Wal-Mart, Meet Prada (Wal-Mart planning to go "upscale")!

[Carolab]

Okay, now it really is bizarro-world

http://slate.msn.com/id/2120438/?GT1=6554

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. translation

the boycott is working

[napi21]

2. I heard this story a few days ago on DU. They''ll fail!

They have spent their entire existance on lower than everyone's price. Now they see the only retailers that are making $$ are the Macy's, Sax' Neiman Marcus, etc. They want a piece of that action since they are losing market share. Well, it's not going to work! WM has been doing everything they can think of to repair their image of being a pi** poor employer, but they've had far too many employees who leave and tell the truth. I suggest, if they don't radically change their corporatre phylosophy, they
re going down the tubes!

[zoeb]

6. Target stores are urban "upscale"

stores and their earnings have beat Wal-Mart's consistently in the last four months. That doesn't mean Wal-Mart doesn't have positive profit numbers, it just means they have not been as high as expected. Wal-Mart has blamed gas prices and a slowing economy for it's problems but can't explain why competitors are doing so much better. They have held two huge Arkansas press conferences to put a new face or their recent spate of bad news reports and one of the ideas was to offer upscale merchandise. Personally I don't think it will help the mega-giant retailer.

[OrlandoGator]

3. "Upscale" Wal-Mart = Less barefoot children with rickets running around.

n/t

[vogonjiltz]

4. I doubt Prada would sell to WalMart.

Walmart will never get over it's down market image.

[PretzelWarrior]

5. The Devil Sells Prada. Good book title. lol

I used to work for Wal-Mart when I was 18. Fortunately, I got wiser.

[Broken_Hero]

7. Well, Walmart is walmart...

Wal-Mart likes sticking its nose into everything, my wife who works for walmart has told me a few things that walmart wants to stick its nose in, like a Lindows program, instead of Windows, meaning they want to take on microsoft and the computer guys, even though i think their emachines are, crap. I think Walmart will try to upscale their clothes or buy from Prada, as a experiment, but i think it will be a failed one, they just have to try and try to stick their fingers into everything that they can. Walmart has tried their George line, and from what i hear, its not doing very well, so i thikn the Prada thing is just a test to see if they can make money from it, damn, they still sell Levi Strauss, so anything is possible...laterz.:)

[newyawker99]

8. Hi petersond!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Obamanaut]

9. I was reading some of the links some of you provided a few days

ago, and put this one on my favorites list in a new "Walmart Stuff" folder. Levi’s is just one of the many suppliers who have been forced to outsource due to WM’s heavyhandedness.

<snip>

This article appears in the Nov. 14, 2003 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

Wal-Mart Is Not a Business, It's an Economic Disease

<snip>

Levi Strauss is one of the biggest manufacturers of jeans and denim products, including the line of Docker slacks. Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer of Levi Strauss products. During the past 18 months, after meetings with Wal-Mart, Levi Strauss announced it will shut down its four remaining production plants in North America and shift the work to Ibero-America and Asia. Several hundred jobs will be lost.

<snip>

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2003/3044wal-mart.html

[Broken_Hero]

10. Hey hold on...

My wife has informed me, that walmart is working with fashion desingers in new york and paris to improve the George Line. She says the new fashions look good to her, but its all in the eye of the beholder. George isn't doing as bad as i thought, my wife informed me that George is doing good, but not stellar. But anyways, sorry to post info that wasn't a hundred percent sure...:) I should always check with the wifey before opening my big mouth about walmart...:P