Walmart Marketside

Wal-Mart is planning to open a few small size markets in Arizona under the brand name Marketside. Though one of the point that is very obviously discussed is that it to fight with the low cost UK retailer – Tesco in USA but the it seems that more important assumption at the hurt of this decision is that strong competition policy (antitrust lawsuites) and opposition from the unions has virtually made this impossible for the Wal-Mart to grow further. It has been more than four decades when Sam Walton started the concept of having big retail stores outside the cities when people can come by car to have their weekly shopping for cheap priced items. Probably, Wal-Mart needs to look at this format if this is still viable as the prices of the oil are going up, this is a challenge for the retailers like Wal-Mart to keep prices low and the customers will not be too willing to drive car when the oil is getting expensive. If the rise in the oil prices will continue and say in next 10 years, it become twice expensive as it is now then the whole concept of driving out of city will not work anymore and people would prefer to buy from the cheapest local store. Wal-Mart have repeated the same old concept year after years, now it is time for them to think strategy for the future in the light of the changing economic patterns and life style. Wal-Mart model was a perfect fit for the last century’s economic model, I doubt same model will work in 21st century too.