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View Full Version : When the world is runnin down.....


MAC
08-13-2002, 02:23 PM
you make the best of what's still around (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=568&ncid=749&e=5&u=/nm/20020813/bs_nm/retail_walmart_earns_dc_2)

Business - Reuters

Wal-Mart's Profit Climbs 25 Percent
Tue Aug 13, 8:22 AM ET

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , the world's largest retailer, on Tuesday said quarterly profit rose more than 25 percent as consumers flocked to the discounter in the slow U.S. economy.

Net income in the fiscal second quarter, ended July 31, rose to $2.04 billion, or 46 cents a diluted share, from $1.62 billion, or 36 cents a diluted share, a year earlier, the company said.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company beat analysts' mean earnings estimate by a penny in a quarter when cost-conscious shoppers showed a preference for discounters.

Wal-Mart, which operates more than 3,000 U.S. stores, reported sales of $59.69 billion for the quarter, up more than 13 percent from $52.80 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales -- sales at stores open at least a year -- rose 6.4 percent.

But the company, the first of the major discount chains to report second-quarter results, is not out of the woods yet. With the stock market drop this year, consumer confidence is showing signs of deteriorating. Less than a week ago Wal-Mart reported disappointing same-store sales for the month of July.

The company said sales of summer merchandise were slow in July and back-to-school spending has not yet ramped up, but it said it was likely to meet its earnings target for the full year.

Wal-Mart's second-quarter sales and earnings were records. "For the first time in our history, we generated over $2 billion in net income in a non-holiday quarter," Lee Scott, Wal-Mart president and chief executive, said in a statement.

Wal-Mart shares have performed about in line with other blue-chip stocks in recent months. In the second quarter Wal-Mart shares fell 13 percent, about the same as the drop in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Wal-Mart's quarterly earnings of 46 cents a share compared with an average forecast of 45 cents among analysts polled by Thomson First Call. Analysts' estimates ranged from 44 cents to 46 cents a share.

Last week Wal-Mart said it expected to meet or beat its previous second-quarter earnings guidance of 44 cents to 45 cents per share.
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well.....I gave them $75 last night myself,,,,,,,,course its been over amonth since I was there. We used to spend $200 every 2 weeks there....and we didn't shop anywhere else......

Billyman
08-13-2002, 11:31 PM
I only shop at Wal-mart because it is THE most convenient place to do so simply because since they came to town, most of the "little guys" have shut down. What "little guys" are left close about the same time I get off work. The towns K-mart naturally sucks so Wal-mart is on top of it.

I hate em. I hate em. I hate em. Our town fought for years to keep them from coming but the inevitable happened. Every fear that we had rain true. Shop's closed down all over town and they (wal-mart) started controlling almost all of the farming market in our area. Wal-mart doesn't give a shit about you period. They only want their money. But...doesn't everybody. They've played the game and played it well. Smart mofo's up in there. Bastards. But one day, yes one day, It will all come crashing down. I'll sit and laugh and giggle for hours when this happens.

MAC
08-14-2002, 05:43 AM
I give wal-mart one thing (besides my $) they employ lots more folks than they replace in the mercantile/grocery business.

A town with 5 small businesses employing maybe 3 ppl each gets a wal-mart that employes 30....whowoul dotherwise go else where to work and gets the locals to shop and spend their sales tax$ in their own town.

Those are GOOD things and truely capit0listic

Cruise Director
08-14-2002, 05:49 PM
Originally posted by Billyman
I only shop at Wal-mart because it is THE most convenient place to do so simply because since they came to town, most of the "little guys" have shut down. What "little guys" are left close about the same time I get off work. The towns K-mart naturally sucks so Wal-mart is on top of it.

I hate em. I hate em. I hate em. Our town fought for years to keep them from coming but the inevitable happened. Every fear that we had rain true. Shop's closed down all over town and they (wal-mart) started controlling almost all of the farming market in our area. Wal-mart doesn't give a shit about you period. They only want their money. But...doesn't everybody. They've played the game and played it well. Smart mofo's up in there. Bastards. But one day, yes one day, It will all come crashing down. I'll sit and laugh and giggle for hours when this happens.

The truth about the smaller shops closing falls within your post. "What little guys are left close about the same time I get off work." Smaller retailers can thrive alongside big boxes if they just learn to adapt and specialize. 8-5 Moday to Friday is no longer acceptable to consumers for people to be open. If Ma and Pa can't afford to keep the shop open for extended hours, they should open later and stay open when people shop. ( 11-8, perhaps.) Everybody is quick to blame the Wal-Mart's of the World for the demise of small business. That's crap. Small businesses that run well and have a gameplan usually survive the big box invasion.

MAC
08-15-2002, 06:06 AM
A good example of that is the D&D sausage company in a nearby town. They make a fantastic sauasage and they sell it to the local grocery store down the street...why? becasue the grocery store is open on saturday and sunday when the sausage factory ain't.
If they were the only retailer they could get the best price..but they wholesale to their competitor (the one with the full meat market) and they keep everyones prices competetive and get the largest possibly share of their local market.