Why did Wal-Mart close 1 1 stores intensively?

In recent years, Wal-Mart has been adjusting its store closures. According to the statistics of Lianshang.com, Wal-Mart closed five stores in China in 20 12, 20 13, 20 14, 0/7 and 20 15.

Wal-Mart Dense Store

On May 3rd, I fell in love. Wal-Mart Zhengzhou Guanliang Store, Jinshui Road Store and Daxue Road Store will be closed on May 17 this year. At present, all stores have posted notices of suspension. By then, Wal-Mart will have only 1 store in Zhengzhou. Coincidentally, Wal-Mart's Quzhou store also issued a notice of closure today, starting from May 10.

From March 2nd this year, Wal-Mart Changsha Gao Qiao Store, Beijing Wangjing Store and Guangzhou Tian Li Store will be closed at the same time in one day.

On March 16, Wal-Mart Suzhou Modern Avenue Store also posted a notice of closure;

Subsequently, in April, Wal-Mart Hefei Shengli Road Store and Maanshan Road Store successively announced their closure;

Wal-Mart Changshu Hainan Road Store closed on April 26th.

Then, the only Wal-Mart supermarket in Shijiazhuang closed down on May 2;

In other words, in just two months, Wal-Mart closed eight stores in China.

The loss was caused by the owner.

A senior local retail observer said, "As early as a month ago, I knew that Wal-Mart was going to close its store, so it was not sudden. Loss is the main reason for closing the store. Otherwise, why should it be closed? " Of course, road shops in the future will be greatly affected by road construction and the rent will be high. In addition, the loss will naturally not continue. However, the two stores may face compensation from property owners because the lease has not expired. "

Fall in love. Com noted that in 20 15, due to the public sale of shares by SZITIC, the performance of some Wal-Mart stores in China was exposed.

In the announcement of SZITIC, the sales performance of Future Road Store at the end of May 20 13, 20 14 and 20 15 was disclosed. The annual sales scale was about 654.38 billion yuan, and the profits were-5.64 million yuan,-77/kloc-0.00 million yuan and respectively. At the same time, the store's total net assets are-41484,800 yuan.

However, Wal-Mart did not respond positively to this matter, but only gave an explanation for optimizing the commercial layout. "We will negotiate with the owner in a friendly way and handle the follow-up matters legally and reasonably." Li Chengfang said.

Hu Chuncai, general manager of Shanghai Shangyi Consulting, believes that from the perspective of the whole industry, the hypermarket format is entering a recession track for several reasons:

First, the impact of e-commerce has taken away most high-margin goods, and the total gross profit loss supporting hypermarkets may be 30-40%;

Secondly, hypermarkets have been in China for 20 years, and the leases of many stores have expired (the general lease term is 15-20 years). Under the pressure of doubling the owner's rent, I'm afraid all the profitable shops will close down.

These two core factors are the important reasons leading to a large number of closed stores in hypermarkets.

In addition, the hypermarket is also attacked by community supermarkets such as Lecheng Fresh Legend and Jinhaolai Kitchen Fresh Life. For popular goods, consumers only need to buy them in the nearby community supermarket. These community supermarkets as small as several hundred square meters can basically meet the daily needs of consumers. These small shops are attached to supermarkets like capillaries, grabbing food business.

"Attacks from the upper and lower ends have gradually put the hypermarket format, which was once quite competitive in China and Shang Chao, at a disadvantage. Although foreign retail enterprises are relatively competitive, they have to enter the store closing tide because the format of hypermarkets is generally in a downward trend. "

Not only Wal-Mart, but also other large supermarkets continue to close their stores.

As for opening a business, this is the normal state of business. The current tide of closing stores is not a signal of the decline of traditional retail, but a true portrayal of the positive transformation of the supermarket industry.

In an interview, Scott Price, Global Executive Vice President and CEO of Wal-Mart International Department, explained the reason for closing the store. "Just like the growth of plants, there are always some branches that need pruning if plants want to grow healthily. The development of Wal-Mart in a place always depends on the development in the next 30 years, including the development of local business district, the growth of local population, the construction of road infrastructure, the development of the whole market and so on. We will make a forecast on this basis, but over time, this forecast may not fully reflect the actual situation, and some stores will not be able to serve local customers well. At this time, we will choose to close some stores. For the healthy development of retail, it is very important to manage the combination of store business and ensure the healthy development of the store as a whole. "

While closing stores, Wal-Mart is also accelerating the layout of stores.

According to the statistics of Lianshang.com, in 20 16, Wal-Mart opened 24 new stores in China, including 2 hypermarkets and 3 member stores in Sam, and the performance of new stores exceeded expectations. 60 stores were upgraded at the same time. It is reported that in 20 17, Wal-Mart will open 30-40 new stores, including hypermarkets and Sam member stores, and upgrade 50 existing stores.

Obviously, Wal-Mart's adjustment strategy has achieved results.

Wal-Mart's global financial report for fiscal year 20 17 shows that in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 20 17, Wal-Mart's total sales in China increased by 5.4%, comparable sales increased by 2.3%, and comparable customer unit price increased by 5.2%. The performance is mainly driven by the growth of comparable sales in hypermarkets and Sam member stores.

Closing stores is the adjustment of the ecological structure of the whole format, especially the transformation and adjustment of hypermarkets. In China, at present, the proportion of hypermarkets is too high, reaching 7-80%, while in the Japanese market, convenience stores account for the highest proportion.