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If there is no noxious gas, canaries can sing a long time...
WalMart had a failed experiment in a new shopping model--they tried to eat up even MORE retail than they normally do and yes--likely the economy has lot of options for spending money--some people didn't want to spend at WalMart--
They screwed up---
They don't care---it comes off their tax side and people who know how to price the stock will know why it will actually IMPROVE their bottom line vs mean a death by thousand cuts
Employees who are considered "good workers" will be offered work at another store--
Employees who weren't will be let go...
Simple as that...
WalMart is very good at cutting its losses...
Starbucks wants to implement MAJOR expansion in China--where supposedly the bottom is falling out--
Do you think that will make people less or more likely to buy Starbucks' stock???
I am not sure what world you are living in, but retail in general is sucking wind. Inventory to sales ratio is now higher than at any point other than 2000 and 2008 recessions. The Baltic Dry index is at historic lows and an article the other day indicated that nearly every cargo ship in the world was sitting in port.
If you are so confident in the economy by all means use lots of margin and go all in. Put your money where your mouth is.
They need to focus on keeping the shelves stocked at the stores.
I stopped grocery shopping at Wal-mart because they ALWAYS had stock out's of items I wanted. If you can't keep the shelves stocked why would I waste my time shopping there? I now shop at Kroger's grocery store and only occasionally go to Wal-mart. They lost me as a customer.
You have to have employees to stock shelves. Shelves don't get stocked on their own. There was a time when grocery stockers made good money in grocery stores to work overnight stocking. Wal-mart dumbed down grocery work to a whole new level. Who wants to go to work overnight stocking groceries for minimum wage that does not even put a roof over your head and no benefits when you can do better making babies and getting on government benefits. I'm not being ugly, I am speaking the truth.
Want good stores with fully stocked shelves? Pay employees enough to actually care about going to work, and maybe that will happen. My mother used to work for a union wage grocery store in the D.C. area. If you worked hard and did a good job, you were rewarded with a decent wage and excellent benefits. Employees felt good about working there because it was reflected in their quality of life, and the store was pristine. They got rid of the union, dumbed down the wages and the benefits, and the store is no where near the quality that it used to be. Human nature cannot be ignored. Something corporate America has completely forgotten.
If it were cheaper on Amazon using my Amazon Prime subscription, I'd never set foot in a Walmart again. I only buy branded consumables there. That includes:
Gillette razor blades
Edge orange top shaving cream
Lever 2000 bar soap
Head & Shoulders shampoo
Tom's of Maine unscented deodorant
Colgate tooth paste
Brush heads for my electric toothbrush (toothbrush bought on Amazon)
Clorox toilet bowl cleaner
Scott toilet paper
3M sponges with the green abrasive pad on one side
Tidy Cat clumping formula cat litter
Pounce moist cat treats
One-A-Day Men's gummy vitamins
500 mg chewable vitamin C
81 mg baby aspirin
30-packs of 12-hour Claratin-D where I have to sign the "I am not a crystal meth lab" paperwork
Ajax lemon dishwashing liquid
Finish Quantum Max Power Ball dishwasher tabs
Paper towel 8-packs or 12-packs
Paper napkins
Tide HE laundry detergent
Clorox bleach
Oxy-whatever spray-on stain remover
Haynes/Fruit of the Loop/BVD mens underwear
Orion Flares for my boat flare gun and hand flares when the old ones expire
Bayer 3-in-1 Rose fertilizer
Prestone calcium chloride ice melt
Other than baby aspirin and vitamin C, I am buying national brand stuff from Proctor & Gamble, Unilever, and the other giants that I can buy in any store. Walmart is cheaper than buying at Amazon and cheaper than any other store available to me.
I don't buy food there. Other than underwear, I don't buy clothing there. I don't buy housewares there. I don't buy consumer electronics there. I don't buy pet food there. I'm a more upmarket consumer. I still make a Walmart run every month or two to replace all those consumables.
Walmart really cheaper than Amazon for those?
Eh anyway categories of things I buy simply arent' available in walmart. I have noticed they have less and less brand-name stuff. Or good American made stuff (American made often IS better quality for household goods even if it is pricier up front but it lasts longer). Anyway... Sure I shop at Walmart once every year or so. But usually I notice it's full of Chinese junk for prices higher than a brand name on Amazon. Amazon is going to win against Walmart in the long run. Walmart was too late to the online game. I bet Amazon will buy a small footprint retailer like CVS, and make them into distro points. Not now, but in like 10 years.
Yeah but how are companies going to pay to repair robots when enough use them to replace employees? It's all fine and good to automate where need be but once it hits the unbalance that we see companies lose money though aggregate job lose due to automation, it's gonna be a problem.
Yeah but how are companies going to pay to repair robots when enough use them to replace employees? It's all fine and good to automate where need be but once it hits the unbalance that we see companies lose money though aggregate job lose due to automation, it's gonna be a problem.
They don't have to. Smart corps buy p/m contracts for automation; get a loaner while theirs is being fixed, and then get their fixed one back.
That is cool but not even close to being able to stock shelves by itself. It was only stacking small items can it pick up bigger items? It had to be controlled by a person so it did not really eliminate a person working. In order for this work at store it has to be able to stock anything, be able to know where to put it, to know how to do stock rotation so the older products get used first. Also I am not sure people are gonna like having robots cluttering aisles especially since they can not ask the robot were a product is.
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It's all fine and good to automate where need be but once it hits the unbalance that we see companies lose money though aggregate job lose due to automation, it's gonna be a problem.
