Is Wal-Mart The Benchmark for Holiday Shopping?

Sorry. I know you guys must be tired of hearing about Wal-Mart. According to the Associated Press, the Company just reported that same-store sales suffered a 0.1 percent drop in stores open at least a year. “There is now significant concern that the holiday retail season is going to underperform,” said Gregory Miller, chief economist at SunTrust Banks. “Traffic doesn’t necessarily translate into profits,” he said, referring to reports of crowded stores over the weekend. Well, Mr. Miller. Yes, Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer…and sure, I only experienced the crowds in one city (San Antonio) this weekend. But Wal-Mart [seemingly] didn’t have the turnout that Best Buy did during Black Friday. I visited 4 Best Buys and 5 Wal-Mart’s between 11:00pm and 2:30am. Best Buy had lines around the building, which could explain why the stock is up today. Wal-Mart had what seemed to be regular traffic (since most are open 24 hrs, lines probably aren’t a good comparison). And given that Black Friday is generally an electronics blowout event, Best Buy should be expected to do well versus a “general items” Wal-Mart. All this news has probably done is throw the market into a tailspin since retailers’ recent increases in stock price. The paranoid are probably just more worried about the overall state of the economy. Don’t worry, folks. The busiest shopping day is still the weekend before Christmas. And given that Christmas is on a Monday this year, I’d venture to guess that malls and big box centers will be slammed all that weekend.

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