Word: wal
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...Wal-Mart's expansion has gone well in Mexico, where it is the country's largest retailer. And the company just completed a deal to crack the Japanese market by acquiring 34% of Seiyu, a well-positioned but struggling retailer. But Wal-Mart has stumbled badly in some countries, particularly Germany. "We could write a training manual about our experiences in Germany," Scott says. "We really did more things wrong than right." There, Wal-Mart faces tough competition from well-established chains, especially among grocers. The German managers Wal-Mart brought on board through two mergers resisted American help...
...From Wal-Mart's point of view, it's the Chinese who have turned out to be the best capitalists. At the store in Shenzhen, local managers hold Ping-Pong tourneys, stage fashion shows and have clerks hawk products like paper towels in front of a large display. And that's just on Tuesday. The store even has its own fight song ("My heart is filled with pride...I long to tell you how deep my love for Wal-Mart...
...Wal-Mart is increasing this year, from 25 to 40, the number of stores in China. The company introduced the Walton Institute, a program to teach local managers the master's Three Basic Beliefs (respect for the individual, service to our customers, and to strive for excellence), the 10-Foot Rule (always greet a customer when she gets within 10 feet of you), the Sundown Rule (any employee or customer request must be addressed before sundown) and other cultural foundations...
Walking into a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Fort Worth, Texas, CEO Scott recalls that when Wal-Mart was an underdog, "you could really go after a competitor." Now the company no longer shows comparison-shopping baskets to demonstrate that Wal-Mart has lower prices than competitors. "It just looks like we're picking on people," he says...
...sure, Wal-Mart has to keep finding new people to pick on. Over the past two years, Kmart filed for bankruptcy, and Ames and Bradlees, once East Coast powerhouses, closed up shop. Wal-Mart is quickly adding scalps in the grocery industry too, the venerable Grand Union among them. Safeway, Albertsons and SuperValu have all slashed their earnings estimates in the past few weeks...