Walmart

[Hudsons81]

It's supposed to improve employee morale: many chains use a satellite system for their music, meaning the songs are shuffled, Walmart apparently still uses CDs, which means they hear the same songs over and over in a 4 hour loop, in the exact same order.  It's not specifically Celine Dion that's the problem, it's the repetition that gets on employees' nerves.

The world's largest retailer-still using CDs in 2015??!

[retailisking]

I remember years ago Walmart in-store music came via satellite and they had live DJs and even played requests for workers at individual stores. In more recent years, at 24-hour stores overnight stockers would blast boomboxes in place of the nonexistent satellite-fed music.

[TheFugitive]

ahhh....I totally get that.  It's why I have an aversion to Christmas music to this day.
Too many 80+ hour weeks where I had to endure the same loop of Christmas tunes
over and over and over and over....

[Caldor1999]

I don't get why they play music in stores? I find it annoying and hard to drown out. It was worse when i use to work retail and having to hear the same annoying songs over and over and over and over again.

[ynkeesfn82]

This was Walmart's first location in New Britain, Connecticut. It was at 436 Slater Road. It was 112,000 Square Feet and was there 1997-2002 which is when they moved into the 84,000 Square Foot former Caldor on Farmington Ave. Webster Bank bought the building in 2003 and operates some corporate offices there. The building built in 1990 was home to a Price Club then a warehouse for Nestles. Then it became Walmart. Until the 1980s there was a shopping center there called Stanley Plaza which had Bradlee's, Shoprite, and several other stores.



Photo courtesy: Vision Government Solutions. P.S. VGSI has the address as 490 Slater Road.

[JimSawhill]

Did some of Walmarts in Connecticut cut back their hours, because of issues of dirty stores?

[ynkeesfn82]

The Walmart Neighborhood Market on the corner of Farminngton Ave and Oakland Street in Bristol, CT cut their hours. Previously a 24 hour store as of September 26th they're hours are 6AM-Midnight.

[JimSawhill]

The Walmart Neighborhood Market on the corner of Farminngton Ave and Oakland Street in Bristol, CT cut their hours. Previously a 24 hour store as of September 26th they're hours are 6AM-Midnight.

WoW...the grocery stores here are still 24/7, just wondering about the regular Wal-Mart.

[ynkeesfn82]

The Southington, CT Walmart is now using the former Subway space for Halloween Candy. Several shelves of it are in there. Along with 2 coolers filled with Soda and Juice. The back area of the "kitchen" is covered with a curtain.

[retailisking]

Did some of Walmarts in Connecticut cut back their hours, because of issues of dirty stores?

You have to do a certain amount of business to cover your costs for 24/7 operation. For example, in 2009 a certain McDonald's franchisee in Michigan calculated that he had to do $100 per hour at the drive-thru just to break even. He ended up doing only $15-$20 per hour, so he gave up. Now imagine how much volume a supermarket or discount store would have to do to justify staying open around the clock.

[BillyGr]

Did some of Walmarts in Connecticut cut back their hours, because of issues of dirty stores?

You have to do a certain amount of business to cover your costs for 24/7 operation. For example, in 2009 a certain McDonald's franchisee in Michigan calculated that he had to do $100 per hour at the drive-thru just to break even. He ended up doing only $15-$20 per hour, so he gave up. Now imagine how much volume a supermarket or discount store would have to do to justify staying open around the clock.

The only possible difference with a store (rather than a restaurant like McDonalds) is that if they have people in the store overnights doing other work, like stocking and cleaning, there may not be a huge additional cost to being open.

For example, in this area, the Hannaford stores (or at least many) used to be open 24 hours.  They didn't, however, have a dedicated cashier, just that someone would come up and check you out when they saw someone.  So that person would be paid anyway to stock or clean or whatever if they weren't open to customers.

[retailisking]

Hannaford stores (or at least many) used to be open 24 hours.  They didn't, however, have a dedicated cashier, just that someone would come up and check you out when they saw someone.  So that person would be paid anyway to stock or clean or whatever if they weren't open to customers.

I imagine increased shrinkage would be an issue without a dedicated cashier.

[Zayre88]

What's going on with Walmart?  Discuss!

-------------

Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s stock just had its biggest crash in 25 years after investors warned on profit 

http://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/wal-mart-stores-incs-stock-just-had-its-biggest-crash-in-15-years-after-investors-warned-on-profit

The four members of the Walton family controlling more than half the shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had $11 billion of their combined net worth evaporate Wednesday as shares of the retailer plunged on a lower earnings outlook for the coming fiscal year.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-14/wal-mart-heirs-see-9-billion-vanish-in-a-day-as-shares-plummet

[Hudsons81]

Could this mean Walmart could soon-do what they've never done before-announce that they are closing a triple-digit amount of stores?

[BillyGr]

The biggest problem is that everyone seems to think that every company will grow constantly.  Since the overall inflation is tiny (small enough to not trigger any rise in Social Security payments this year), if any company maintains it current level of profits that should be fine but then those who invest seem to jump off thinking it's something bad.

[TheFugitive]

The biggest problem is that everyone seems to think that every company will grow constantly.  Since the overall inflation is tiny (small enough to not trigger any rise in Social Security payments this year), if any company maintains it current level of profits that should be fine but then those who invest seem to jump off thinking it's something bad.

Wow! You have nailed one of the MAJOR frustrations I had with corporate management throughout
all of my years in retail.

Namely that whoever did our sales projections was smoking crack.

They would plan double-digit increases for stores that were humming along at full throttle
where literally you did not have the shelf space to get one more piece of merchandise out the door.
They honestly thought that the sales graph would keep going up.....and up....and UP....forever.

I knew a store manager who got canned for not achieving a double-digit increase (he was +9.5%
in a building that was busting at the seams)

You'd try to explain to them the mathematical theorem that "all curves level out eventually".
They'd look at you like you were speaking Greek.  And then scowl at you like you were some
sort of Communist.

[ynkeesfn82]

What's going on with Walmart?  Discuss!

-------------

Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s stock just had its biggest crash in 25 years after investors warned on profit 

http://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/wal-mart-stores-incs-stock-just-had-its-biggest-crash-in-15-years-after-investors-warned-on-profit

The four members of the Walton family controlling more than half the shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had $11 billion of their combined net worth evaporate Wednesday as shares of the retailer plunged on a lower earnings outlook for the coming fiscal year.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-14/wal-mart-heirs-see-9-billion-vanish-in-a-day-as-shares-plummet

This is weird. Wednesday Morning their CEO was on CNBC talking about how things were going so well, sales are up, etc. Then later that day they reduce their sales forecast and their stock crashed. Then again what's stock didn't crash on Wednesday?

[Hudsons81]

So, if they announce a major round of store closures soon as a result of this, which ones do you think will probably close? I sure can't think of any around here...

[ynkeesfn82]

Maybe the two Neighborhood Markets in Connecticut. They're struggling still more than 2 years after they opened.

[AmesNewington]

So, if they announce a major round of store closures soon as a result of this, which ones do you think will probably close? I sure can't think of any around here...

I can see Walmart not opening any new stores. I'm not sure they would close any in Connecticut. The Neighborhood Markets maybe, but I'm not even sure about that. Does anyone know if the second Manchester store planned is going to happen?

[Zayre88]

I don't expect store closures, but they need to fix things up.

I still see several smaller, older Walmart store that are cramped, packed and way too small, they need to be expanded or relocated.

Many other stores are a mess, unkept, with empty shelves, merchandise is scattered and no attention to have it fully stocked and properly displayed.

And at any store lines at the registers feel way too long.

Not always a good shopping experience.

[ynkeesfn82]

Does anyone know if the second Manchester store planned is going to happen?

The city approved it, but Waverly Markets (Shoprite) is suing Walmart and the City of Manchester.

[ynkeesfn82]

In Southington, CT they lease their store in Walmart Plaza. It's around 96,000 square feet. They bought Caldor's lease after they closed in 1999 and after over $1 million in renovations they opened on April 19, 2000. They did a major remodel in 2009. Back in 1996 they were pursuing a store on Meriden-Waterbury Road in the Milldale section of town. They got the approval from the town, they got approval from the state (MW Road is a state road), they were welcome with open arms and then Walmart backed out. In 2006 Home Depot opened a second store on the MW Road site where Walmart wanted to build). Would they close this location when their lease expires? Who really knows?

In Bristol, CT they own their main store on Farmington Ave. It is around 122,000 square feet and opened in 2001. There was a lot of opposition to this store and it was fought in courts many times If this location hadn't been going through the courts they would've pursued Caldor's lease which KMART got ultimately. (Ironically in 2013 a Walmart Neighborhood Market opened in the old Shaw's adjacent to the old Caldor). If they had bought Caldor's lease they would've ended up with a much smaller store only around 86,000 Square feet. In 2013 Walmart purchased land adjacent their main store in hopes of building an addition onto their store, but they city wouldn't allow this. Much like the wouldn't allow them to build a larger store in first place. In 2006 they did a minor remodel. As of October 2015 they haven't done any further remodeling. The building still has a blue front and sports the old Walmart logo. Would the close this location? I seriously doubt it. It's  the only department store in Bristol aside from TJMAXX.

[ynkeesfn82]

Does anyone know if the second Manchester store planned is going to happen?

They officially bought the property for $9 million.

http://www.courant.com/community/manchester/hc-manchester-walmart-1107-20151106-story.html

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Yes, this is a Walmart operating out of a 1960s-era Kmart store in Huntsville, Alabama.

More pictures and story here:
http://www.deadanddyingretail.com/2014/10/the-story-of-wal-mart-inside-kmart-in.html

[HannafordHearts]

I'm surprised nobody brought this up yet, but Walmart just came out with a brand new decor package a couple of months ago. Yup, after six long years of Project Impact, Walmart decided it was time for something new. It debuted at a store in Rogers, AR in October, and the five stores that closed for plumbing problems back in April also reopened with the new decor.

You can see some of it in the video shown here: http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-east-hillsborough/brandon-walmart-ready-to-re-open-friday-november-13-at-8-am

I personally think it's very interesting. It almost looks like the second coming of the 2004 "black" decor with the symbols for each department, mixed with the "pole" signs from the 2006 decor. Quite a change from six years of Project Impact, but I'm not complaining, considering the 2004 decor was my favorite. I wonder if it was intentional to make this new decor similar in style.

I also can't tell if the walls are white or not in that video, but if they are, then that's my only complaint. I wish they had gone with brown walls like in 2006, or went with a different color. The white walls are too bland to me.

[ynkeesfn82]

The Bristol, Connecticut Walmart needs to be remodeled. They were supposed to convert it to a Super Center in 2014, but didn't. Then they were supposed to build an addition onto the store, but the city of Bristol wouldn't allow it. The store still features the old Walmart logo on the building.

[TheFugitive]

Walmart has announced the closings of 269 stores.   154 in the U.S.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/15/wal-mart-to-close-269-stores-as-it-retools-fleet.html

[ynkeesfn82]

I saw this too and it said a lot of the stores closing in the US were Walmart Express stores. What's a Walmart Express Store?  ??? I did two tours of duty with that company and never heard of it.

[Hudsons81]

I saw this too and it said a lot of the stores closing in the US were Walmart Express stores. What's a Walmart Express Store?  ??? I did two tours of duty with that company and never heard of it.

I believe there's one somewhere near downtown Chicago.