NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2007
Is The Internet Killing Wal-Mart?
The Skinny: Big-Box Behemoth Losing Power As Consumers Shop Online, And Elsewhere
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Wal-Mart's overwhelming business and social influence in America is drawing to a close, the Wall Street Journal reports. (AP)
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Wal-Mart changed America, the Wall Street Journal reminds us this morning in its obituary for the retailer's "overwhelming business and social influence." But now America - and the world -- is changing too fast for Wal-Mart to keep up.
The price-slashing, union-busting behemoth has been having a rough go of things lately. For 10 years through 2005, Wal-Mart's sales gains at stores open at least a year averaged 5.2 percent. So far this year, its comparable-store sales are up just 1.3 percent. The pricing gap between Wal-Mart and it's competitors has narrowed, and more customers are now choosing convenience over wading through a supercenter.
The result is Wal-Mart's competitors are kicking its supersized backside: Target's comparable-store gains so far this year are 4.6 percent, while Costco's were 6 percent. And let's not even talk about the retailers bombed experiments in Germany and South Korea, both called off after failure last year.
Part of the change is competitor wiliness. Part is shifting tastes of increasingly affluent American consumers away from bargain-basement big-box toward greater convenience, more selection, higher quality or better service. ("For the first time in a long time, quality has a chance to gain on price," said one industry analyst.)
And part of it, apparently, is the Internet. Wal-Mart's loss of clout "is a reflection of a more fragmented world," the Journal reports. "Big-box stores thrived by selling recognizable national brands, which themselves were fed by two phenomena: the growth of mass media and freeways, which encouraged large stores in remote areas. Stores and brands together achieved scale efficiencies that allowed them to overwhelm local chain stores and regional brands."
"But the Internet is transforming the retail definition of scale. The once-stunning compilation of 142,000 items found in a Wal-Mart supercenter doesn't seem so vast alongside the millions of products available on the Internet. At the same time, the cost of creating and sustaining a national brand is rising because of media fragmentation."
Niche brands, promoted through Internet world-of-mouth, are stealing market share. One result is that "retail giant hold less sway over their customers - and their suppliers."
A case in point: Wal-Mart brought the barcode into our lives in 1984, when it demanded that all its suppliers have them as a way to help the store check people out more efficiently. But when the retailer jumped into the next big logistics technology, radio-frequency identification, in 2003, suppliers balked. Too expensive, they said. Sorry. We used to be scared of you, but we're just not that scared anymore.
Pakistani Army Losing To Al-Qaeda And Taliban
While Pakistanis picket about who's going to be president for the next five years, dark things are happening in the wilds of Waziristan.
Pakistan's government is losing its war against emboldened insurgent forces, giving al-Qaeda and the Taliban more territory in which to operate and allowing the groups to plot increasingly ambitious attacks, the Washington Post reports.
The radical Islamic fighters who were kicked out of Afghanistan by the 2001 U.S.-led invasion have intensified their campaign in Pakistan's tribal areas, now affecting major cities.
"Military officials say the insurgents have enhanced their ability to threaten not only Pakistan but the United States and Europe as well," the Post reports.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's military is considering pulling back from the fight in the face of mounting losses, officials say. They're not trained in counterinsurgency, they whine. The government is busy with "problems of legitimacy," the offer as an excuse.
They're also kind of embarrassed, the Post reports, ever since insurgents captured a convoy of 250 Pakistani soldiers a month ago without firing a shot. The soldiers, members of the sixth largest military in the world and recipients of $10 billion in U.S. military aid in recent years, are still in Taliban hands a month after they were taken hostage.
"In Waziristan, people are laughing at the army," said one tribal elder. "I really feel pity for those soldiers."
Anti-Smoking Police Kick Down Doors, Enter Apartments
We all knew this day would come. And, really, if we had to think about it, we probably also knew it would come first to California.
Smoking bans finally are inviting themselves into private homes this month, as lawmakers in two California cities are casting votes on unprecedented legislation that would let landlords and residents associations ban smoking inside apartments and condos,
Today in Calbasas, the City Council plans to vote on expanding its anti-smoking law to bar renters from lighting up inside existing apartments. And next Tuesday, the City Council of Belmont is scheduled to cast a final vote on a similar measure.
Tens of thousands of apartments and condos have gone smoke-free in the past five years, management companies and health activists say. But legislating the bans is new.
Critics say the bans violate civil and property rights. The Belmont ban, in particular, has triggered outrage over the idea that a tenant could be evicted for lighting up. But few doubt that other cities will soon follow in its footsteps.
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- erasmus6: Its not really that bad. It becomes more of a pain in the butt when it happens everyday though. Warm and humid now in NY not really now. We did have some VERY hot humid days this year where if you went outside you wanted to die. Yes they were bad. If memory serves me had a day near a hundred with something like a 80% humidity. That was a real beauty. It hit the farmers bad. Cucumbers would cook on the vines. Grapes and apples did really well. Tomatoes requided alot of water so their flavor was down and they dont keep very well this year. Corn was good. As I walked the public market last week seems everything came all at once. I should not be able to but a honercrisp apple yet but the came early and are there. Squash is good to. Small but good. Acorn, butternut. and butter cup did really well. Ask me how I know cutting one in half cleaning out the seeds and filling it with pork sausage and some maple surup made in canada. Lew
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- lewiston14
Eastern Canada would probably be the same as New York. It gets very cold there. I live on the south coast of British Columbia. We don''t get a lot of snow here which is too bad because I love the snow. Of course if we started getting a lot I might think differently and if we had temperatures of -40 it would probably kill me. Most people here start whining if the snow lasts more than 2 days.
I thought I heard that it has been quite warm and humid in New York the past few days, is that true? - Reply to this comment
- "...lets chalk this up to a misunderstanding, ok?" posted by slim1h2o
OK.
And thanks for the HUGS.:) - Reply to this comment
- Did you ever visit Canada in the fall? It looks a lot like New York. More Colors then you can think of. It''s not that cold up there unless you%u2019re hanging around the North Pole. Even there it%u2019s not the bad and crab legs don%u2019t cost much either. I have been in -40 here in NY where you needed a hair dryer to warm up the carb on your snow mobile where it would run. It was not that bad actually the air was so clean you loved every minute of it. And think just how good a hot stew tasted after a long travel. Yes we did the old forge to Tupper Lake run after 20" of snow fell. We saw dear stuck in the snow. I got a wet foot 20 minutes into the ride. Was I going to turn back not in a million? We kept our north track into Canada and met up with a good friend a guide in those mountains. Something you only do once in a life time. Igloos I would love one in the very north places. Guess I would have to be with a Canada girl for a year to learn how to survive. You have to look forward to the unknown to know what you really have or want
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- What the world needs is more hugs and less hate or missunstanding. (so my spelling sucks) Thanks! Lew
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- erasmus6 ,...Hugs to you:)
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- Posted by erasmus6 at 05:04 PM : Oct 04, 2007
Well,... I do know something about Canada, ANYWAYS, lets chalk this up to a misunderstanding, ok?
This world does''nt need more people NOT talking to each other, ya know? - Reply to this comment
- slim1h2o
"Understand now?"
No, actually I don''t.
There are a lot of Americans that no absolutely nothing about Canada. I have talked to several people that thought that we actually lived in igloos. I did not think that YOU thought that we lived in igloos, I was just joking. But I did think that maybe you thought that ALL of Canada was very cold and I was just telling you that not everywhere in Canada is very cold. There are places like where I live that aren''t even close to being as cold as New York.
I''m afraid I just don''t see what you are getting at. I do not see anything wrong in what I said. - Reply to this comment
- Oh and BTW erasmus6, wording is everything when using the keyboard, but you''re right, emotions are hard to convey thru this thing. Maybe you need to work on that, and sometimes me as well.
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- lewiston14 is right. There are many times that I have read something where I wasn''''t sure how someone meant something. I usually ask them what they meant before I go jumping to conclusions or I give them the benefit of the doubt. I for the life of me can not figure out what YOUR problem is though. But I can assure you I will not bother to share my thoughts with you again. I realize with you, that only your thoughts are what count.
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Posted by erasmus6 at 04:35 PM : Oct 04, 2007
Au Contraire, some times, sarcasm can be funny, or can be hateful. I''m not sure what your meaning was, but, when I said that Canada was too cold for me. Well you said "We dont live in Igloos up here. Esp. when I said that NY was too cold for me, and I know that we do not live in Igloos. Understand now? - Reply to this comment
- "Your post is dripping with sarcasm, and thats what i''''m talking about." posted by slim1h2o
Yes, it was, but my others were not. Did you not expect sarcasm when you are accusing me of saying something and not even telling me what that something is that offended you? In my other posts I was trying to have a friendly sharing of information with you, obviously that isn''t possible.
"...it is so hard to express ones self over a keyboard. In the real world voice tone and body language really show what is on your mind." posted by lewiston14
lewiston14 is right. There are many times that I have read something where I wasn''t sure how someone meant something. I usually ask them what they meant before I go jumping to conclusions or I give them the benefit of the doubt. I for the life of me can not figure out what YOUR problem is though. But I can assure you I will not bother to share my thoughts with you again. I realize with you, that only your thoughts are what count. - Reply to this comment
- Actually I''''m thinkin'''' that maybe you are a lot like ToolMangler, even if there is nothing there to b-i-t-ch about, you will dream something up.
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Posted by erasmus6 at 11:44 AM : Oct 04, 2007
Your post is dripping with sarcasm, and thats what i''m talking about. Talk to you later. - Reply to this comment
- Stop it right now. Nobody can win over a keyboard. The best thing we can hope for is that CBS just does not trash the thread then we all loose
- Reply to this comment
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- slim1h2o
Actually I''m thinkin'' that maybe you are a lot like ToolMangler, even if there is nothing there to b-i-t-ch about, you will dream something up. - Reply to this comment
- "Go back and reread my posts, then reread your posts" posted by slim1h2o
I have, but I obviously am not seeing what you are seeing. - Reply to this comment
- Nothing wrong with being rich. Wish was there but im not. Im just a regular person. There are a few Wal-Marts around here. Been in one maybe twice. Did not see any more trash in the parking lot then anywhere else. You should see my front yard on a saturday morning. It looks like a beer bottle dumping ground for everybody that drives by. I should start getting those nickles. I was looking for a coffee maker so I asked a couple of gals that worked there where they might be. One took me over to where they were. The same Mr Coffee I would have found at any other store. Likley made in China but who cares. Im not going to spend $150 at cooks world for the same pot I could get for $19.99 any place else. Hey im not rich what can I say. Wal-Marts are further away then a Kmart so they do not cause any problems with me. I just happened to be driving in the neighborhood at the time and I said gee i need a coffee maker. No matter where it was made im sure im getting my daily dose of lead. :-)
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- I hpoe so would like a little quality in my life won''t get it there but the food section is OK.
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- Come on everybody lets stay on topic. We were talking about Wal-Mart and to a smaller degree China made goods. A forum is a forum anybody can join to express what they think. Look at that Ron Paul forum poster. In most every topic with the same copied test message. Now there is somebody you should be going after. That poster contributes nothing to a talk. I go out of my way to avoid naming names but use general terms that most know who or what im talking about. It%u2019s a better way because it is so hard to express ones self over a keyboard. In the real world voice tone and body language really show what is on your mind. There is no escape from a face to face conversation. Lew
- Reply to this comment
- Okay, I''''m still trying to figure out why you would be pissed off about my post???
Posted by erasmus6 at 09:52 PM : Oct 03, 2007
Go back and reread my posts, then reread your posts.
You should be able to figure it out. I would have responded to this post, but I was already "off the air" by this time. - Reply to this comment
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
