I think walmart should stay in the Americas.
I guess it's too late for that.
Americans line up at the glorious walmart this 4th of July to buy all their patriotic decorations and flags... the vast majority of which comes out of the People's Republic of Communist China...
yes, how true, and how sad
well, let's face it, walmart is not going away. i wouldn't say they didn't innovate, they created a whole new paradigm for chain retail stores. but they have just grown too big and powerful for any meaningful competition in the US. There is nothing that compares to Walmart here.
Until they fix those things they can't really complain about unfair competition
that's very true. but it's not always about if you do something better (in that respect, they'll never have a larger selection or lower prices than Walmart), but about the new, unique value to the customer. It's the same story with any kind of business, retail, banking, car manufacturing. If I were the store owner next to the future walmart site in Poland, I would start thinking about strategy, and what I can offer to the customer that Walmart can't.
I shop at a grocery store across the street from walmart. they are a chain, too, with higher prices, and you can't get sweatshirts or WD-40 there. But I go there because they recognize me, their stuff is always fresh, the people are ridiculously helpful and attentive, they have a better wine selection, the people who work there actually know something about what they sell, whether it's wine or seafood, there are sanitizing wipes containers all over the place and their carts are always clean (which may not be important for a lot of people, but it is for me).
so it's all about competing in a smart way.
here is a very funny blog by my favorite Brit in Poland, about the competition between modern supermarkets and mom & pop stores, and how it relates to customer service: