Why Wal-Mart is Winning

In my area Wal-Mart isn't the number one store like it is in many other areas. Here Meijer is King. For those not in the small region where Meijer is located think of a Super Wal-Mart. Meijer has been around for decades. Most of my life it was the only option for a 24/7 grocery and everything else store.

13 years or so ago Wal-Mart came to town. I remember Meijer being very worried about it. This worry has caused them to update aging stores and buy up land where Wal-Mart could build on just to keep them away. So far their plan is not working. A super Wal-Mart finally went up blocks from a Meijer store. People love it of course.

The trend I'm seeing now with Meijer is that they are raising prices on many of their items, only to mark them on "sale" at the original price. A quick visit to Wal-Mart shows the same items for 50 cents to a dollar lower in price than the sale price.

Hey Fred, (owner of the Meijer stores) do you really think your customers are so dumb they don't realize that something they buy each week has had its price raised? Do you think the fake sale price which was the original price is a good idea? Especially when I can go to Wal-Mart and get it for an even cheaper price?

On that note, have you ever heard of the 5S program? That means making the layout of each store the same so no matter which one a customer enters they can quickly and easily find the goods they are looking for. I hate going to a "foreign" Meijer and have to wander around for 10 minutes looking for something that is on the opposite side of the store from what I'm used to.

Love them or hate them Wal-Mart is here to stay. They will put you out of business if you can't offer a service to your customer base that will offset the cheaper prices they offer. I for one don't mind paying a little extra if I'm getting superior support from the staff.