Walmart Inc (WMT)

[ordinarydude]

"...The dollar stores are pulling money from Walmart everyday.."

Yes they are. Ditto for CVS and Walgreens---which are eating Walmart's pharmacy sales alive. Which is one of the chief reasons why Bentonville decided to open up small format stores in the countryside (Walmart Express stores). They're about 11,000 sq ft in size and are designed to compete mainly with dollar stores.

What bugs me the most about Walmart's stock is we should have split by now. It hasn't. Then again some of my buddies have said the same thing about Costco's stock. Equally worrisome is the relative stagnation surrounding WMT's stock price. It's not just stagnant sales, it's also the way WMT opens new stores. Not that it's a new concept...but defraying costs to profit centers does nothing to help sales (despite brand new Neighborhood Markets doing much better than the average Supercenter). And I won't begin to tell you how this company opens new stores, or remodels them. I've never seen so much incompetence per square foot in my entire life.

Profitability is another story all together---but the grocery business has always been a "pennies on the dollar" sort of business. General Merchandise is suffering---primarily because Lowe's and Home Depot has been bleeding customers from Walmart.

Walmart has to adapt, therefore the reasoning behind opening Walmart Express stores. Eventually Bentonville will not open up anymore Supercenters---ushering the end bix box outlets. And that day may come much sooner than many think....

Ordinary Walton