Walmart's Announcement

[meme6253]

Walmart announced yesterday that they expect very slow sales for 2025, That sent the stock market into a panic & we should all take that with Great Concern, If the country's #1 retailer is predicting that we could be looking at some very dire times, I mentioned this type of thing happening way before the elections took place & i was told on this board that i was over-reacting & some even mocked & ridiculed, (you know how this board can be), Well now i can say I told you so!

[meme6253]

No spiritual advisor needed, I still take it pretty seriously when someone as large as them is predicting slow sales & not much growth factor, It won't be good for any smaller retailers or sellers here if they are correct, I won't dwell on it but I will prepare for it just in case.

[mam98031]

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@meme6253 wrote:

No spiritual advisor needed, I still take it pretty seriously when someone as large as them is predicting slow sales & not much growth factor, It won't be good for any smaller retailers or sellers here if they are correct, I won't dwell on it but I will prepare for it just in case.

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That really is dependent upon what you sell and where you source it.  Not everything selling on Ebay is from a country that have or will have tariffs.

[johnrj1226]

Guess you can't  have what your want unless you do what a lot of people do  - move - see lots of NY state  license  plates  here  in our 'lil ole Dog Patch, Georgia - only 120K+ folks (no toll any thing) in a  56 sq mile county

[chariot_badges]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

Walmart can burn as far as I'm concerned.

But I wouldn't put too much credence in the stock market unless there's another Black Monday (1987), which still recovered in a couple of years.  If a cat sneezes in the next room the Market goes into a tizzy.

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I will never forget that day.

Monday, October 19, 1987.

I was a senior at Cal State, Hayward working on Bachelor of Science v2.0 --  was in a lecture hall with at least 200 other students.  The lecturer was a famous Economist, had a hell of a resume.   I won't say his name.

It was about 1pm, west coast and he was talking about Keynesian Theory and his voice wandered off.   He was miked up, because of the size of the room, but it just kind of trailed off.   I looked closer (he was a few feet away from me) and I realized that he was crying and mumbling.  Openly weeping. 

He looked around like he'd just woke up, and said, "I don't know why I'm here.  I'm losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a minute."   And, without another word, picked up all his papers, stuffed them in a backpack ... and walked out.

At the time, I didn't realize how bad it was.   I had other worries: rent, tuition, mid-terms, etc., but, it was a big deal.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Whatever WalMart had to say about its 2025 forecast, there is interesting info about its 2024 sales, especially as it relates to categories in which it has been going head to head with ebay: ebay's "Focus Categories"

"Walmart reported Q4 and full year financial results this week, revealing strong ecommerce growth particularly in Collectibles and other key high value categories where the company is actively working to take market share from competitors like eBay.

In a company press release, SVP Marketplace and Fulfillment Services Manish Joneja shared that US commerce sales grew 20% in Q4, largely attributable to continued success in bringing higher income shoppers to the site...."

An excellent summary at:

https://www.valueaddedresource.net/walmart-q4-earnings-growth-collectibles-high-value-categories/

It will be interesting to see what ebay has to say about growth in its Focus Categories in 2024. ebay reports this coming Wednesday. And presumably we'll also be given a forecast, at least for Q1, if not all of 2025.

[ekmadonna]

And when they negotiate a contract to build a new store they get the cities and towns to agree in contract that multiple types of businesses CAN''T move in or lease space within so many miles of their Kingdom.

[lakefor94]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

That is an odd statement: I prefer not to mention what they sell and who probably shops there.

You know what Walmart is and sells, and you know that your also doing racial / income profiling. Pretty sad!

I'm guessing you shop at Albertsons where they have a piano player as you shop. 

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They do??  Ours plays soft rock and barely has decent beer.  😒

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Our Albertsons are not quite up to par as well. Would have to visit Fresh for a decent pint on tap here.....

[johnrj1226]

Not true  Have seen Walmart's in strip malls with  businesses on  each side.  We  have two Super Walmart stores in our county -  both are surrounded  by beaucoup  retail businesses  next door and across the streets - not  miles  away.  Stores  like Kroger, Home Depot, Ross, K-mart, Target etc.   Maybe the county, city  has such codes for retail stores to control traffic congestion,  safety, signage  etc - that  happens in places like Hilton Head, South Carolina and other top shelf communities.  Lived in a small Village in Frankfort, Illinois it  had a ton of "snob zoning codes" for retail shops one was no chain stores, just mom and pop stores, every business had to  have x amount of  "green space", with  shrubbery amount  based on the square footage of the building and parking lot - ground level signage with  size  limits, homes built on a minimum 1/4 acre - taxes were high  - 2900 bucks/year in 1982 (about $8400 today).  If you wanted to shop a  big box store you drove a  outside the village limits.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Another article about Wal Mart's 2024 growth, especially among higher income buyers: https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2025/02/21/walmart-credits-sellers-high-income-buyers-for-q4-ecommerc...

While no doubt some higher income buyers have "traded down" due to inflation, it seems pretty clear that a substantial part of the reason for the increase (especially online) is the deliberate targeting of these buyers, with stuff like designer handbags, etc. from vetted third party sellers. This is clearly a threat to ebay's reliance on its own focus categories. 

Obviously, WalMart, going into 2025, is concerned with the uncertainty that pervades the economy and has wisely reduced expectations by lowering its growth forecast, but this is certainly not a company on the ropes. 

Going forward, a lot will depend on consumer confidence and how that translates into purchases. ...and that's true for WalMart as well as other retail and ecommerce businesses.

[fashunu4eeuh]

If other top ten retailers made similar announcements, that would be more of a trend to bank on. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@fashunu4eeuh  I don't know that there's much a of a "trend" here. The OP has overstated the WM situation (as others have pointed out), and I'd say the only trend is : companies realize there is a lot of uncertainty in the economy right now, in particular, companies that rely heavily on imports find it hard to make forecasts with so little definite about the tariffs that have been proposed, and consumer confidence levels might or might not translate into spending pullbacks. 

Most companies realize they are usually better off lowering expectations (and then, possibly doing better than expected) rather than setting high expectations and falling short.

To me, there's nothing to this other than : This is an uncertain period of time. Until we know just what is going to happen with trade (not to mention other global matters) it's best to prepare for varied contingencies and hope for the best.

[fashunu4eeuh]

“  I don't know that there's much a of a "trend" here”

My point exactly. @my-cottage-books-and-antiques Outside of this, have not seen any credible overall predictions of poor retail sales ahead for 2025. In fact i’d say there is confidence in better days ahead, not dire.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@fashunu4eeuh I'm mostly seeing caution right now, with some hiring and expansion plans being put on the back burner while things sort themselves out. Most successful businesses find ways to adapt to changing circumstances, it's just that it is hard to plan when things are so up in the air. 

[meme6253]

I think we actually depend on them, more than they depend on us.

[meme6253]

Valid point & possible, We will have to wait & see.