Walmart vs. Target

"Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the world's largest retailer, with $285.2 billion in sales in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2005. The company employs 1.6 million associates

Company Profile Target Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Target Corporation operates general merchandise and food discount stores in the United States. It operates as two reportable segments: Retail and Credit Card. The company offers household essentials, including electronics, music, and toys; apparel and accessories; home furnishings as well as seasonal merchandise. It also sells its merchandise under private-label brands, such as Archer Farms, etc. Target Corporation operates in-store amenities, such as Target Caféand Target Clinic as well. Its marketing strategy includes selling its products on its online shopping site Target.com and its network of

Headquartered in Minneapolis Minnesota, Target Corporation is one of the largest chains of retail stores in United States and Canada (Stone, 1995). Founded in 1902, the chain now has more than 360,000 employees worldwide. The company operates nearly 1925 stores out of which 1795 stores are in the US and 130 stores are in Canada (NASDAQ, 2014). The business prides itself in a diverse portfolio of merchandise that their outlets houses, ranging from dry groceries to electronics, furniture, apparel and much more. Its distribution networks make use of third party vendors, direct shipping as well as distribution centers. It also operates a successful e-store target.com which offers customers a virtual one-stop shop for their needs.

Financial ratios are important in assessing the two companies’ performances. Referring to Exhibit A and B, we see that Sears relied heavily on debt financing. Although its 1997 ROE was high, it had a 300 days cash conversion cycle and a slow A/R turnover ratio. After evaluating various ratios, we concluded that the driving force behind Sears’ profitability was its proprietary card business. For a retailer, a strategy of using flexible payment options to boost sales is not a viable long term solution. The slow A/R turnover and negative operating cash flow cause concerns. On the other hand, Wal-Mart had a quick cash conversion cycle of 91 days, and a working capital turnover of 24/yr (vs.10/yr for Sears). These ratios represent a retail company with sound fundamental strategies, as well as the implementation and execution of those strategies. The financial ratios gave us insights into the companies’ operating and financing strategies, putting the two companies’ annual results into

The companies I am studying are Wal-Mart and Target. Both are major discount retailers, general merchandisers who compete as cost leaders. These companies both very large, big enough to execute on their strategies effectively. Yet one has chosen the path of international growth and the other has not yet, pending expansion into Canada in 2013.

Walmart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) branded as Walmart since 2008 and Walmart before then, is an American multinational retailer corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. It is the biggest private employer in the world with over 2 million employees, and is the largest retailer in the world. Walmart operates retail stores in various formats around the world and is committed to saving people money so they can live better and more comfortable. Walmart earns the trust of their customers every day by providing a broad assortment of quality merchandise and services at everyday low prices, while fostering a culture that rewards and embraces mutual respect, integrity, and diversity. The company is

Retail industry sector encompasses companies and individuals that are engaged in selling products to consumers. As the biggest economy in the world, retail industry in the U.S. is one of the biggest industries in the world with total sales of nearly $5 trillion in 2016 as per www.census.gov. National retail foundation’s report mentions retail industry as the largest private sector employer in the United states with about 15 million people working in the industry. Retail industry in the united states comprises brick and mortar stores and a growing e-commerce sector.

Wal-Mart, founded by Sam Walton in 1962, is the world’s largest retailer and public corporation. It operates over 6,500 stores worldwide, employs 1.9 million associates, and serves more

Walmart is a multinational corporation with 11,000 retail locations located in 27 countries and is the largest retailer in the world. With over 2.2 million employees, Walmart is the also largest employer in United States the world. The history of Walmart dates back to 1962 when founder Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas. By the late 1960s, total sales were over $12 million with 24 Walmart stores spread across Arkansas (Riffel, 2014). “By the end of the 1970s, Wal-Mart had expanded into a number of different services in its stores—selling pharmaceuticals, adding auto service centers, and introducing jewelry divisions.

Target Corporation is a retail chain specializing in household goods, clothing, food, and accessories at discounted prices. The retail chain’s history started back in 1902 as Goodfellows and in 1910 as The Dayton Company. Initially, the chain specialized in “furnishings, fabrics and decorations for business and other public institutions” (“Target Corporation,” 2016, p. 5). Eventually, Target went public in 1967 and on to acquire Mervyn’s in the 1970s where they became the seventh largest retailer in the United States. Target operates in the United States, where it is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and as of January 31, 2015 Target employs over 300,000 people. “The company recorded revenues of $72,618 million in the financial year ended January 2015, the operating profit of the company was $4,535 million, [and] the net profit was $2,449 million” (“Target

Target may have a bigger selection on some products, but their store is such a big hassle. To have a well managed store you need good customer service, a good atmosphere, and low prices. That’s something Target has none of and Wal-Mart has plenty of.

Wal-Mart is now the largest grocer, largest retailer, largest corporation in the world. "If Wal-Mart was a nation, it would have a bigger economy than 80 percent of the world's countries"(Singer and Mason). About "138 million people go to one of Wal-Mart's 5,000 stores in the United States and nine other countries", and purchase more than $300 billion every year (Singer and Mason). With a 1.6 million global workforce, Wal-Mart has become the biggest private employer "in the United States, as well as in Mexico and Canada"(Singer and Mason). "Wal-Mart already has 11 percent of all U.S. Grocery store sales," and "by 2013 that figure is likely to rise to 21 percent"(Singer and

The retail industry has always been a large portion of the U.S. economy. In 2012, the industry had nearly one million stores and accounted for four trillion dollars in revenue. An estimated two-thirds of the U.S. GDP

With around 5000 retail outlets worldwide, operating in more then a dozen countries and with over US$286 billion in annual sales, Wal-Mart is the top retail chain and number one fortune 500 company in the world. Wal-Mart is the top employer in the U.S. with 1.3 million employees, “the company accounts for 9 cents of every US retail dollar and sells around 20 per cent of the nation’s groceries and pharmaceuticals.” (Times News Network).

This report is intended analyze and compare the operating profitability of Sears, Roebuck and Co. (SRC), and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WM) for the accounting periods of 1996 and 1997.