Wal-Mart Adds Guns Alongside Butter

[JohnRich 4]

News:

Wal-Mart Adds Guns Alongside Butter

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is quietly bringing back rifles, shotguns and ammunition to hundreds of U.S. stores as the hurting retail giant seeks to reinvigorate its one-stop shopping appeal and attract more male customers.

The world's largest retailer stopped selling hunting rifles and bullets at all but a third of its U.S. stores five years ago, citing diminishing sales. It is now restoring them to hundreds of locations, bringing the total to nearly half of its more than 3,600 U.S. namesake stores, as part of a larger push to restore "heritage categories" of merchandise such as fishing rods and bolts of sewing cloth...

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703367004576289230488920802.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[virgin-burner 1]

no more "we stop selling ammo" after columbine, ey!?

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[millertime24 8]

Why is this news? I can go down to my local Walmart and buy a gun, some ammo, a case of beer and some cigars in one shopping trip. And thats in Utah of all places.

Muff #5048

[JohnRich 4]

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Why is this news?

Because it shows that Wal-Mart recognizes that they made a marketing mistake by yanking gun sales out of many of their stores, and that guns really are a mainstream consumer product.

[skybill 22]

Hi JR,
"Got Guns?" You Bet!! I Live in NC. My local W-M's, Clinton, and Fayetteville all sell guns and ammo. Always have since I've been here. I doubt that they'd discontinue guns and ammo sales as with all the Red Necks and Ft. Bragg Army guys around here they make a pretty penny off em'. Got Guns?, Get $$$!!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[Andy9o8 3]

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Hi JR,
"Got Guns?" You Bet!! I Live in NC. My local W-M's, Clinton, and Fayetteville all sell guns and ammo. Always have since I've been here. I doubt that they'd discontinue guns and ammo sales as with all the Red Necks and Ft. Bragg Army guys around here they make a pretty penny off em'. Got Guns?, Get $$$!!

Good point; quiche and sandals would work the same way in San Francisco. Well, the higher rents there would affect the bottom line; but you get the point.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Hi JR,
"Got Guns?" You Bet!! I Live in NC. My local W-M's, Clinton, and Fayetteville all sell guns and ammo. Always have since I've been here. I doubt that they'd discontinue guns and ammo sales as with all the Red Necks and Ft. Bragg Army guys around here they make a pretty penny off em'. Got Guns?, Get $$$!!

Good point; quiche and sandals would work the same way in San Francisco. Well, the higher rents there would affect the bottom line; but you get the point.

apparently the Mt View Walmart, among the closest to San Francisco, does sell ammo.

[Amazon 7]

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Hi JR,
"Got Guns?" You Bet!! I Live in NC. My local W-M's, Clinton, and Fayetteville all sell guns and ammo. Always have since I've been here. I doubt that they'd discontinue guns and ammo sales as with all the Red Necks and Ft. Bragg Army guys around here they make a pretty penny off em'. Got Guns?, Get $$$!!

Good point; quiche and sandals would work the same way in San Francisco. Well, the higher rents there would affect the bottom line; but you get the point.

apparently the Mt View Walmart, among the closest to San Francisco, does sell ammo.

Ours up here... never pulled them nor the variety of weapons they were selling.

Ammo did get in short supply for a while due to the brilliant marketing strategy of the NRA to help the manufacturers who were in an economic slump in 2008 when Obama was elected

[Andy9o8 3]

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apparently the Mt View Walmart, among the closest to San Francisco, does sell ammo.

Yeah, well the Piggly Wiggly sells quiche. Frozen, of course.

[quade 4]

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Why is this news?

Because it shows that Wal-Mart recognizes that they made a marketing mistake by yanking gun sales out of many of their stores, and that guns really are a mainstream consumer product.

"Mainstream" has nothing to do with it. Do you really think Wal-Mart gives a shit about "mainstream"? No. All it cares about is how much money each store makes per unit of floor space. They calculate this to the penny and items come or go based on it.

Guns have a higher profit margin than whatever other item would take up that equivalent floor space. If they could sell any item at a higher profit margin per square foot of floor space they would.

THAT is how big box stores work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_per_unit_area

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[rushmc 23]

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Why is this news?

Because it shows that Wal-Mart recognizes that they made a marketing mistake by yanking gun sales out of many of their stores, and that guns really are a mainstream consumer product.

The marketing mistake was trying to be politicaly correct

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rushmc 23]

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Hi JR,
"Got Guns?" You Bet!! I Live in NC. My local W-M's, Clinton, and Fayetteville all sell guns and ammo. Always have since I've been here. I doubt that they'd discontinue guns and ammo sales as with all the Red Necks and Ft. Bragg Army guys around here they make a pretty penny off em'. Got Guns?, Get $$$!!

Good point; quiche and sandals would work the same way in San Francisco. Well, the higher rents there would affect the bottom line; but you get the point.

apparently the Mt View Walmart, among the closest to San Francisco, does sell ammo.

as does the one here. (they ammo they had for a few years was limited but has slowly increased over the last year)
But they did pull nearly all the guns a few years back

I have not been back in a while to see if they are returning

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[JohnRich 4]

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Good point; quiche and sandals would work the same way in San Francisco. Well, the higher rents there would affect the bottom line; but you get the point.

Apparently the Mt View Walmart, among the closest to San Francisco, does sell ammo.

Even Gays like guns and need ammo: www.pinkpistols.org

[JohnRich 4]

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"Mainstream" has nothing to do with it. All it cares about is how much money each store makes per unit of floor space.

Mainstream = sales = profit.

Using your own business motivation model, if guns were something that very few people wanted, then Wal-Mart wouldn't sell them. But since they are, there must be a lot of demand for them.

[quade 4]

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"Mainstream" has nothing to do with it. All it cares about is how much money each store makes per unit of floor space.

Mainstream = sales = profit.

I don't think you understand the difference.

Let me attempt to make it more clear with an extreme example of using an exotic car dealership selling Ferraris.

Clearly not a "mainstream" item and if attempted to be sold in most locations would be a doomed business venture because the profit made wouldn't be able to sustain the rent on the structure and the payroll of the employees.

That said, in some locations such as Beverly Hills, they can do quite well.

"Mainstream" has zero to do with it.

Now let's look at the other extreme; McDonalds. About as "mainstream" as one can get.

Yet, how many are located on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills? None. Why? They don't make enough profit margin to cover the cost of rent there.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kelpdiver 2]

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"Mainstream" has nothing to do with it. All it cares about is how much money each store makes per unit of floor space.

Mainstream = sales = profit.

I don't think you understand the difference.

no, he saw right through the bullshit.

An average Walmart has 108,000 ft of floor space, so let's not waste time with silly Ferrari talk. Space is not precious. Anything that sells in volume, iow, anything remotely mainstream, is going to be sold. Walmart wants to be one stop shopping for its customers.

[quade 4]

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An average Walmart has 108,000 ft of floor space... Space is not precious.

You're fooling yourself.

Every retail operation I've ever been involved with knew to the penny the value of their floor space in each section of their store. I once dealt with one that mapped it out in a grid for each square foot. They'd fret over every single penny as to whether this spot or that spot was better to sell this item or that item. Does this item go on that shelf because it's at eye level to mom, dad or the kids?

I'll be honest, until I was exposed to how much detail goes into it, I had no idea. However, coming away from that experience tells me the world of retail at the highest levels has far more to do with it than anything you can probably imagine.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kelpdiver 2]

walmart uses the largest teradate installation on the planet to manage this, yes. They are very thorough.

It's no accident that they're selling ammo. It sells. And this is hardly a surprise to anyone that knows the size and price of a box of 50 handgun rounds. It's a much higher price per area that most items they sell.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Every retail operation I've ever been involved with knew to the penny the value of their floor space in each section of their store. I once dealt with one that mapped it out in a grid for each square foot. They'd fret over every single penny as to whether this spot or that spot was better to sell this item or that item.

so why do you think they sell toilet paper?

[quade 4]

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Every retail operation I've ever been involved with knew to the penny the value of their floor space in each section of their store. I once dealt with one that mapped it out in a grid for each square foot. They'd fret over every single penny as to whether this spot or that spot was better to sell this item or that item.

so why do you think they sell toilet paper?

Have you seen the markup for the average roll of poo paper? It's profitable and the very best part is virtually every single person in the US uses it. The vast majority use it every single day. For all practical purposes nobody considers it "optional" and it's recession proof.

There are a number of products like that; guns aren't actually one of them.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[BrokenR1 0]

Why are they moving the guns next to the butter? That seems like a silly place to put them.

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Rap is to music what etch-a-sketch is to art.

[quade 4]

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Why are they moving the guns next to the butter? That seems like a silly place to put them.

That's JR's attempt at "humor". Not mine.

It stems from the phrase "guns and butter" which is a statement about two traditional ways to look at the role government plays; defense and general welfare. The phrase means to remind us about the balance of the two. If a country spends a lot on one but not the other there may be problems.

Perhaps the best known actual usage comes from Joseph Goebbels who said, "We can do without butter, but, despite all our love of peace, not without arms. One cannot shoot with butter, but with guns." Hermann Göring also said, "Guns will make us powerful; butter will only make us fat."

Kind of the wrong metaphor to use here, but . . . like I said, it's JR's work, not mine.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[BrokenR1 0]

That was my attempt at humor too.

Interesting, I'm all into guns but never heard anything about butter before.

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Rap is to music what etch-a-sketch is to art.

[virgin-burner 1]

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Why are they moving the guns next to the butter? That seems like a silly place to put them.

That's JR's attempt at "humor". Not mine.

It stems from the phrase "guns and butter" which is a statement about two traditional ways to look at the role government plays; defense and general welfare. The phrase means to remind us about the balance of the two. If a country spends a lot on one but not the other there may be problems.

Perhaps the best known actual usage comes from Joseph Goebbels who said, "We can do without butter, but, despite all our love of peace, not without arms. One cannot shoot with butter, but with guns." Hermann Göring also said, "Guns will make us powerful; butter will only make us fat."

Kind of the wrong metaphor to use here, but . . . like I said, it's JR's work, not mine.

using JR's and goebels name in one sentence - THAT is funny!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[BrokenR1 0]

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using JR's and goebels name in one sentence paragraph- THAT is funny!

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Rap is to music what etch-a-sketch is to art.