Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Wal-Mart's Profits Drop

Wal-Mart's quarterly profit dropped 26%. There may be lots of reasons; gas prices, remodeling stores, trying to sell upscale products, loss of customers. But mainly, because they couldn't compete in Germany and had to sell out to Metro AG at an $863 million loss. Why don't Germans and Koreans love Wal-Mart? Is it because Wal-Mart is not good at adapting?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Overall, it is my understanding that Wal-Mart has NOT done well outside of the U.S. They have been taking their way of doing busines and ASSUMING it would work everywhere else. Obviously, they were wrong. Just because it works here doesn't mean it will work every where else.
Wal-Mart doesn't know how to adapt. They only have 1 way of doing business, 1 size for their stores, 1 way to treat their employees, 1 way of getting into communities, etc. Wal-Mart has done business the same way time after time since 1962 when the first one opened for business. Am I surprised that they FAILED IN GERMANY? No.
Wal-Mart couldn't even ADAPT TO OUR LITTLE COMMUNITY! They could have build something smaller, and downtown. But they couldn't ADAPT AT ALL TO EVEN CONSIDER THAT OPTION. Are they gone from the Tri-Lakes? Maybe. They're sneaky enough to make another try and I wouldn't put it past them. As far as I'm concerned the fight is far from over.

Anonymous said...

I agree.

WM supporters need to think about how THEY have just been treated by this company. WM never cared about them EVER. They were made to do all kinds of leg work on WM's behalf, they attended exclusive meetings, they were given signs, asked to write letters and make phonecalls, they were encouraged 100 percent. One month later, Wal-Mart QUIT. They could EASILY afford to adapt to the needs of Saranac Lake, but that would cut too far into their monstrous profit margin. They realize that in fact they don't have the support to put in the kind of store they want, so they're quitting. The population CAN NOT sustain a store of that size and that's why other big boxes will not come here. The other companies already knew that. So does our DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED (by a landslide) Village Board!

Anonymous said...

Pay close attention to the above 2 words: Wal-Mart QUIT. That's exactly what they'll do if they ever come in here - drive everyone else under and then QUIT Saranac Lake - then EVERYONE will have to drive to Plattsburgh for EVERYTHING and we'll be left with NOTHING but a big empty Wal-Mart building - what a legacy that will be!