In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche
News stories did not say whether WeChat Pay will be integrated with Walmart’s QR-code based payment app Walmart Pay. Walmart Pay is one of the fastest growing payment solutions in the United States.
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Giving Walmart workers an extra $8 or $9 a day might have little or no impact on the economy. Walmart clerks can now afford to buy lunch at In-N-Out Burger; rather than at McDonald’s, how does that benefit the wider economy? Much higher wages will be needed for a real economic stimulus.
It remains to be seen if the $1,000 bonus and wage hike will have any effect on Main Street. Giving average families an extra $1,000 to pay off $1,000 of their credit card debt, might not do much for the economy. The average U.S. household now owes $15,654 in credit-card debt, Nerdwallet estimated.
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A milestone has been reached in the world of American retail; Dollar General’s (NYSE: DG) sales are greater than those of Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD).
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Rite Aid, which operates around 4,600 drugstores in 31 states and the District of Columbia, is about to be taken over by Walgreen Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA). The press is treating the deal as just another corporate buyout, but to me, it sounds as if a very desperate Rite Aid effectively sold itself to Walgreens to avoid the humiliation of bankruptcy or the death spiral
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Get the picture, folks; the amount of Kroger’s revenue growth exceeded Walmart’s by $1.66 billion. That should be of concern to Walmart investors and to its executives because Walmart reported a market cap of $232.43 billion and an enterprise value of $274.63 billion on June 15, 2015. Kroger had a market cap of $35.07 billion and an enterprise value of $45.62 billion on the same day.
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Walmart has figured out how to make a successful small box format. Companies like Dollar Tree Stores (NASDAQ: DLTR) and Dollar General (NYSE: DG) as well as regional grocers had better take notice. Walmart has proven itself capable of producing a better small box store.
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Those that dismiss Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) as just a grocer are definitely missing the big picture. Kroger is now
Read MoreThe writing is on the wall: today’s value shoppers want healthy, quality foods that are convenient but sold at the lowest price possible. Those trends seem to benefit Kroger, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Costco Wholesale. A potential loser here is Walmart (NYSE: WMT), which has a reputation for low quality and lousy customer service.
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The only way Sprouts would be able to compete with Kroger, Costco and Wal-Mart in deep discounting is to match their wholesale buying power and distribution networks.
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