Look Out, Sweden!
Wal-Mart’s latest conquest:
Wal-Mart eyes Sweden [The Local (Sweden)]
US retailing giant Wal-Mart is in talks about opening a store in Sundsvall in northern Sweden, officials from the city report.
“Wal-Mart is interested in establishing a test-store in northern Europe, and if they do it will be Sundvall’s Östra Birsta shopping area,” said Gerhard Larsson, a former governor of Västernorrland and one of those involved in the discussions, to the Dagens Handel newspaper.
A spokesperson from Wal-Mart declined to confirm or deny the report.
“We are always looking to establish in new areas. But we don’t comment on where or how,” Wal-Mart’s Kevin Gardner told the newspaper.
Should plans for the store move forward, Sweden’s first Wal-Mart store would beside an Ikea store and an Ica Maxi supermarket.
The negotiations come several years after the creation of a partnership between communities in Västernorrland and the town of Madison, Mississippi in the United States.
During a visit to the US, officials from the Sundsvall business community met with their Madison counterparts, which included representatives from Wal-Mart.
Officials from Sundsvall hope now that the partnership will bear fruit which can help the new retailing area gain traction.
“One can assume that in order to further develop, Birsta needs to have some kind of really exciting customer magnet which hasn’t previously been established in Sundsvall,” said one official to Dagens Handel.
Posted by Research Team on Thursday, November 06, 2008
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COMMENTS
“We are always looking to establish in new areas. But we don’t comment on where or how,” Wal-Mart’s Kevin Gardner told the newspaper.
“These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.”
Abraham Lincoln
SanDiegoView in WalMart a taxpayer sucker low wage hellhole
Thursday, November 06 at 05:56 PM
This makes no business sense. Walmart’s model is to have many stores in a region so that they get economies of scale and efficient distribution from central supply depots.
Opening a single store in a country means that merchandise will have to be trucked in just for this store. They will also need to carry items that are appropriate to local regulations and tastes. They can’t use volume purchases to drive down cost when they are only ordering a small number.
If they are going to carry the same items as existing stores then the only way they will be able to offer lower prices is by taking a loss. That’s why it is a “test store” so they won’t have to explain why it doesn’t make a profit.
It is hard to see what their real objective is. Perhaps they are going to try to intimidate some local firm by their presence and then buy them out at fire sale prices. This seems to be the model they have followed in other countries - buying an existing chain, rather than starting from scratch.
It has only worked well in one or two countries so far.
robertdfeinman in Long Island, NY
Friday, November 07 at 12:14 PM
Any doubt on who the true winner is, these days?
(Click on my name, to find-out)
bbrd in
Friday, November 07 at 01:03 PM
Sweden? Another REIT ? Associates with true Stockholm Syndrome?
ddrb in
Friday, November 07 at 01:23 PM
Several Swedish businesses just opened businesses in Fayetteville Ark. Check out the Green Valley Initiative in Fayetteville.
Joel in Fayetteville, Ark.
Friday, November 07 at 03:34 PM
Joel,
Today, on the news, I heard that another Swedish business was looking at Fayetteville to build their ‘machine cutting tool’ factory!!
RDS in
Friday, November 14 at 12:53 AM
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