Walmart closing 150+ stores

[vision63]

They announced and closed the 10 year old Oakland Walmart (which was packed at all times) in just a few days.

[Racer X]

space-time wrote:
just saw this in the news. This creates several "food deserts" (no supermarket within 10 miles).

When my mom and dad first moved to west of Phoenix, their closest market was the base commissary at Luke Air Force Base. It just forces you to plan ahead. And get a full sized freezer.

[josntme]

PeterW wrote:
and in other "news", Abe Vigoda isn't feeling well.

Feeling no pain.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

space-time wrote:
just saw this in the news. This creates several "food deserts" (no supermarket within 10 miles).

If Walmart* was the only "fresh produce" store for 10 miles, it was already a food desert. They are well known for over-saturating a market to force all the other weak retailers to close. This would occasionally require them to close a poorly performing store after the local economy collapsed. The Express stores seemed to be a test to see how small a neighborhood/city they could ruin but still stay profitable.

[vision63]

Filliam H. Muffman wrote:
[quote=space-time]
just saw this in the news. This creates several "food deserts" (no supermarket within 10 miles).

If Walmart* was the only "fresh produce" store for 10 miles, it was already a food desert. They are well known for over-saturating a market to force all the other weak retailers to close. This would occasionally require them to close a poorly performing store after the local economy collapsed. The Express stores seemed to be a test to see how small a neighborhood/city they could ruin but still stay profitable.
Very sad but so true.

[DinerDave]

As billb mentioned, 102 of the stores are Express, Walmarts attempt at the smaller convenience store arena. These stores were already altered big time in philosophy once, as they did not do well. The re-launch did not fare much better, and Wally is throwing in the towel. What works in one industry does not always work in another.

Dave

[onthedownlow]

The Neighborhood stores are doing well (since they are primarily grocery), but the Express stores just didn't cater enough to the customers. The food selection was limited, as many people went there expecting to buy groceries, more so than other items, but the since the variety and selection were not there people ended up going to Wal-Mart or another place, instead.