Wal-Mart reports first sales decline in ten years

For many students - like sophomore Richard Novotny - the good buys and cheap deals dotting the aisles of Wal-Mart are nearly irresistible.

"It's like heaven when you walk into it," said Novotny, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln sophomore biological chemistry major.

Still, sometimes there is a twang of guilt that sometimes comes with that "heaven."

Controversies surrounding the stores employment policies have brought many boycott attempts, and the debate over the effect of the large superstore on small town economies continues.

But not much about Wal-Mart surprises Novotny - except for when Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. reported its first quarterly sales decline in a decade on Aug. 4.

At the same time, Target boasted a 4.6 percent sales increase.

Ron Hampton, marketing department chair at UNL, said the factors leading to Wal-Mart's downward slide in sales could come from many risky moves Wal-Mart made after sales increases in the previous quarter.

In order to expand business, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. decided to open stores in Germany and South Korea. Both operations are now dismissed as discontinued operations.

Hampton said Wal-Mart went into this endeavor with a large amount of competition.

Valerie Navarrete, a freshman pre-nursing major, said that she would never buy products besides groceries at Wal-Mart. Navarrete said she considers the quality of products at Wal-Mart lower than at other stores.

Dustin Colwell, a junior electrical engineering major and former Wal-Mart employee, refuses to shop at Wal-Mart.

"It's too busy," Colwell said. "I hate waiting in lines."

The U.S. stores also took part in a number of problems for Wal-Mart. It decided to remodel 1,800 of its stores, causing disruption of sales in those stores.

Because of these investments, though, Hampton said, Wal-Mart should recover. The investments made for the future could benefit Wal-Mart greatly, he said.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is hoping for a brighter future around the holiday season when stores across the country have increased sales, Hampton said.

Despite the future outlook of the store, there are still students who continue to boycott, hoping to reduce business at the large box stores.

Brad Stevens, a UNL alumnus and creator of the Facebook group "Boo Wal-Mart" hopes that this loss in net profit means that more people are avoiding Wal-Mart.

"Wal-Mart has been accused in many court cases of discrimination among minorities," Stevens said.

Stevens, along with other members of many Facebook Wal-Mart hate groups are choosing alternatives for grocery shopping.

Rebecca Lawson, a UNL alumna, chooses Hy-Vee's Health Market over Wal-Mart.Lawson hopes many others will boycott Wal-Mart and support smaller chains or local stores in small towns.

"Unfortunately it will take many more people boycotting Wal-Mart to make a difference," she said.

Boycotts only have an impact on public relations and the image of a company, Hampton explained. There will not be an impact on direct revenues, he said.

Still, Hampton said he estimates more students than ever are shopping at Wal-Mart now.