Dive Brief:
- Wal-Mart lowered its sales estimate for the rest of the year and warned of trouble ahead for the next three years as the company adjusts to consumers' changing shopping patterns.
- The retailer said it would open only 60 to 70 of its giant supercenters in fiscal 2016, or roughly half of the 120 built in fiscal 2015. Wal-Mart reiterated that it is emphasizing its smaller grocery-focused Neighborhood Market format and e-commerce.
- Groceries account for 56% of Wal-Mart sales.
Dive Insight:
Wal-Mart made its remarks at its annual investors conference. Long-time watchers of the retail space will remember when such an event was a veritable love-fest of executives and analysts. But those days are over. Same-store sales haven't risen in six quarters, and Wall Street has lost patience.
In fact about the only good news today for Wal-Mart is that it's not Tesco. Legendary investor Warren Buffett says he's dumping his shares in the troubled U.K. retailer.