pmdemey Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15918962/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmc Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 If it isn't broke don't fix it. In my opinion wal-mart is making a big mistake in trying to take it upscale to wealthier customers. Do not do that. You will lose the customers you do have. If wal-mart wants to sell things to wealthier customers then they need to create a whole new store with a new name. I can't believe they don't get it. Its what bag the thing goes in. People who shop upscale do not want to buy something and have it put in a wal-mart bag. When I was younger you could find the same sweater in two different stores. One being a discount store the other being one of those fancy malls stores. The one in the mall cost over $30 the one in the discount store cost around $10. The only difference is the bag it was put into. Me I love wal-mart. I buy everything at wal-mart and I would never pay the money that my daughter pays for those clothes at stores like Pac-sun, American Eagle, Abercrombie. Just like she will not buy blue jeans at wal-mart. Its the label and its the bag. A huge part of it is the bag it is taken home in. I know that sounds dumb but sadly its the truth. If Wal_mart wants to appeal to upscale wealthier customers then they need to branch out with a whole new store new name everything. You can not put new more expensive brands in wal-mart and expect it to work. They can do this. Look at the main company that owns Target. Target is for normal folks. I consider Boston Stores more pricey. They don't try to put Boston Store stuff in Targets. You want to appeal to upscale people then come up with a new store. But you keep the wal-marts for those people who have made wal-mart what they are today you don't dump them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyzmom Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missyjane Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 I'm wondering why someone doesn't point out the obvious in these articles and remind Walmart that they gave up a lot of sales when they closed the doors on layaway. I'm certain that somehow those numbers are affecting their sales - I mean with the loss of layaway a lot of people can't afford to purchase in bulk or even big ticket items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmc Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 The thing is just like there are people like my daughter who may I add is only 15 years old who will only wear certain clothes from certain stores and would never buy those clothes at another store. Alot of this is to fit in I mean kids are like that its called peer pressure. But.... just like those people are that way there are alot of people like me who would never buy those more expensive clothes. The only thing I am willing to pay alot of money on is shoes and that is because of how my feet are. I would never ever ever pay $35 for one pair of blue jeans NEVER!!!! There are alot of people out there like me. There are probably alot of people out there who do not even know that Target and Boston Stores are owned by the same company. I would never buy my clothes at a Boston Store unless they were way way discounted. If Wal_mart wants to have a store for upscale then they need to make a whole new store totally seperate from Wal_mart. But they need to leave Wal_mart itself be itself!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmc Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 I'm wondering why someone doesn't point out the obvious in these articles and remind Walmart that they gave up a lot of sales when they closed the doors on layaway. I'm certain that somehow those numbers are affecting their sales - I mean with the loss of layaway a lot of people can't afford to purchase in bulk or even big ticket items.My point is also that alot of the folks who shop at Wal_mart do not have credit cards alot of them probably couldn't get credit cards. Alot of people would be way to much in debt if they did. Taking away layaway definitely hurt them alot. In my city we have a wal-mart and we have a k-mart. Well there were alot of cars at k-mart. K-mart still has layaway. Me I have credit cards but then again I am someone that never used layaway I always used credit. But there are people who do not have credit cards and don't want them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshyne Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 I have read articles before about the George brand has not taken off like they had hoped. These items are more expensive. Here is my thing about buying clothes at Walmart...I could buy Faded Glory jeans for my son at Walmart. They will cost me around $9.xx. Or I can wait and buy Kohl's brand (Sonoma) jeans when they go on sale for $8.99. I can buy the Carter's Child of Mine brand stuff at Walmart, or wait until Kohl's has a 40% off sale on regular Carter's and pay about the same price. I will always chose the clothes at Kohl's because I know from experience that they will last longer, the brand names are better, and I know Kohl's will let me return them indefinitely incase they never get worn. And I'm really not a brand name snob...my sons do have a few items from Walmart that were cute and looked well made. They also have tons of clothes from Target because their stuff is just less generic looking. I wouldn't buy my son a winter coat from Walmart because I didn't want him to have the same one as several other kids in his class. I waited for a good sale at Old Navy and paid about the same price for a nice one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachysquirt21 Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 I rarely buy clothes at Walmart. If I do it is either jammies or t-shirts. Quite frankly I think most of the women's clothes at Walmart are just tacky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sns128 Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Not having layaway may have hurt Walmart but you have to understand that the sales of those items doesn't get taken into account until after the layaway is picked up. In other words, Wal-Mart doesn't get credit for those sales until the layaway is paid off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmc Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Thing is Wal_mart needs to take into account that they started with the rollbacks and the sales early. So those sales like of the laptops and the tv's that are rollbacked are not counted in the Black Friday Sales. Personally I think they should have had all the sales on Black Friday and not switched it to where they did the laptops early. JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amdskip Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Layaway closing has not hurt walmart like everyone is thinking. By getting rid of layaway walmart is doing it's part to help teach American's financial responsibility. There's no reason to have the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayDouble Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 If it isn't broke don't fix it. In my opinion wal-mart is making a big mistake in trying to take it upscale to wealthier customers. Do not do that. You will lose the customers you do have. If wal-mart wants to sell things to wealthier customers then they need to create a whole new store with a new name. I can't believe they don't get it. Its what bag the thing goes in. People who shop upscale do not want to buy something and have it put in a wal-mart bag. When I was younger you could find the same sweater in two different stores. One being a discount store the other being one of those fancy malls stores. The one in the mall cost over $30 the one in the discount store cost around $10. The only difference is the bag it was put into. Me I love wal-mart. I buy everything at wal-mart and I would never pay the money that my daughter pays for those clothes at stores like Pac-sun, American Eagle, Abercrombie. Just like she will not buy blue jeans at wal-mart. Its the label and its the bag. A huge part of it is the bag it is taken home in. I know that sounds dumb but sadly its the truth. If Wal_mart wants to appeal to upscale wealthier customers then they need to branch out with a whole new store new name everything. You can not put new more expensive brands in wal-mart and expect it to work. They can do this. Look at the main company that owns Target. Target is for normal folks. I consider Boston Stores more pricey. They don't try to put Boston Store stuff in Targets. You want to appeal to upscale people then come up with a new store. But you keep the wal-marts for those people who have made wal-mart what they are today you don't dump them. Walmart is trying to be more like Target and not an upscale store. Besides price which store has a better enviroment to shop in? Walmart can't rely on having the lowest prices anymore. They need to appeal to all potential customers and not just one. Target customers range from all sorts of income. There's a reason Target's stock is constantly $10 more than Walmarts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmc Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 I like to shop in Wal_Mart I don't shop in Target. I am sorry but I just don't understand why wal-mart wants to be target and they are not happy with being who they are wal-mart. My brother lives in Eau Claire Wisconsin. There is a super wal-mart there and there is a super Target there. Guess which one has the most customers and the most people shopping at it??? I know I have been there. Wal_mart that is who...... Why do you think Target has a better enviroment???? I don't think so. I buy wal-mart clothes I don't buy target clothes. Sure I have gone in shopping to Targets but I usually come out with nothing. I know they say Wal_Mart is trying to be like Target. I just don't get the why part of that. If I wanted to go shop at a Target I would go shop at a Target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpg117 Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Layaway closing has not hurt walmart like everyone is thinking. By getting rid of layaway walmart is doing it's part to help teach American's financial responsibility. There's no reason to have the system.I don't understand how closing layaway will make people more financially responsible. Not taking credit cards anymore would be the way to go if that is what there motive is. There was layaway long before there was credit cards. I do understand the expense of running a lawaway program but also understand there are many people who have no credit and only a few dollars every week to spend but want to provide a nice Christmas for there family. Maybe they should have changed layaway by charging a percentage on the items there were holding and even a weekly or monthly fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom_of2boyz Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I don't understand how closing layaway will make people more financially responsible. Not taking credit cards anymore would be the way to go if that is what there motive is. There was layaway long before there was credit cards. I do understand the expense of running a lawaway program but also understand there are many people who have no credit and only a few dollars every week to spend but want to provide a nice Christmas for there family. Maybe they should have changed layaway by charging a percentage on the items there were holding and even a weekly or monthly fee.Another thing they could have done, is just charged a cancellation fee. That way it would not penalize everyone. Maybe done it as a percentage of the amount of the layaway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illinoismom Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Layaway closing has not hurt walmart like everyone is thinking. By getting rid of layaway walmart is doing it's part to help teach American's financial responsibility. There's no reason to have the system.This is farther from the truth, I love layaway, I put everything I want on there then I take my ads and get all the prices reduced, Thats financial responsibilty to me, not trying to get every one and thier brothers to get high intrest rate credit cards, Walmarts layaway was convient and feesable to my family as it was to a lot of others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Here's the story : Straight from corporate memos. WM is not trying to cater to wealthier customers. This was started almost a year ago (nothing to do with BF or Holiday sales) They stated they will start carrying better name brands, computer components (cpu chips/motherboards etc.), name brand electronics. Only in about 70% of the markets they are in. Only to compete with the stores that are already there. If there is a Best Buy and a Toys R Us in the same strip mall, they will go high end electronics and better toy selection at THAT particular store. If there is a Sears and a Macys in the same strip mall, they'll go higher-end tools (and a lot more of them) and name brand clothing at THAT particular store. etc. etc. etc. There were corporate memos (more the size of books) passed all the way down the chain stating theses changes between 10-12 months ago. It is starting, but very slowly. I say, good! If I can get the same quality tools as craftsman, or the same 50" tv I can get at Best buy but a bit cheaper at WM, I win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johjstc Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Here's the story : Straight from corporate memos. WM is not trying to cater to wealthier customers. This was started almost a year ago (nothing to do with BF or Holiday sales) They stated they will start carrying better name brands, computer components (cpu chips/motherboards etc.), name brand electronics. Only in about 70% of the markets they are in. Only to compete with the stores that are already there. If there is a Best Buy and a Toys R Us in the same strip mall, they will go high end electronics and better toy selection at THAT particular store.If there is a Sears and a Macys in the same strip mall, they'll go higher-end tools (and a lot more of them) and name brand clothing at THAT particular store. etc. etc. etc. There were corporate memos (more the size of books) passed all the way down the chain stating theses changes between 10-12 months ago. It is starting, but very slowly. I say, good! If I can get the same quality tools as craftsman, or the same 50" tv I can get at Best buy but a bit cheaper at WM, I win!I have Best Buy and Toys R Us right next door and across the street is the mall with Sears and Macy's so....I get it all! I'm still going to miss layaway though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayDouble Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I like to shop in Wal_Mart I don't shop in Target. I am sorry but I just don't understand why wal-mart wants to be target and they are not happy with being who they are wal-mart. My brother lives in Eau Claire Wisconsin. There is a super wal-mart there and there is a super Target there. Guess which one has the most customers and the most people shopping at it??? I know I have been there. Wal_mart that is who...... Why do you think Target has a better enviroment???? I don't think so. I buy wal-mart clothes I don't buy target clothes. Sure I have gone in shopping to Targets but I usually come out with nothing. I know they say Wal_Mart is trying to be like Target. I just don't get the why part of that. If I wanted to go shop at a Target I would go shop at a Target.Walmart wants to be like Target because of stock price. Like I said in my previous post investors see that Walmart is constantly $10 lower that Target's. They see that that Walmart charges the lower price, but that's not drawing in the customers it should. It might be true in your area that Walmart has a better enviroment, but that's not the case in most of the nation. Consumers view Walmart as messy and disorganized. They rather go to a place that's neat and helpful. Why does Walmart have pallets all over the place clogging the aisles? Why are price scanners hidden in aisles instead of being at the end of aisles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkilugi Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I have to say that I like the fact that Wal-Mart is consistently cheaper than other stores. That is great. I don't mind the fact that the scanners are in the aisle. I'm not paying for scanners - I am there to get the best deal possible. Our Wal-Mart is not as messy as you are making it out to be. It just went through a major remodel and you can tell they are starting to transition to carrying more home interior type items like Target does - but I am happy to say that it doesn't seem that their prices have gone up thank goodness. I am very happy that they PM as well. I can get all my shopping done in one stop :) I would say the Wal-Mart and the Target's around here are pretty even in the amount of business they do - although it seems I have a harder time getting a good spot at Wal-Mart than I do at Target so around here I would say Wal-Mart is a bit more popular. As far as the stock price goes I think you are putting too much emphasis on the cost breakdown of merchandise. I don't think that is the reason at all. I think Wal-Mart has been riddled with bad press from them cutting employee's hours to hiring practices, to banning publications - etc. Wal-mart is a lightning rod for bad press. If a Walton family member gets caught picking their nose in public there is a news flash on CNN and the stock prices drops. I don't believe that Wal-Mart is doing any less business than Target. I haven't done the research on that - just making this statement based on my observations in my hometown of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buschbaby Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Bah, the only reason the WM sales were down on BF is because the sales they offered were terrible. I only spent about 10% of what I did in '05 at WM, how about you? The talking heads can pick it apart and analyze it all they want, but the simple truth is, if you don't offer great deals on BF people will shop elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuponKlipper Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Layaway closing has not hurt walmart like everyone is thinking. By getting rid of layaway walmart is doing it's part to help teach American's financial responsibility. There's no reason to have the system.How does using a credit card verses layaway teach financial responsibility ?Seems to me that is irresponsibe, if anything. You are paying more for the item than you would in layaway. I use credit cards and layaway, so I am not trying to belittle either. Also, many people, MYSELF FOR ONE, used layaway for storage purposes. They gradually started rolling back the date you had to get your items out. I remember my parents going to Kmart on Christmas Eve and getting our gifts out. I have been unable to purchase the largest gift for her this year because I have no where to put it and hide it from her. I can only hope and pray they don't sell out before Christmas Eve. Most people on this website are financially responsible or they would not be looking for a deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josher5513 Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I have been unable to purchase the largest gift for her this year because I have no where to put it and hide it from her. I can only hope and pray they don't sell out before Christmas Eve. Most people on this website are financially responsible or they would not be looking for a deal. I'd be happy to hold it for you :) lol Growing up as a kid, we were very well off financially, but my parents ALWAYS used Layaway to keep us from seeing our gifts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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