All across America, families are making their to-do lists for Thanksgiving. Turkey? Check. Sweet potato pie? Check. Flat-screen TV? Eh? With price cutting from Wal-Mart likely to spread to other retailers, it will be all that shoppers can do to avoid picking up toys and electronics along with their stuffing. On Tuesday, Wal-Mart said that it would have its most aggressive discounting ever this holiday season. Its rival, Target, vowed price cuts too.
“[Profits are] going to be a big issue for the big-box retailers.”
Ken Perkins
[ president of research firm RetailMetrics ]“We’re seeing a big growth in our new categories such as flat-panel TV’s, mp3 players, laptops and cell phones. But this is tempered with declines in our more mature categories such as music, DVD players and telephones.”
John Menzer
[ head of Wal-Mart U.S. stores ]“We are implementing our most aggressive pricing strategy ever across core categories, such as toys and electronics.”
Lee Scott
[ president and CEO of Wal-Mart ]
