[lbo-talk] end of the Wal-Mart era?

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Wed Oct 3 07:50:19 PDT 2007


Carl Remick wrote:
> On 10/3/07, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
>> Wall Street Journal - October 3, 2007
>>
>> ... the value loop is beginning to unravel. For 10 years through
>> 2005, Wal-Mart's sales gains at stores open at least a year averaged
>> 5.2%. So far this year, its comparable-store sales, a measure of
>> market share, is up just 1.3%. The pricing gap between Wal-Mart and
>> rivals has narrowed, and more customers are now choosing convenience
>> over wading through a supercenter.
>>
>> That compares with comparable-store gains of 4.6% at Target, which
>> markets itself as a trend-setting discounter, and 6% at membership-
>> club rival Costco Wholesale Corp., which peddles $500 Bordeaux wines
>> and $4,000 Cartier watches.
>>
>
> Mirabile dictu, now we've gone from Wal-Mart's downscale dreariness to
> a nascent new business model: Costco's upscale meretriciousness. I
> see consumers going still further into hock to buy pretentious crap
> they don't need. Ah, bliss is it in this dawn to be alive!
>
> Carl
>
>
My wife's had a Costco membership for some time, and I can report from trudging up and down the aisles there that the above is a misrepresentation of the typical stuff people buy at the store. At the Costco in Portland, I've never seen a $500 bottle of wine. On the other hand, I have seen 36 roll packages of toilet paper, 12 lb blocks of cheese, and 2 gallon bottles of ketchup. Buy in quantity, baby!

Miles



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