
Walmart is ending its Express concept and closing 269 stores - wormold
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/01/15/walmart-is-ending-its-express-concept-and-closing-269-stores/
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tristanj
And Walmart plans to open 405 stores globally in the coming year. 95 percent
of the closed U.S. stores are within 10 miles of another Walmart store.
They're just consolidating smaller stores into bigger ones. They experimented
with express stores 5 years ago, found it didn't work as well as hoped, so
they canned them. These decisions make strong business sense.

The article makes it seem like it is doom and gloom for the company but they
are doing just fine.

~~~
mark_l_watson
Thanks for the 95% closing stat being stores that are close together. My wife
and I live in a small town in the mountains of Central Arizona and we have a
Walmart store in the closest big town (60K population) that is just a 20
minute drive. We both like and rely on that store. There are no other Walmart
stores within about 60 miles of that one, so hopefully it is safe. This store
is a major employer in the area. It would be a bummer if those already
marginalized workers lost their jobs.

~~~
martinald
"Just" a 20 min drive.

That statmeent is the reason every bricks & mortar European retailer has
failed in the US. Very interesting.

~~~
api_or_ipa
I live in Vancouver BC. To my knowledge, we don't have a Walmart within the
city, the nearest location to downtown being in North Van, a suburb located
across the Burrard Inlet and certainly more than 20 mins by car from downtown.
20 minutes ain't too bad.

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te_chris
This is the opposite of the trend in the UK. Reverting from the big stores and
opening shit tons of sainsburys local, tesco express and metro, little
waitrose etc

~~~
goodcanadian
As a non-UK individual that visits occasionally, I would say that is because
they are really useful stores: good selection at good prices in a very
convenient location. I've never seen anything remotely equivalent in Canada or
the US. In North America, the smaller stores either have nothing I want to
buy, high prices, or most often, both. Further, it is rare to find the
equivalent convenience of a high street shop.

~~~
tsm
I live in Chicago and frequently shop at one of the Walmart Expresses that's
closing on Sunday. Obviously it doesn't have the selection of a suburban
supermarket many times its size, but I've never had a problem buying normal
things there. And with the possible exception of Aldi, it has the best prices
in the city.

I'm sure it has something to do with being in a big city.

~~~
rconti
Aldi owns Trader Joe's, where I shop frequently. I LOVE shopping somewhere
with only 4 or 5 aisles; so much more convenient than our local Safeway with
15 or 20 aisles that takes ages to walk back and forth as you keep remembering
where items are. I can't imagine shopping regularly at a full-size WalMart.

~~~
ghaff
>Aldi owns Trader Joe's

Not quite. They're owned by different branches of the same family.

[http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/12/02/aldi_grocery_...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/12/02/aldi_grocery_store_best_in_america_related_to_trader_joe_s.html)

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rconti
I was shocked to learn (on the news this morning) that 2 WalMart stores in the
Bay Area are closing (Oakland and San Jose (Monterey Highway)). I don't know
there were ANY until a week or two ago when I did a Google Maps search.

My hatred of them goes back to my youth and early online activism from when
WalMart was pushing out local mom and pop record stores in small towns and
replacing them with their shitty censored versions of music. (WalMart insisted
that labels manufacture and sell censored copies just so they could push their
twisted morals on America).

Needless to say, nothing they have done in the past twenty years has made them
any more deserving of my dollars. I've never bought anything there and never
will. Fortunately we live in an area of the country where it's easier to avoid
them than it is to shop there, even if you wanted to.

~~~
refurb
_WalMart was pushing out local mom and pop record stores in small towns and
replacing them with their shitty censored versions of music._

How would Walmart put these stores out of business? Or do you mean consumers
did by shopping at Walmart instead?

~~~
Spooky23
They had a playbook for crushing both small local retailers and regional
chains.

A big part of it was selling stuff at a loss and getting around zoning rules
by dropping stores in outlying areas outside of towns, extracting tax
concessions in the process. As the GP mentioned, they were selective in
stocking of books, CDs and other media. Lots of Jesus stuff and "family
friendly" fare, which kept the local ministers and conservatives happy.

They also used their distribution as a weapon -- their market power let them
cut national deals with big vendors like P&G and actually make them rent space
on WalMart trucks.

Walmart would expand by building multiple stores in a region, surrounding
denser communities. Doing that and exploiting those national accounts let them
flood the region with goods, and kill the regional distributors that
traditional discount stores and local stores depended on.

Once the competition is dead, prices float back up. We're all stuck with a
shitty shopping experience and high prices. Now they use their dominant
position to extract direct and indirect government subsidy on top of
everything else. The company may be a triumph of some version of capitalism,
but they are a cancer on society.

~~~
refurb
Do you have any evidence to backup your claims?

Are they "crushing both small local retailers and regional chains" or just
competing with them? Would it have been better had they not competed?

And yes, Walmart drove hard bargains with their suppliers. Why not? They were
offering those suppliers a ton of business. If the suppliers didn't like the
deal, they didn't have to take it.

I just disagree that Walmart is a bad thing at all. Like I said, nobody is
forced to shop there. If customers didn't like it, they could continue to shop
at their mom-and-pop stores, but the important thing to note is _they didn
't_.

~~~
Spooky23
You live in a place where that's true. Many places have Walmart, gas stations
or a 60 mile drive to a bigger city.

Since the outcome of WalMart's success is duopoly between Target and WalMart,
I would say that no, we're not better off.

This was a huge topic in the 90s, I'd suggest that you look at the many
published descriptions of their business practices.

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DrScump
here's a non-paywalled story:
[http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011516/walmar...](http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011516/walmart-
closes-269-stores.asp)

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ianamartin
I think this is a good move for them.

I don't see any of these express locations in NYC, but there is an "express"
type Target relatively close to me in Brooklyn, and it's abysmal.

It doesn't really do anything for them. I saw that Target logo over by
Barclays Center and thought, "Oh thank god! A real store where I can buy a
variety of things and consolidate shopping trips. And it's on my way home from
the work commute. Great!"

Nope. It's not any better than a RiteAid or some mom and pop dollar store or
"grocery" shop.

When I found out that there was another Target even closer to me, I almost
didn't bother going. I'm glad I did because it was a genuine (from my
perspective as a Texan) Target store.

If Wal-Mart had these express stores in my area, I wouldn't bother. If I can't
find what I need in your store anyway, I'd rather deal with a local and have
the relationship with the business owner where I can at least say, "Hey, I
shop here all the time. I am really frustrated that I can't find X. Would you
consider placing an order for it if I promise to buy X of them every month?"

That works.

Good luck doing that at a Wal-Mart or a Target.

As much as I absolutely despise shopping in Brooklyn, I appreciate the locals.
They really will help you out if you make it a point to develop a relationship
with them.

And I'm not talking about the hipster-run artisanal crowd. I'm talking about
the immigrants who bust ass and deal with hate speech and accusations of
terrorism every time something goes down.

I hate the fact that they are good businessmen and stock only the junk food
and cheap crap that people buy. It makes my life more difficult. But they are
responding correctly to their market.

The difference between these guys and the shitty Target store at Barclays is
that I can build a relationship with them. The goods for sale are pretty much
the same.

And plus, when you are alone and single and new to the city and shit happens
in France like it did a couple months ago, you can go hang out with a bunch of
Muslims who know your name and drink free beer while they say 'Vive La France'
and condemn that terroristic bullshit and support their community.

Try that at a Wal-Mart Express or a gimped up Target store.

I don't think the big stores like that can really succeed competing with the
locals in a place like NYC. I would guess it's the same in other dense
population centers like DC.

~~~
ceras
What makes the Barclay's Center Target different than other Targets? I went
just last week and found it the same as any other Target I've been to in the
US (clothes, cleaning supplies, home goods, electronics, toys, non-fresh food,
etc.)

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vortico
I've only seen one of these stores while traveling, and it seemed to target
the small township due to it being the only one in town. So my guess is that a
private individual will take advantage of their closure by buying their
property after liquidation, and so the employees will simply switch employers.
This is why I'm not bothered by the "16,000 workers losing their jobs"
statement.

~~~
maxerickson
The text in the article is _The store closures are to affect 16,000 jobs
internationally, some 10,000 of those positions in the United States._

Looking at the Walmart press release, there is apparently a real difference,
as they will try to give many of those employees positions in nearby stores:

[http://news.walmart.com/news-archive/2016/01/15/walmart-
cont...](http://news.walmart.com/news-archive/2016/01/15/walmart-continues-
sharpened-focus-on-portfolio-management)

 _In total, approximately 16,000 associates will be impacted by the decision,
about 10,000 of them in the U.S. More than 95 percent of the closed stores in
the U.S. are within 10 miles on average of another Walmart, and the hope is
that these associates will be placed in nearby locations. Where that isn’t
possible, the company will provide 60 days of pay and, if eligible, severance,
as well as resume and interview skills training. Whether with Walmart or
elsewhere, the company’s objective is to help all associates find their next
job opportunity._

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viral007
Out of the stores that Walmart is shutting down in California region, few of
the stores were doing very well and located in the best areas for their
customer base in So. Cal. Then there were some stores that were just
redesigned. This makes me think if it could again be union-related issues in
California.

Reference to previous sudden closure in Pico Rivera in So. Cal.:
[http://ktla.com/2015/04/16/sudden-closure-of-pico-rivera-
wal...](http://ktla.com/2015/04/16/sudden-closure-of-pico-rivera-wal-mart-
draws-skepticism-from-employees/)

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Spooky23
Puzzling to me that CVS, Walgreens and RiteAid can pull off this kind of
business, yet WalMart can't.

