Friday, February 15, 2013

Wal-Mart- Payroll Tax Increase Starting to Bite Sales

According to emails obtained by Bloomberg- Wal-Mart's February month-to-date sales have been a 'disaster'. These same emails are blaming the increase in the payroll tax. So much for the payroll tax increase being much a do about nothing. This just adds to the recession risks that I highlighted here (stall speed GDP) and here (changes to employment levels).

“In case you haven’t seen a sales report these days, February MTD sales are a total disaster,” Jerry Murray, Wal- Mart’s vice president of finance and logistics, said in a Feb. 12 e-mail to other executives, referring to month-to-date sales. “The worst start to a month I have seen in my ~7 years with the company.”
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s shares rose 14 percent in the 12 months through yesterday, compared with an 8.5 percent gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg.

Wal-Mart and discounters such as Family Dollar Stores Inc. are bracing for a rise in the payroll tax to take a bigger bite from the paychecks of shoppers already dealing with elevated unemployment. The world’s largest retailer’s struggles come after executives expected a strong start to February because of the Super Bowl, milder weather and paycheck cycles, according to the minutes of a Feb. 1 officers meeting Bloomberg obtained.

Murray’s comments about February sales follow disappointing results from January, a month that Cameron Geiger, senior vice president of Wal-Mart U.S. Replenishment, said he was relieved to see end, according to a separate internal e-mail obtained by Bloomberg News.

“Have you ever had one of those weeks where your best- prepared plans weren’t good enough to accomplish everything you set out to do?” Geiger asked in a Feb. 1 e-mail to executives. “Well, we just had one of those weeks here at Walmart U.S. Where are all the customers? And where’s their money?”

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