USA Today: Financial insecurity leading to "disturbing behaviors" among Wal-Mart shoppers

[marmar]

Wal-Mart sees shifts in shoppers' buying habits
Updated 1h 7m ago | Comments297 | Recommend59 E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions |



LOS ANGELES — Financial insecurity is forcing Wal-Mart (WMT) shoppers to change buying habits, cut credit card use and live more paycheck-to-paycheck, the CEO of the U.S. division of the world's largest retailer said Tuesday.

Economic pain is leading to what Eduardo Castro-Wright termed "disturbing behaviors" among shoppers over the past few months.

For instance, more families are buying baby formula at the start of the month when they are more likely to have money. In the past, he said, the chain hadn't noticed such surges in formula sales.

A double-digit decline in credit card use at Wal-Mart stores in the second quarter this year sharply contrasts with the first quarter of 2007, when a vibrant economy was resulting in double-digit increases in card use.

"Credit has been declining dramatically," said the Ecuador-born executive who has run Wal-Mart Stores USA for three years. "That decline in credit means people have to make choices about how they spend their hard-earned money."

Many don't have a choice when it comes to their form of payment.

"They have maxed out on their credit limits," Castro-Wright said in an interview after a speech to Town Hall Los Angeles, a non-profit that provides a forum for public figures and opinion makers. "Customers are really going through some hard times." ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2008-10-21-walmart-sales_N.htm?csp=34

[ogneopasno]

1. Which one is the "disturbing behavior"?

Cutting credit card use, changing buying habits, or buying formula at the beginning of the month? WTF?

[fascisthunter]

2. no shit...

[Warpy]

3. I would imagine cutting credit card use

because that means the spree is over and people are starting to live within their means. That's bad news for any store that sells a lot of toys like Walmart does.

Baby formula at the beginning of the month is a good thing. It means people are getting their priorities straight.

[still_deciding]

15. "It means people are getting their priorities straight."

"It means people are getting their priorities straight."

It's about time.

[Warpy]

20. Yeah, well, the kid screams all night if they

start cutting down on the formula and they don't feel good if they miss sleep.

:sarcasm:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Shopping at wal-mart.

[formercia]

31. Wally World's business model is in deep shit.

They are dependent on small but increasing profit margins over the long term. These changes may mean a total restructuring or eventual bankruptcy due to competition from smaller, more efficient competitors.

When people begin to buy and produce locally, look out.

[verdalaven]

34. It is already happening here

We have a local mom and pop store in our town that is seeing more business while the Walmart, next town over, is declining in sales. I don't buy food at Walmart anymore, because it is almost the same price here and the cost of gas (and my precious time) more than makes up for the cost difference.

[formercia]

37. Same here

It's not just the price of gas. People are tightening their belts and the major cut is in miles driven. When you have to figure your POV is going to have to last and you can't afford to go out an buy a new vehicle, it makes sense to shop locally.
You're right. We have a mom an pop grocery within a short walk from here and their business has increased dramatically over the last Year. It doesn't pay to drive across town to save a couple of bucks at Wally World.

[malaise]

39. In other words

citizens being financially responsible is 'disturbing behavior' to corporations.

[luvspeas]

4. More disturbing behavior...

I just hope sales of giant inflatable lawn decorations have gone down. I despise those useless annoying energy wasting garbage producing, made in China pieces of nonsense. To me they epitomize the horrible consumer culture we can all do without. Wal-Mart was never about lower prices, it was about buying hideous amounts of cheap junk. CUZ IF WE DON'T THE TERRORISTS WIN!

my apologies to any nice, but misguided folks who own one of those things.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. They are inflatable ???????

Every one I have seen was lying flat on the ground.

Hmmmm...they either spring leaks right away or my redneck neighbors can't read the instructions.

[SoCalDem]

10. Someone shot a snowman on a neighbor's roof last winter

Poor guy..just laying there draped on the roof with an arrow sticking out of him :rofl:

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. yeah...that could 'spalin it.

We get the drive by pellet gun crowd on Sat. nights.

[ProfessorGAC]

38. Sure, They're Inflatable!

That doesn't mean the air stays in them! Sheesh! Your standards are SOOOO high! LOL!
The Professor

[Selatius]

5. People are being forced to face their budgetary limits with loss of equity.

With home prices falling, there is less and less equity that they can take out of their homes to sustain their spending habits.

The result is people are being forced to abandon their current standard of living for a lower one.

[DeadManInc]

6. True Americans don't shop Wal Mart!

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[still_deciding]

16. Try Target

Target has lowered their prices to match Wal Mart or beat them and the quality of the products is much better. I quit shopping Wal Mart when I saw that all of their flags for July 4th were made in China. The flags at Target were made by American workers.

[csziggy]

28. But this year Target has donated a higher percentage to Repubs than Wal-Mart has

In 2004 Wal-Mart donated $2,159,540 - 20% to Democratic candidates and 80% to Repubs. Target $366,889 - 25% to Dems, 75% to Repubs - http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?ind=N03&cycle=2004.
This year: Wal-Mart Stores: $1,430,853 - 41% Dems, 59% Repubs; Target Corp: $451,109 - 32% Dems, 68% Repubs - http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?ind=N03&cycle=2008.

[Stellabella]

7. 'Vibrant economy'???

A 'vibrant economy' doesn't lead to double digit increases in credit card use. That's the last gasp of a false economy built on debt.

[screembloodymurder]

13. Economic pain as opposed to Christian Pa -l- in.

:evilgrin:

[onethatcares]

14. maybe it's about time people thought about living within their means.

stock up at the first of the month on all essentials, whittle it down a bit for the second shopping trip. I do believe this is how our parents learned to save. Hell, beans and rice never hurt anyone, and you can always throw some spam in there for the carnivores.

I hate to say it but my wife and I shop there (walmart) for groceries cause I couldn't afford to shop anywhere else for what I spend. ($200.00 every two weeks, never more, sometimes less)

Peace

[still_deciding]

17. Living within your means, what a concept!

My local Target expanded their grocery section and really lowered prices. Check them out.

As far as living within your means...
I quit donating to my local food bank when I realized that I was driving up to donate groceries in an 11 year old car, yet the people coming to get a hand out were driving up in cars and SUVs that were one or two years old.

[uppityperson]

24. Yeah, damn them welfare queens and high livin' kings. Byebye

:sarcasm: and tata troll.

[Wednesdays]

35. Yeah, probably some welfare queens among them, too.

:eyes:

:sarcasm:

[earth mom]

18. Sorry, but this isn't about "people living within their means"

It's about people not having enough to buy food to put on the table. Have you ever lived as the working poor?

Because living as the working poor means there are NO FUCKING EXTRAS EVER.

Living as the working poor is ALL about Rent, Food, Utilities, Gas to go to work. Period.

[onethatcares]

22. been there, and remember it horribly. At this point in my life

I'm just a tad bit luckier I guess. My wife and I both work, pretty much making the same amount per year we did back in 1985 due to outsourcing, business closings, etc. We have learned to pull back on everything and aren't talking about any extras. Now, what's the plan for a decent living wage? Community factories? Farms? Shit, something has to change big time or everyone of us will be earning what our counterpoint in China or Burma or the Asian Triangle is earning due to globalization.

[earth mom]

23. I hear ya. We lived as the working poor for years, until my husband got a good & secure union job

about 4 years ago. Even so, we still live paycheck to paycheck because the cost of living has gone up so much the past few years. We would be homeless for sure if he was still working at his old job. These days, we can afford some small "extras" but we can't afford a new car, a vacation or to even put in a new heat pump to the tune of $5K to $6K. We just can't save enough money as something always seems to come up.

The powers that be have just about destroyed the middle class and I don't know if enough can be done to fix this mess because it is huge. That 700 billion payout could have created so many jobs, instead of going to keep the rich afloat. Now * & Co are talking about a stimulus package that won't go to taxpayers and I'm pissed about that too. I heard Obama talk about 15 billion or something for jobs and I thought, WTF?! that's simply NOT enough!!! It's gonna get really ugly out there because corporate america has both candidates and congress by the short hairs and they are not going to allow anyone to mess with the status quo.

Corporate America LOVES them some cheap labor, doncha know?! Third world America, here we come! :grr:

[TX_DemoCatLady]

27. I think that was the plan!

"Something has to change big time or everyone of us will be earning what our counterpoint in China or Burma or the Asian Triangle is earning due to globalization."


Having worked for a big global corporation once upon a time, I believe part of the plan of a "global" economy is all the peasants in all the countries make the same peasant wages.

And if you work in the United States, where we do not have laws to protect our jobs as most European countries do, you will get laid off first whenever the big global company president has to prove stuff to Wall Street. Or at least that's the way it was where I used to work.

[earth mom]

19. This is "disturbing" to retailers because they are finally learning that most of America

actually lives as the working poor. :(

[TexasObserver]

21. "Walmart sees customers cutting back on purchases"

Whoever wrote the headline did so to spin the story away from its truth:

People have maxed out their cards, are buying less, and are buying necessities first.

[gratuitous]

25. Mindless consumerism is taking a beating

And that's bad news for purveyors of junk, crapola and cheap knockoffs. I don't know if it means that the American consumer is getting any smarter, but when people are watching their purchases instead of being stampeded by massive advertising campaigns, it can only mean lower profits for the likes of Wal-Mart.

[yellowcanine]

26. What, they are being rude to the greeters?

[DainBramaged]

29. Fuck WalMart, and their dependence on China instead of AMERICA

[Democat]

30. And John McCain's solution is to tax the middle class and...

...give a tax break to Walmart's CEO.

That should help the economy, right?

[Indenturedebtor]

32. Bwahaha "In the vibrant economy of 2007" BWAHAHAHAHA

:rofl:

A double-digit decline in credit card use at Wal-Mart stores in the second quarter this year sharply contrasts with the first quarter of 2007, when a vibrant economy was resulting in double-digit increases in card use.


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Way to use your brain noosmedia person :rofl:

[GeorgeGist]

33. Gee, how disturbing that ordinary people ...

see that the obvious flaw in the economy is profit and that Credit/Debt is not the solution.

[shadowknows69]

36. Expect to be seeing more shoplifting too Wally World

If people can't afford your shit they're at the end of their rope. I know, we can barely afford your shit anymore either. Lucky for you I'm too clumsy to be an adept thief.

[kath]

40. Uhh, hello, people. Buying baby formula on payday might very well mean that

you've been out of it for the last couple of days, or watering it down to make it last longer. When paychecks aren't enough to really get you through the whole month, *that's* when you see a surge of necessity purchases the day the paycheck comes in.

It's not about people "coming to their senses". It's about people struggling to get by.

[Marie26]

41. Stores are empty now

It's a little creepy. The Wal-Marts & Family Dollars are still packed, but if you go to the high-end stores, they're basically empty. Best Buy is usually crawling w/people on a Sat., but last week there wasn't anyone else there beside employees. The high-class dept. stores were also strangely empty. The common thread, I guess, is that people used to buy HDTVs or expensive suits on credit. But people aren't buying anything on credit anymore.

[Marie26]

42. .