Challenges for Wal-Mart

Jack Shewmaker, former chief financial officer of Wal-Mart, spoke April 11 at the World Retail Congress, delivering remarks reported here at Propertyweek.com. Some of what he said.

‘The luxury of not doing anything to a store for 15 years doesn’t exist any more – it’s down to less than five,’ Shewmaker argued. 'You need to take your cap-ex budget apart and make sure you’re rejuvenating your core business.’‘‘If you’ve got the same model you had five years ago, I’d take another look,’ he said. ‘The customer is changing. You’ve got to put your vote in the merchandise categories that are important to today’s consumer.’

TK: A vote for Fresh & Easy, perhaps?