Sam's Club closures

Sam's club never really could offer a 'great value' proposition. They'd have done MUCH better if they steered clear of over-priced name brands and pressed the quality generic alternatives. Here's a prognostication for you: Unless Walmart can go private, they'll be like Sears & Roebuck within a decade.

The stock market requires perpetual increase where a private company gets to take that responsible breath once in a while in order to maintain the bricks and mortar. So, with the real-estate nationwide saturated with stores, Walmart has to expand in store sales. But they have fallen into the trap of calendar marketing agreements with many vendors and they also sell store space. All of that back door dealing skews the space-to-sales index. The great retailers (Aldi is an example) earn their cash at the register and move the space allocation to honestly reflect the consumer's preference with much greater frequency. Location managers have greater discretion as well.

With integrity, guidelines and performance measurements, a bit more anarchy and a bit less centralization can be terrific in retail.