How big is Wal-Mart?

[mamalocowolf]

I got this one today and it screams ul
HOW BIG IS WAL-MART?

I was blown away by these mind-boggling statistics on Wal-Mart!




1. At Wal-Mart, Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour of every day.

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.

4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.

5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private employer.

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only 15 years.

8. During this same period, 31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy (including Winn-Dixie).

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10. Wal-Mart has approx. 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are SuperCenters; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago.

11. This year, 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at a Wal-Mart store. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 billion).

12. 90% of Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart.

[MapleLeaf]

It doesn't sound that far out there. I can believe these statistics.

[ganzfeld]

How big is Wal-Mart?
How big is Wal-Mart?
Sooooo big!
Yes you are! Yes you are!

The math on #1 and #2 don't make sense to me...They're saying that $36,000,000 is spent every hour, which is $600,000 every minute, and $20,928 is profit. If my math is correct, that's only a 3% profit. Can that be right? When I worked at a major retailer, the markup on most items was 100%from the purchase price, ie, the store bought a car part for $50 and sold it for $100. Most trucking companies I have worked for, notoriously well know for having thin profit margins, are doing well with a 5% profit. Shouldn't the profit at Walmart be higher?

Originally Posted by JD65

The math on #1 and #2 don't make sense to me...They're saying that $36,000,000 is spent every hour, which is $600,000 every minute, and $20,928 is profit. If my math is correct, that's only a 3% profit. Can that be right? When I worked at a major retailer, the markup on most items was 100%from the purchase price, ie, the store bought a car part for $50 and sold it for $100. Most trucking companies I have worked for, notoriously well know for having thin profit margins, are doing well with a 5% profit. Shouldn't the profit at Walmart be higher?

I thought that was the deal with Wal-Mart. They had such huge sales numbers, they could undercut everyone else and get away with such "low" profit margin.

[BringTheNoise]

I always thought Wal-Mart operated a small profit margin per item but made huge money but selling a vast quantity of stuff, so 3% is believable to me.

ETA: Spanked by Doug.

[snapdragonfly]

Originally Posted by JD65

The math on #1 and #2 don't make sense to me...They're saying that $36,000,000 is spent every hour, which is $600,000 every minute, and $20,928 is profit. If my math is correct, that's only a 3% profit. Can that be right? When I worked at a major retailer, the markup on most items was 100%from the purchase price, ie, the store bought a car part for $50 and sold it for $100. Most trucking companies I have worked for, notoriously well know for having thin profit margins, are doing well with a 5% profit. Shouldn't the profit at Walmart be higher?

I don't know about other merchandise, but in groceries, a few percentage points of profit is standard for the industry. They make their money off of something called "float." ~this is how it was explained to me by someone in the industry. That was back in the early 90's, so possibly the industry has changed drastically since then, but I don't know any reason to think it would have.

I am pretty sure that even now, groceries are not doubled or even anywhere near, as in other retail areas.

eta: oh look, here's something.

snipped from the article:

"Most people know the grocery business isn't for the faint of heart. Razor thin margins, labor challenges, and the growing presence of a little company called Wal-Mart (WMT) forced 13,500 grocery stores to close during the past decade. So Mayne thinks it's important for every employee to have a sense of the economics of the grocery business.

"On a $25 grocery order, how much profit do you think we make?" he asks a group of new cashiers and stock clerks. "$12.50, $7.50, $2.50, or 75 cents?" Most are shocked to learn the correct answer is 75 cents -- and suddenly they understand the importance of watching costs."

[Richard W]

Walmart report their financial results here.

Adding up the last four quarters available (last quarter 2005 -> 3rd quarter 2006), their net sales were $336.98 bn. That works out at about $38.5 million per hour over the whole year, which is slightly more than the OP claims.

I think that's a worldwide figure, though, not just the USA, so although the claim in the OP is close, it seems they may be wrong about the sales coming only from Americans.

[HollowMan]

Originally Posted by mamalocowolf

1. At Wal-Mart, Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour of every day.

Rounding to the nearest million, and using the 2006 numbers, Walmart does make this much an hour. (312,427,000,000/365/24)

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

To the nearest dollar 21,368 per minuite of net income. (Income after all expenses have been paid) (11,231,000,000/365/24/60)

[Brad from Georgia]

13. Wal-Mart has the biggest nuclear-equipped navy on earth.

14. Wal-Mart weighs more than the moon.

15. Wal-Mart's butt is even bigger than yo' momma's.

16. Other superstores go into orbit around a Wal-Mart.

17. If all the Wal-Marts were placed end to end, they would reach a way over yonder.

[rangerdog]

They have a new distribution center on I-81 in Harrisonburg, VA thats as big as some counties in Georgia.

[TB Tabby]

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Wal-Mart!

1. Wal-Mart cannot be detected by infrared cameras!
2. Wal-Mart can jump up to sixteen times its own height.
3. Japan provides over thirty percent of the world's Wal-Mart supply!
4. In Ancient Egypt, people wore glittery eyeshadow made from the crushed shells of Wal-Mart.
5. It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same Wal-Mart!
6. Michelangelo finished his great statue of Wal-Mart in 1504, after eighteen months work.
7. The Wal-Mart-fighting market in the Philippines is huge - several thousand Wal-Mart-fights take place there every day.
8. Wal-Mart cannot burp - there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in its stomach.
9. Wal-Mart can remain conscious for fifteen to twenty seconds after being decapitated!
10. You should always store Wal-Mart in an airtight container in the fridge.

[Karmyn]

Originally Posted by TB Tabby

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Wal-Mart!

1. Wal-Mart cannot be detected by infrared cameras!
2. Wal-Mart can jump up to sixteen times its own height.
3. Japan provides over thirty percent of the world's Wal-Mart supply!
4. In Ancient Egypt, people wore glittery eyeshadow made from the crushed shells of Wal-Mart.
5. It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same Wal-Mart!
6. Michelangelo finished his great statue of Wal-Mart in 1504, after eighteen months work.
7. The Wal-Mart-fighting market in the Philippines is huge - several thousand Wal-Mart-fights take place there every day.
8. Wal-Mart cannot burp - there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in its stomach.
9. Wal-Mart can remain conscious for fifteen to twenty seconds after being decapitated!
10. You should always store Wal-Mart in an airtight container in the fridge.

Now that I can believe. I always shop at Wal-Mart and I've never once heard it burp.

[BlushingBride]

Trivia mode:

According to a friend who once worked for the W*M corporate, they place an even smaller profit margin on grocery items than any other grocery store because someone who comes in for groceries will probably buy other stuff while they're there. His example was Tide detergent. Statistically, customers who buy Tide detergent tend to buy lots of non-grocery items (higher profit) in the same visit. Therefore, to attract more Tide detergent customers, they set the price of Tide so low that they're actually taking a loss on it, but they end up making more money because the detergent people buy other stuff. (Also why detergent is usually between groceries and housewares--to encourage wandering.)

It's the same reason that toiletries and groceries are always on opposite sides of the store--people who buy toiletries tend to also purchase non-grocery items. That number increases if they're forced to walk through electronics, clothes, and housewares before they can grab a gallon of milk.

[Sunny Lea]

Originally Posted by Brad from Georgia

17. If all the Wal-Marts were placed end to end, they would reach a way over yonder.

YOMANK (and apparently 4 more characters to complete this post)

[Kev]

Originally Posted by JD65

The math on #1 and #2 don't make sense to me...They're saying that $36,000,000 is spent every hour, which is $600,000 every minute, and $20,928 is profit. If my math is correct, that's only a 3% profit. Can that be right? When I worked at a major retailer, the markup on most items was 100%from the purchase price, ie, the store bought a car part for $50 and sold it for $100. Most trucking companies I have worked for, notoriously well know for having thin profit margins, are doing well with a 5% profit. Shouldn't the profit at Walmart be higher?

This shows Wal-Mart annual income statement for three years, the net profit margin each year is 3.5-3.6%.

[Bryan With a 'Y']

Originally Posted by Brad from Georgia

13. Wal-Mart has the biggest nuclear-equipped navy on earth.

14. Wal-Mart weighs more than the moon.

15. Wal-Mart's butt is even bigger than yo' momma's.

16. Other superstores go into orbit around a Wal-Mart.

17. If all the Wal-Marts were placed end to end, they would reach a way over yonder.

Is it true that Wal-Mart's quack doesn't echo ... and nobody knows why?

[OptimusShr]

Originally Posted by Bryan With a 'Y'

Is it true that Wal-Mart's quack doesn't echo ... and nobody knows why?

Wal-Mart doesn't quack, it roars. And it does echo.

Also if you destroy a mirror in the back of electronics you can make a Wal-Mart collapse in on itself.

[NewZer0]

These stats are from walmartfacts.com, March 2006:

 6,519 Wal-Marts worldwide
US Retail Units 3,857
Wal-Mart Stores 1,203
Supercenters 1,986
SAM’S Clubs 567
Neighborhood Markets 101

 3,857 Wal-Marts in the US
 Total Associates--more than 1.7 million worldwide
 Ave wage (US): $8.23 (2001)


Total Associates
United States – more than 1.3 million
Internationally --more than 450,000
Total Associates--more than 1.7 million worldwide
Sales FYE 1/31/06: $312.4 billion
For the month of February $25.034 billion, an 11.9% increase over the same period last year [2005]. Same store sales were 3.2%.


Average store size (national average)
Supercenter: 186,077 sq. ft. with approx. 116,000 items
Discount Store: 98,079 sq. ft. with approx. 62,500 items
Neighborhood Market: 42,286 sq. ft. with approx. 38,845 items
SAM'S CLUB: 127,776 sq. ft. with approx. 6,000 items


From other sources:

Dicker, J. (2005). The United States of Wal-Mart. New York: Jeremy P.Tarcher/Penguin.
2: W-M = largest corp. in the world, largest retailer in the world, largest grocer in the world, (pg 3), largest jeweler; if it were a nation, its GDP would be larger than 80% of the world’s counties, including Israel, Ireland, and Sweden;


Smith, H. & Young, R. (Writers), & Young, R. (director). (2004, November 16). Is Wal-Mart good for America? [Television series episode]. Young, R. (Producer), Frontline.
WAL-MART EXECUTIVE: Your company was the first company on the planet to report one quarter of a trillion dollars in sales– $256 billion! [cheers, applause] Do you know what that is, $256 billion? That's one IBM, one Hewlett-Packard, one Dell Computer, one Microsoft and one Cisco Systems. And oh, by the way, after that, we've got $2 billion left over. [applause]


The email seems about right, at least with my data from a year ago.

--NewZer0

[Squirt]

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World.

Well, according to the NYSE, Exxon Mobile is worth more, and has higher revenues and profits, so I'd argue that they aren't even the largest company now, let alone ever.


According to wikipedia, they're not even in the top ten at the moment.