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Wal-Mart Taps 'Inner Skinflint' Amid Downturn  

Posted Feb 28, 08 4:55 PM CST in US,  Business    Editor's Choice

(newser) – Newsweek blogger Daniel Gross asks why Wal-Mart, with its sales increasing, appears to be untouched by the US economic slowdown, and comes up with four answers. One, the behemoth mostly sell necessities. Two, its cheaper-than-thou branding is attracting pinched customers. Three, investors like Wal-Mart's prospects down the line. And four, the store is becoming increasingly international.

While Wal-Mart's sales aren't necessarily rising quickly, they're rising steadily, and are likely to keep rising, Grossman says, as "consumers are embracing their inner skinflint." He also points out that the hoped-for economic stimulus may end up a big boon for Wal-Mart, as money is funneled to families lower on the economic scale.

Source Newsweek

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Wal-Mart Taps 'Inner Skinflint' Amid Downturn
Shopping carts are gathered outside the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Brunswick, Maine, on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. The world's largest retailer announced its renewed focus on low prices has paid off with a...   (Associated Press)
Wal-Mart Taps 'Inner Skinflint' Amid Downturn
A sign stands in front of the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., in this Friday, Oct. 5, 2007 file photo. While economic uncertainty has almost all of retail reeling, Wal-Mart has...   (Associated Press)
Wal-Mart Taps 'Inner Skinflint' Amid Downturn
The outside of a Wal-Mart store in Little Rock, Ark. is seen in this Dec. 26, 2007 file photo. Wal-mart and other retailers delivered more evidence of a stumbling economy Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008, as merchants...   (Associated Press)
Wal-Mart Taps 'Inner Skinflint' Amid Downturn
A shopper walks to his car at a Wal-Mart Store in Brunswick, Maine, on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. The world's largest retailer announced its renewed focus on low prices has paid off with a 4-percent rise...   (Associated Press)
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Archival footage of Hillary Clinton on the board of Wal-Mart.   (weneedhelp (YouTube))
Jim Cramer of "Mad Money" is "Going Crazy for Wal-Mart"   (bravenewfilms (YouTube))

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