Walmart

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

If Sam Walton were still alive today, he would've been disgusted with Wal-Mart's current practices, that he would've shut half of the stores in the United States down. He would also be disgusted by the fact that a lot of the goods being sold in his stores are made in China (Sam Walton always sold mostly American-made goods alongside some imports in his stores before Wal-Mart went corporate). Sam's business model has been ruined by modern-day corporate Wal-Mart.

[Chuck E. Cheese]

^

[TheFugitive]

Sam Walton was still alive when I was working in retail.

Trust me, there were PLENTY of Chinese goods in Walmart at that time.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Sam Walton was still alive when I was working in retail.

Trust me, there were PLENTY of Chinese goods in Walmart at that time.

Ok. 80-90% of the goods are made in China (The other 10-20% are made in other countries like the USA, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.). Sam Walton died in 1992, so you were working in retail that time.

[TheFugitive]

Sam Walton died in 1992, so you were working in retail that time.

Yup.  1985-1997.  Left cause my knees were getting bad, plus I was assigned to a Hills store
in a really bad part of town where, after firing so many thieving employees and busting so many
shoplifters, I had fears for my physical safety.

Walmart had no stores in my part of the country when I worked retail (Ohio, Michigan, Western PA).
It was widely rumored amongst longtime Ames managers that Ames and Walmart had a gentleman's
agreement to stay out of each other's way and then link-up into a single chain at some future date.
Reportedly Sam Walton became angry and nixed the deal when Ames acquired G.C. Murphy and did
not close their stores in Louisiana.

[danfifepsu]

DERBY CT ONE IS CLOSING JULY 29

[ynkeesfn82]

Yeah it's posted in the store closing section.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Don't believe the lies that anyone tells you about that bullcrap about Walmart turning their closed stores in to FEMA camps for martial law. That is just a bunch of supermarket tabloid hooey.

[danfifepsu]

why did Walmart close in thse small towns where there was no store for 25 miles: winnsboro SC, Raymondville TX and Kimball WV

[TheFugitive]

Don't believe the lies that anyone tells you about that bullcrap about Walmart turning their closed stores in to FEMA camps for martial law. That is just a bunch of supermarket tabloid hooey.

Besides, if you REALLY wanted to punish somebody you'd hold them in a closed Kmart store.   ;D

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

why did Walmart close in thse small towns where there was no store for 25 miles: winnsboro SC, Raymondville TX and Kimball WV

Overexpansion, maybe?

[danfifepsu]

why did Walmart close in thse small towns where there was no store for 25 miles: winnsboro SC, Raymondville TX and Kimball WV

Overexpansion, maybe?

but those towns have no store for 25 miles, how did Walmart not make it in those? walmart closing stores and opening, its like going on a diet.

[JimSawhill]

If Sam Walton were still alive today, he would've been disgusted with Wal-Mart's current practices, that he would've shut half of the stores in the United States down. He would also be disgusted by the fact that a lot of the goods being sold in his stores are made in China (Sam Walton always sold mostly American-made goods alongside some imports in his stores before Wal-Mart went corporate). Sam's business model has been ruined by modern-day corporate Wal-Mart.

Very true...When I worked for them, I went to Wallingford's store and they had on the entrance wall a listing of Wal-Marts Connecticut made products...with a picture of Sam saying American Made Products sold by an American owned Company. A few months later, they painted the wall...

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

If Sam Walton were still alive today, he would've been disgusted with Wal-Mart's current practices, that he would've shut half of the stores in the United States down. He would also be disgusted by the fact that a lot of the goods being sold in his stores are made in China (Sam Walton always sold mostly American-made goods alongside some imports in his stores before Wal-Mart went corporate). Sam's business model has been ruined by modern-day corporate Wal-Mart.

Very true...When I worked for them, I went to Wallingford's store and they had on the entrance wall a listing of Wal-Marts Connecticut made products...with a picture of Sam saying American Made Products sold by an American owned Company. A few months later, they painted the wall...

I guess Sam Walton must be rolling in his grave now...

[JSIDA17]

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

Why does it still have the pre-2009 Walmart logo on it? All the Walmart's I know of have the newer "sunburst" logo on them.

[Pikapower]

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

Why does it still have the pre-2009 Walmart logo on it? All the Walmart's I know of have the newer "sunburst" logo on them.

I don't know maybe Walmart had a surplus of the old signs.  ???

[JSIDA17]

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

Why does it still have the pre-2009 Walmart logo on it? All the Walmart's I know of have the newer "sunburst" logo on them.

I don't know maybe Walmart had a surplus of the old signs.  ???

I just read the article and looked at all the pictures, and my god, that looks like the inside of a 2005 Walmart instead of a 2014 one! I remember the Walmart in Putnam, CT before the Super Walmart conversion and it looked really close to this store in size and looks. It's really odd that this store was time warped for so long before it closed.

[Bdubs]

Groton CT still has the old logo on the building, and roadside sign is still the blue scheme with old logo. I thought this was odd as this store has been repainted with the new colors, but the sign has stayed unchanged. I know WalMart has been blocked from putting a Supercenter at this location because there is a Stop & Shop in the front of this. S&S has successfully blocked WalMart from expanding at this current location.

[danfifepsu]

Just as I thought:

http://realorsatire.com/empirenews-net/

That was fake, although the article did look convincing at first.

walmarts too big for that. and somehow bigger than Kmart was in Kmarts glory days, when then Walmart was a regional.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Walmart has been known to recover quickly.

[JSIDA17]

Pretty much extinct, as basically all the regular Walmart stores are indeed in the Super center format like Target.

[dmx10101]

Why Walmart is Bringing Back the Smiley Face
Posted: Jun 01, 2016 2:51 PM EST
Updated: Jun 01, 2016 2:51 PM EST
By Christie Green

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (CBS NEWS)- Walmart (WMT) is reviving its yellow smiley image to be the face of its low-price marketing.

The nation's largest retailer is emphasizing customer service and aiming to reinforce a price leadership claim that's been chipped away at by increased competition from online leader Amazon.com and other rivals. The smiley, dormant for ten years, has returned to some digital advertising and will be in TV ads and some store signs starting next week. From there it's likely to expand.

Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, announced the move Wednesday at a gathering of about of 2,600 mostly hourly U.S. workers that's tied to this week's annual shareholders meeting. The rally featured speeches from top executives about how to serve customers, including the importance of putting on a happy face.

"Put that smile on. People notice that," said "Family Feud" host Steve Harvey, who played the game with a few executives along with a cashier and driver. Workers also received "smiley" buttons to wear.

Nearly 70 percent of Walmart's customers still associate the smiley with saving at the stores, even though it has been largely absent for a decade, Chief Marketing Officer Tony Roger said on Walmart's blog.

The discounter initially gave out "Smiley" stickers to store shoppers in 1990, and the image later became the face of what the company calls "rollbacks" -- discounts for a set period on key items. The face was then incorporated into characters like Zorro and Robin Hood. But it virtually disappeared in 2006 as the company shifted its marketing focus.

It will be the face of Walmart's low-price marketing again as the company tries to increase sales at its namesake U.S. business. Walmart's U.S. discount division just reported its seventh straight gain for a key measure as its efforts on basics like cleaning up its stores and increasing customer service are helping business.

[TheFugitive]

More important than the smiley is the fact that Walmart is NOT necessarily the Lowest Price any longer.
I frequently find the same items for less elsewhere.

[TheFugitive]

Walmart has announced that they are eliminating a large number of invoicing jobs.
Essentially doing away with the in-store backoffice operation in a number of locations.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wal-mart-cutting-hundreds-accounting-221619629.html

Employees will be offered more "customer facing" jobs.
Not sure how that will work out.  In my experience many of the associates who were
working in the backoffice were assigned there specifically because their personalities
were not well-suited to dealing with customers.

[BillyGr]

Walmart has announced that they are eliminating a large number of invoicing jobs.
Essentially doing away with the in-store backoffice operation in a number of locations.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wal-mart-cutting-hundreds-accounting-221619629.html

Employees will be offered more "customer facing" jobs.
Not sure how that will work out.  In my experience many of the associates who were
working in the backoffice were assigned there specifically because their personalities
were not well-suited to dealing with customers.

Although if they are bad, it could be something like putting stuff on shelves where it helps the customer but doesn't require a lot of interaction with them.  That would get rid of some of the complaints about things being out of stock that seem to appear fairly often.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

I saw the Walmart smiley face commercial recently.

[scottw73]

DERBY CT ONE IS CLOSING JULY 29

Was in the Derby store tonight, not many deals (except for my $2.50 sneakers) not a lot left on the shelves. My theory is they will not reduce any more, they'll probably distribute the remaining inventory to other stores, the pharmacy is sending their scripts to Shelton. Sad indeed

[jamesway_95]

I saw the Walmart smiley face commercial recently.

I'd like to see the smiley face on in-store signage again.

[dmx10101]

I saw the Walmart smiley face commercial recently.

I'd like to see the smiley face on in-store signage again.

It already is on the in store signage at the walmarts I've been to recently.

[giantsfan2016]

Renovations have been completed in Bristol, Connecticut. Grand Reopening was today. Not sure when I can get pictures seeing that I don't have a car.