The Wall Street Journal
"Wal-Mart Adds Guns Alongside Butter"
By: MIGUEL BUSTILLO
The secret is out of the bag; well, who knows if it were an actual secret. Wal-Mart is putting back the guns and ammunition on the shelves. In recent months, these products were only left in a third of the stores. This recent return comes with an effort to regain shoppers, specifically the men.
Wal-Mart has always been a powerhouse in the shopping world, but in recent months and years, it has faced issues with its efforts to brand and rebrand itself as the "one-stop shop." Five years ago, the guns and fishing section decreased due to a dip in sales, but now they are coming back into almost half of the stores with attempts to undo the damage placed on the stores by a failed attempt to rebrand the store as being more upscale. The fabrics section was another one that drastically decreased but is now coming back to stores in efforts to keep that demographic in the Wal-Mart shoppers family. Personally, my mother and grandmother were very disappointed when Wal-Mart did all of these major renovations to products and sections. They are both big sewers, so they'll be happy if Wal-Mart keeps its promise to bring the fabrics back. These are two of the "heritage categories" that Wal-Mart feels will bring it back our of the slumps.
The remainder of the article pens Wal-Mart officials' saying that they underestimated the power and importance of these products. It discusses how they plan to more forward with these new additions, and it discusses competitors such as Bass Pro Shops. Finally, the article recognizes Wal-Mart's "code of conduct," which makes them a leading retailer today.
Over the past five years, it has been interesting to me to watch this transformation and see the failures and successes. I knew things would backfire when Wal-Mart tried to do some many new things at one point. They put in higher scaled items and completely took out essential products and brands that shoppers had bought for years. My mom couldn't buy paper plates sometimes, and my grandmother couldn't buy some ingredients anymore that she has used in recipes for decades. Also during this time, Wal-Mart underwent an aesthetic rebranding with major or total renovations in almost every store. This by itself was a nightmare for shopper for months as things got rearranged, repainted, and restocked. Shoppers couldn't be patient, so they left. They couldn't buy their favorites anymore, so they left. Now, I see it that Wal-Mart is not completely failing, but they are about to crawl on hands and knees to get men back in their stores by adding the guns and homemakers by adding the fabrics and foods like butter.
For pretty much my entire lifetime, Wal-Mart has been a powerhouse in retail and a place where my family goes at least twice a week. My question is this: why did they try to change so much of an already really good thing?
Oh, dear, I hate to see guns return to people who are likely to believe they are crime victims, and hence likely to shoot without thinking. I want to know why I always feel in danger at Wal Mart and like I'm being stalked by criminals, but don't get that feeling at an upscale store.... I'm with your mother and grandmother on the fabric stuff. I don't sew much, but I needed to match a button the other day and was struck by how few there were.
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