Posts Tagged “Walmart”

Did some last-minute Christmas shopping today. Three of the stores we visited had large promotional banners, proudly proclaiming “Lots of Gift Ideas for $10 or Less!” And they did. What in year’s past would have been considered “loss leaders,” are this year’s “hey, at least we got them to pry open their wallets for a 10 spot” gift.

I realize that things are tough all over. I do. But I wonder at the logic of staging massive sales now, when shoppers have been trained to wait for a slew of after-Christmas bargains. If you’ve already put stuff on sale before Christmas, how low can you go after? I’m guessing here, but I’ll bet it won’t be low enough to get shoppers excited.

I guess we’ll see. I don’t worry about places like Walmart and Sam’s Club, or even well-run chains like BestBuy. It is Christmas, and even in a tight economy, there are gifts that will be bought. Guys like Circuit City, Bed Bath & Beyond, and a bunch more players that are “on the bubble” financially are going to have some rough sledding between now and the February doldrums.

Just a guess here, but it seems the guys with the reps for the best customer serivce, most liberal and consistent return policies, and fair prices seem to be weathering the storm just fine, thank you. Wonder if there’s a lesson there?

Out with the old...

...and in with the new.

Seen the new WalMart logo? Like most good updated corporate identities, it doesn’t stray too far from the old logo. They went with a little less corporate blue, and dropped the all-caps lookfor the more friendly upper and lower case treatment. More interesting is their swapping a star for an asterisk. Read the rest of this entry »