Is this the end of local stores? Mighty Walmart plans to build 350 mini ‘express’ shops a year to take on smaller retailers The article I have chosen is one about Walmart and the opening of their new convenience stores around the US. I found this article quite interesting and thought it showed very much where the retail industry is heading, a more uniform retail environment, especially in a market like grocery stores. This article also gives a strong example of retail strategy and location as well as illustrating the effect these multinational retailers are having on the smaller independent retailers. To best evaluate this article we need to discuss the relevant retail marketing concepts, models and theories that are …show more content…
She believes that the financial crisis over the last couple of years is factoring into the shrinking of store size, for some retailers opening and operating smaller stores are a way to cut costs. Paul Freddo, senior executive VP leasing and development of developers Diversified Reality, believes that a smaller size also allows a retailer to reach smaller markets with less density, and to be closer to its existing store base. Leon Nicholas, director of retail insights of consultancy Kantar Retail, says ‘The digitilisation of retail goes with the shrinking of retail.’ Grocery stores are now offering Internet shopping which would mean that in the future larger stores would not be as necessary. The article makes it clear that Walmart intend their strategy to be two-pronged, ‘stores in small towns that aren’t big enough to support a full-sized Walmart, and stores in big cities where building a whole super centre is impractical.’ This is a way of expanding the Walmart brand in areas where it is unreasonable to have super centres. They are trying to make Walmart accessible for everyone so consumers don’t have to drive to the nearest superstore. The article mentions that ‘the average round trip to a dollar store is six miles, compared with thirty miles for a typical Walmart trip.’ This is too far for most consumers especially when were in an era of high gas prices. Dollar stores will have an advantage over the superstores
Walmart has had a long-standing presence in America society since the middle of the 20th century, seen as a place to get everything done, Walmart has become a fixation in our
1. The grocery industry is a commoditized industry, which makes it difficult for grocers to sustain through differentiation. Buyer power is high and thus, cost leadership and operational efficiencies are critical. There is fierce competition amongst various grocery stores, with the main players such as Loblaw and A&P holding multi-banner stores in various market segments. Traditional grocery stores also lose some of their market share to drug stores, convenience stores and other retailers who have entered the industry. Threat of substitutes from fast-food and take- away outlets is not as prevalent, since many grocery stores have started stocking ready-to-eat meals and have deli services available for consumers. Competitive
Wal-Mart has opened Neighborhood Stores in several communities and the prices are higher than Dollar General and the regular Wal-Mart stores. Sometimes bigger is not better. You get what you pay for and convenience is the main product for me. Unless I am looking to purchase a high dollar item or a major appliance, Dollar General Store in the first place that cross my mind. I cannot remember what item I last purchased at Wal-Mart or
According to UNI report (2012) the presence of Walmart stores in local communities has a devastating impact. Large retailers like Walmart force smaller businesses to close up as they
The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic
n the article "From the Unites States of WalMart" Written by John Dicker the narrator explains the power of the Walmart stores.
US faced a major recession during the year 2007 and this created a major pre-recession impact and post-recession impact on various retail stores. Customers started looking on for deals in retail market as they had less money to spend. The following document is all about the growth of four major retail giants namely the Kohl’s, Target, Walmart, and Macy’s whose growth over the period 2003 – 2013 are compared and contrasted. Walmart was the only company to increase in sales from the all the above companies as they targeted the lower end customers.
Larger stores also offer people the convenience of additional services along with their shopping, for example post office, pharmacy and opticians. By addressing consumer’s expectations and using their buyer power they can offer a choice of products to reflect consumer’s diverse budgetary, dietary, ethical and environmental requirements. Furthermore their global buyer power enables consumers to benefit from choosing exotic produce all year round. With 30,000,000 customers (Bevan cited in Allen, 2009) choosing to use the big four supermarkets on a weekly basis it would suggest that they provide a format that consumers want.
In addition, it is certainly true that the savings generated by Wal-Mart's low price provides individuals with employment opportunities. In the City of Los Angeles, the total savings will be at least $668 million annually. The redirected grocery savings will "create 6,500 additional full-time-equivalent jobs"(LAEDC). While "in Los Angeles County, the aggregate annual savings to consumers would be at least $1.78 billion"(LAEDC). "When the savings are redirected to other purchases, the county-wide job creation will total 17,300 jobs"(LAEDC). And meanwhile, in Southern California, the combined total annual saving of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Riverside counties will be at least $3.76 billion, creating 36,400 jobs (LAEDC). According to Optician, in 2002, Wal-Mart employed "913 people in 35 optical outlets, with another five to open by the end of" March. "If all the 50 planned centres open", it would be "taking on at least 1,000 employees". In "Wal-Mart's Urban Renewal", CEO Lee Scott announced, "over the next two years Wal-Mart will open 50 stores
On the website that I found this article there was a chart comparing dollar stores to grocery stores, convenient stores, drug stores, supermarkets warehouse clubs, and mass merchandisers. This chart shows that the dollar stores have the highest percentage rating for being convenient to their customers. One of the major reasons for this is because there are so many dollar stores. There are probably several located near your home or work place. Another reason is from the changes that I mentioned earlier. They are becoming more of a one stop store with all of the products you need, instead of just a dollar
The dollar store customer is a complex individual. According to Businessweek, through the use of a product which tracks where consumers shop, those who frequent the dollar store are not necessarily who you think they are. This study showed that individuals who shopped at ‘true’ dollar stores were the same ones who frequented other outlets including Trader Joe’s, Panera Bread, and
First, it is important to understand that Walmart, being the economic super power it is, developed extremely quickly. According to the Company Profile Walmart Stores, Inc., Walmart was established in 1969, and shortly thereafter in 1972 become publicly traded on the New York Stock exchange. As the company continued to grow, in the 1980’s the company diversified into Supercenters, Sam’s Club (membership warehouse club), and even international operations. Walmart expanded and began to sell household items (2000), the launch of their “No Boundaries” cosmetic line (2001), an online music store (2004), the completion of Walmart Site to Store (2007), Walmart prepaid debit cards (2007), their very own home furnishing brand “Canopy” (2008), and finally their very own line of Sam’s choice coffee (2008). In 2009 the company took a huge leap
Evidently, Wal-Mart is not doing anything to differentiate itself from rivals. It gives no frills to self-service outlets always providing the cheapest prices. Through a well-built influence with suppliers, the company has gained the power to manipulate prices and amend manufacturing procedures thus wringing out more savings for its customers. All that the company does from the frequent calls to suppliers to doubling up execs in hotel rooms aimed at saving the
From what I learned, there are some concerns about small-town businesses surviving after Walmart Store, Inc. opens a location. But, anytime a new business opens in a community there are concerns about local business future. I could worry about all that could be or could look at Walmart as an opportunity for the community and my business. Normally, when a Walmart moves in the city makes infrastructure changes as part of the package. These packages may include tax breaks, but will also have other incentives like better traffic flow with street improvements and red lights. One advantage will be the increased traffic flow in the area, the area around a Walmart store will grow.
Wal-Mart is continually trying to invent new and better ideas for their consumers to make life easier. With the success of the discount stores and supercenters, Wal-Mart now has opened two other styles of stores for their consumers. One store is the Wal-Mart Express and the other is the Marketside. The Wal-Mart Express is a smaller version of a supercenter located in rural and urban areas where shoppers do not have the ability to get to the larger stores. Currently there are 2 Wal-Mart Express stores that are open in Northwest Arkansas. The other test stores that Wal-Mart has are called Marketsides. These stores are smaller pilot grocery stores that offer consumers