Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Wal-Mart to slash grocery prices
Reuters ^ | 3-19-10

Posted on 03/19/2010 8:16:19 PM PDT by STARWISE

Wal-Mart Stores Inc will cut food prices and mount a new ad campaign over the next six weeks, a threat to other U.S. grocers that sent an industry shares index down more than 2 percent on Friday.

A Morgan Stanley analyst first reported the world's largest retailer's plan, calling it a major setback for other U.S. grocers, and the company confirmed the promotions in an email.

"While this helps address Walmart's traffic woes, we view this as a major setback for the grocery stocks, which have been rallying on hopes of a return to more rational pricing," Morgan Stanley analyst Mark Wiltamuth wrote in a note on Friday.

The Standard & Poor's Food Retail Sub-Industry Index closed down 2.2 percent.

Walmart has used aggressive pricing in grocery and other units to bring shoppers into its stores. The grocery business is particularly pressured by such pricing, as its profit margins are already low.

Investors in Walmart have been concerned about signs that shoppers who gravitated to its stores during the worst of the recession -- boosting sales and profits -- are returning to rivals. Traffic fell in Walmart's U.S. stores during its fourth quarter, despite the holiday season, when shopping is at its peak.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bhoeconomy; fifth100days; grocery; pricecut; retail; walmart
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 161-162 next last
HALLELUJAH! Thank you, WalMart! Keep the non-union, free market system going.

What the Experts are Saying About Wal-Mart's Economic Impact

Excerpt:

Wal-Mart has lowered retail prices and increased the true disposable income of individuals, then it is likely to have increased personal savings as well.” (The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big-Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy, Richard Vedder and Wendell Cox, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Washington D.C., 2006).


1 posted on 03/19/2010 8:16:20 PM PDT by STARWISE
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Toddsterpatriot; Mase; expat_panama

CHINA!

2 posted on 03/19/2010 8:18:54 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: onyx; penelopesire; seekthetruth; television is just wrong; jcsjcm; BP2; Pablo Mac; ...

Yay .. for at least SOME good news ... PING!


3 posted on 03/19/2010 8:19:11 PM PDT by STARWISE (KILL DEMON PASS! CALL THE LIST TODAY!! http://tinyurl.com/yk6e2u2)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 1rudeboy

ROFL


4 posted on 03/19/2010 8:20:03 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Islam is incompatible with American traditions and values)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE

I WONDER WHEN THEY WILL BE ACCEPTING THE OBAMA FOOD STAMPS?

http://s881.photobucket.com/albums/ac16/nazibama/?action=view&current=obama_foodstamp-1.jpg


5 posted on 03/19/2010 8:21:46 PM PDT by TheDailyChange (Politics,Conservatism,Liberalism)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE

I don’t know about where you live, but W-M has been raising prices for the last year. Thus lowering them is just getting back to regular prices.


6 posted on 03/19/2010 8:22:07 PM PDT by Marty62 ( Marty60)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE

I’m probably not very bright but I like to buy groceries at the place with the lowest prices. It’s just a goofy quirk that I have.


7 posted on 03/19/2010 8:23:54 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (How much did your congressman's vote go for? Mine got two bits. Her going price.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE

I’d rather starve than give WM one red cent.


8 posted on 03/19/2010 8:23:58 PM PDT by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Marty62

Swanson chicken broth:

Wal Mart .40 highest I’ve paid .57

My regular store Bel Air (Raleys- Northern CA) 1.69 on sales1.47


9 posted on 03/19/2010 8:24:13 PM PDT by notaliberal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: 1rudeboy

LOL


10 posted on 03/19/2010 8:25:06 PM PDT by dr_who
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE

Wal-Mart is generally lower on canned and boxed foods. For meat and produce they feature mediocre quality and high prices.

They are not even lowest on staple goods sometimes. I eat a couple of snacks at night to settle my stomach. I noticed the local small supermarket is lower on a particular brand of snack cakes than Wal-Mart. On the other hand, for things like rice and beans etc. Wal-Mart is way lower.


11 posted on 03/19/2010 8:26:58 PM PDT by yarddog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
I had been filling a prescription at CVS Pharmacy (30ct. for about $7-$8). It finally ran out, and my doc said, "hey, if I prescribe this to you at 2x per day instead of 1x per day, you'll get 60ct. at a time instead of 30ct.--just keep taking one per day." He asked me where to call the prescription in, and on impulse, I said "Wal-Mart."

Go to pick up the prescription, $4 . . . 4 friggin' dollars. For 60 instead of 30.

12 posted on 03/19/2010 8:27:54 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Marty62

Same happened here. They remodled and everything seems like it has increased in price by anywhere from .25¢ through many dollars. Iams cat food used to be $28.66 for a 20# bag now they want $23.99 for 14#! :(


13 posted on 03/19/2010 8:28:26 PM PDT by chris_bdba
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Marty62

*** W-M has been raising prices for the last year. Thus lowering them is just getting back to regular prices.***

Will the can size drop as the price drops?

Old Roy dog food used to be 50 lb. then dropped to 40 lb, then back up to 50 lb, then down to 40 lb, now it is up to 44 lb.
When was the last time you saw a 20 lb sack of cat food?
Or a POUND OF COFFEE?

Wish I could say it was only Walmart doing this but the other stores are doing it also.


14 posted on 03/19/2010 8:29:38 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (If I say to you "I'm your friend" ....RUN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: 1rudeboy
Wal-Mart must have forced all domestic food manufacturers to move production to China.
15 posted on 03/19/2010 8:30:38 PM PDT by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Marty62

If Aldi ever gets nationwide - Wal Mart grocery will have problems. Wal Mart “ain’t” that cheap. Target is cheaper and Aldi chased WMT out of Germany because ALDI gave em a whopping.

CHINA!


16 posted on 03/19/2010 8:32:18 PM PDT by Frantzie (TV - sending Americans towards Islamic serfdom - Cancel TV service NOW)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE

3 lb. bag of onions at Aldi’s $1.99
3 lb. bag of onions at W-Mart $2.88


17 posted on 03/19/2010 8:32:40 PM PDT by Ravi
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE

I don’t know. I find myself coming out of Walmart empty-handed more often than not. I buy some groceries from WM that are consistently cheaper than my grocery store but if you shop the sales you can still beat WM prices.

I noticed this evening, while I was waiting 30 minutes for someone to help me buy a treadmill, that many shelves were empty and there were 6 shelfs that had one row of the same product on each shelf. IOW, they could have fit on two shelves, three deep.

I notice that our over-priced hardware store is packed every day and I know that it is because WM is not carrying the diversity of products it used to. I also notice more traffic at K-Mart, it used to be a mausoleum and now the parking lot is full again.


18 posted on 03/19/2010 8:32:44 PM PDT by tiki (True Christians will not deliberately slander or misrepresent others or their beliefs)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mase

“Wal-Mart must have forced all domestic food manufacturers to move production to China.”

I love melamine and mercury in my cookies plus sulphur in my dry wall - but that is just me.


19 posted on 03/19/2010 8:33:38 PM PDT by Frantzie (TV - sending Americans towards Islamic serfdom - Cancel TV service NOW)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: yarddog

Wal-mart is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. They are selling alot of Great Value products made in the USA and people are complaining about not enough name brands on the shelves. It doesn’t seem to matter if the name brands are made anywhere else.
Went to Wal-mart the other day and the lady that checked me out was missing a portion of her left hand, the greeter was very elderly as were many of their employees..where else could they find work? Wal-mart is NON union and of course their prices have gone up as has national wage and gas.


20 posted on 03/19/2010 8:34:26 PM PDT by katiedidit1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 161-162 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson