,e., those in large metro areas ) have other options. It may be a long slow decline, but at some point WM will be seen as a problem company and investors will probably start forcing them to things more drastic. I'm surprised they haven't sold Sam's or their Japanese subsidiary. A
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by pseudo3d »

buckguy wrote: March 5th, 2020, 11:09 am The big picture with WM is that they have mostly been stagnating for almost 20 years. When people take away the food revenue, they literally have been stagnating. They had a good year last year and at the beginning of the recession, but the overall trend is a no growth situation and, in inflation corrected dollars, a decline and importantly a decline that is in the higher margin (non-food) end of the business. WM is doing things to increase revenue and are having some success online, although their higher margin online businesses aren't doing well and they are looking to sell them.

Wall Street, institutional investors and the Walton family probably want more revenue but it seems as though they can live with flat revenue if profits continue to rise. Cutting costs helps raise profits, but WM has always been relatively lean and there is only so much they can wring out of self-checkout, etc. Reducing shrink is probably a new front and if it means closing a few more stores, then they can live with the revenue consequences. The problem is that most shrink comes from employees and unless they have new surveillance measures there, that will remain a problem. It sounds as though they really don't have a consistent way to reduce it with customers and the deterrent value isn't that great. My guess is that anything WM does these days needs to be viewed in a prism of trying to get more profit out of a mature business. Their outsized role in retail has kept them from having the same problems Sears had once they became stagnated. OTOH, whereas Sears had helped build suppliers and often complemented other retail, WM strong-armed everyone, including communities and when they're fall comes, a lot of people will be applauding and at a certain point, WM will run out of options. Dollar stores have chipped away although the mergers suggest that the field has reached saturation. Retail in the US generally is overbuilt compared with other countries and WM no longer has the price advantages they once did---customers with choices (i,e., those in large metro areas ) have other options. It may be a long slow decline, but at some point WM will be seen as a problem company and investors will probably start forcing them to things more drastic. I'm surprised they haven't sold Sam's or their Japanese subsidiary. A
From what I remembered from reading things, Sears' real problems started when they ignored their retail stores to focus on non-retail ventures (insurance, credit cards, etc.) and their course-correction in the 1990s was right at the time of massive upheaval in the specialty store industry and rise of Walmart. If they had managed to buy Kmart back in the 1990s and actually run it as a retail store instead of going forward with a full-line department store that was perhaps too unique in its field (with hardware and heavy appliances long after competitors had focused on fashion).

I think that Walmart's two core problems are the weakening of its GM section (poor staffing, often out of stock, deteriorating choice) and the stagnating of the food section (designed after a largely obsolete grocery store model while supermarkets zoom ahead with expanded perishable departments and more responsive to consumer choices in center aisle).
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by cjd »

I stopped by Walmart today and noticed that starting this week the hours are being reduced from 6AM to 11PM instead of 24 hours. Assuming this has to do with the Coronavirus and is not a permanent change at just this location.

Winn-Dixie has made a similar companywide notice that all stores will close at 9PM, in order to "allow our associates the time they need to appropriately restock our stores, and ensure our stores are able to conduct additional sanitation procedures"

I imagine that business at night is so slow now that there's no reason to keep stores open, especially 24 hour ones like Walmart.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Super S »

cjd wrote: March 15th, 2020, 4:09 pm I stopped by Walmart today and noticed that starting this week the hours are being reduced from 6AM to 11PM instead of 24 hours. Assuming this has to do with the Coronavirus and is not a permanent change at just this location.

Winn-Dixie has made a similar companywide notice that all stores will close at 9PM, in order to "allow our associates the time they need to appropriately restock our stores, and ensure our stores are able to conduct additional sanitation procedures"

I imagine that business at night is so slow now that there's no reason to keep stores open, especially 24 hour ones like Walmart.
Most if not all Walmarts are doing this, with signs posting that it is temporary.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Alpha8472 »

I visited a Walmart today and the Walmart Optical Center was closed until further notice. This Walmart Optical is actually not owned by Walmart. It is operated by an independent company called National Vision that pays to use the Walmart Optical Name. Some Walmart Optical Centers are owned by Walmart and staffed by Walmart employees and about 200 are run by an outside company. There were rumors that Walmart has been trying to buy them back, but there is little progress in this pursuit. In fact, 5 Georgia Walmart Optical Centers will be given to National Vision to operate very soon. The agreement seems to indicate that Walmart does not want to run these Optical Centers and wants to pass more of them to the outside company. I have noticed that Walmart run Optical Centers are open longer hours, and the Optical Centers run by the outside company have shorter hours. In fact, some days the independent optical center does not even bother to open. As if they just decide to take a day off and no one shows up.

Walmart Optical Employees that are paid by Walmart wear white lab coats like doctors. The Optical Centers run by the outside company have employees that wear blue lab coats.

These closures are going to make people go elsewhere to get their glasses and contact lenses.

California has ordered salons, spas, and barbers to close. You cannot even get a haircut now. This means that the salons, nail spas, and barbers inside of Walmart are closed as well. Walmart is going to lose customer traffic with all of these closures.
Last edited by Alpha8472 on March 18th, 2020, 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
TW-Upstate NY
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

Alpha8472 wrote: March 18th, 2020, 6:16 am Walmart is going to lose customer traffic with all of these closures.
At least in my area, I really can't see that happening right away. I was out and about earlier and the local Walmart was the ONLY place you could buy certain items. As long as their stock and supply of essential items holds up, I doubt you'll see them hurting for business anytime soon. Of course, shelter-in-place would be a gamechanger but right now-not really. And as far as the atmosphere in that location this morning, it actually looked just like a normal weekday-no craziness, customers and employees going about their usual routines. Toilet paper was in very good supply with multiple brands available with an emphasis on Scott. Unlike the other day, they have imposed a limit of three packs per customer but that's OK because everybody at least has a chance to get some. They were the only game in town when it came to bathroom tissue-nobody else had anything. About the only thing they lacked were the usual suspects: hand sanitizer was totally out of stock and hand soap was pretty thin too. They also had a decent supply of disposable gloves. Surprisingly, the grocer in the same center (a Price Chopper) had a much greater supply of Dial products. And even that store seemed much more subdued today as well. Don't know if people have had enough of buying and are good to go for a while or (and this is the more likely explanation) they're just out of money and will only buy the essentials on an as needed basis..
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Alpha8472 »

I spoke before I thought. Walmart is probably the main place to go now. Safeway cannot keep anything in stock and all of the supermarkets in the area are closing early.

There are many people who not at work and could be out of jobs very soon. We could see massive rises in unemployment up to 20 percent. People will flock to Walmart and dollar stores as they try to stretch their dollars. Previously, restaurants had trouble hiring enough employees. Now restaurants are getting rid of employees and are in danger of closing down. The economy is no longer booming, and people may never regain confidence to flock to restaurants, malls, hotels, or take airplanes.

Walmart has announced that will temporarily close all auto centers. Auto Center workers will focus on restocking and cleaning the stores. In my opinion, Walmart needs more janitors. The stores need cleaning asap.

All Walmart stores will shift to 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. except for stores that already have a late opening time.

Tuesdays will host a Senior Shopping hour 1 hour before the store opens. Pharmacies and Walmart owned vision centers will be open during the event. The independent vision centers are not included.

Walmart is placing limits on the purchases of some items including paper products, eggs, milk, cleaning supplies, diapers, baby food, and formula.
Last edited by Alpha8472 on March 18th, 2020, 11:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
storewanderer
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by storewanderer »

There are a lot of problems I have seen in stores late at night the past week (which feels like a year with all that has gone on) as pallets are pulled to the sales floor for restocking. People come at 9 PM and clear large quantities of goods on the pallets and quickly leave the store via self checkout.

Closing at 8:30 PM will hopefully ensure the stores at least get restocked properly for the next morning.

The Wal Mart near me has very empty grocery shelves and has not recovered well from the weekend. They had a little more in there last night than they had on Monday night but it was still pretty rough. I am talking like 80+% of grocery out of stock.

Personally I am disappointed by these early closures because part of my strategy in this mess was to go out to stores when it was late in hopes it would not be as busy and expose myself to fewer people. But I think the stores are making the right decision to reduce their hours to try to better recover their sales floors from this mess. These stores cannot continue in this manner with so many empty shelves, out of stocks, and chaotic customers. Cutting the hours, hopefully, will enable them to recover their in-stock situation. I also suspect the store employees are stretched to the max and enabling more of them to work when customers are not in the store will help them work more quickly and also cut down their exposure to this virus.
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