Wal-Mart Adds Guns Alongside Butter

[kelpdiver 2]

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so why do you think they sell toilet paper?

Have you seen the markup for the average roll of poo paper? It's profitable and the very best part is virtually every single person in the US uses it. The vast majority use it every single day. For all practical purposes nobody considers it "optional" and it's recession proof.

but you've already insisted that retail space is a valuable commodity. TP may have a great markup, but it takes up a huge amount of space for small dollars.

Which brings up back to reality- walmart wants to serve mainstream needs - which includes toilet paper and ammo.

[quade 3]

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but you've already insisted that retail space is a valuable commodity. TP may have a great markup, but it takes up a huge amount of space for small dollars.

I can almost guarantee the toilet paper sales are higher than the guns on a day in and day out basis. Stand at any Wal-Mart check out line and watch how many people buy toilet paper vs guns.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[BrokenR1 0]

It's not always about a single item either but being able to buy everything you want in as few places/stores as possible so as to be more convenient.




Not sure if it is all states but I believe there is a law that gas must be sold at or above what you buy it for. This prevents using it as an attraction to draw people in to buy stuff inside the gas station. If true I don't agree with that particular law.

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Rap is to music what etch-a-sketch is to art.

[nigel99 144]

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That was my attempt at humor too.

Interesting, I'm all into guns but never heard anything about butter before.

I will never forget my first visit to Walmart. It had guns on one side of the aisle and Barbie dolls on the other (literally).

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[virgin-burner 1]

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That was my attempt at humor too.

Interesting, I'm all into guns but never heard anything about butter before.

I will never forget my first visit to Walmart. It had guns on one side of the aisle and Barbie dolls on the other (literally).

toys for boys (and girls)!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[loumeinhart 0]

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virtually every single person in the US uses it

Stop picking on me quade

[loumeinhart 0]

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Which brings up back to reality- walmart wants to serve mainstream needs - which includes toilet paper and ammo.

Quade is right. I can name at least a few WMs in NEOhio that probably don't have a license...because the guns will just sit. And in the would-be 'gun isle' are probably items that wouldn't sell on the other side of town.

Retail is tactical warfare. WM and their competitors are well-oiled machines.

I wonder what kind of DZO walmart would be

[sacex250 0]

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no more "we stop selling ammo" after columbine, ey!?

It was actually K-mart that stopped selling ammo because of Michael Moore and Bowling for Columbine.

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It's all been said before, no sense repeating it here.

[DaVinci 0]

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Perhaps the best known actual usage...

Never heard that quote attributed to him. Not saying he didn't say it, but never heard it attributed to him.

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Kind of the wrong metaphor to use here, but . . . like I said, it's JR's work, not mine.

It was kinda applicable, you tried to tie it to the NAZI's. His use was fine.

[ryoder 1,391]

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I will never forget my first visit to Walmart. It had guns on one side of the aisle and Barbie dolls on the other (literally).

Those were targets.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[quade 3]

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Perhaps the best known actual usage...

Never heard that quote attributed to him. Not saying he didn't say it, but never heard it attributed to him.

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Kind of the wrong metaphor to use here, but . . . like I said, it's JR's work, not mine.

It was kinda applicable, you tried to tie it to the NAZI's. His use was fine.

My point was the phrase is normally associated with governments; not retail.

As for the Nazi thing, do me a favor and Google "guns and butter quote" or go directly to http://thinkexist.com and search for "guns and butter" and see what you come up with.

I'm not bagging on JR for using the phrase because he's not a professional wordsmith. I just thought it was sort of the wrong metaphor. However, I've frequently called out national figures for using phrases that they probably shouldn't have because they appear to have no idea where they come from. GWB's speechwriters were pretty famous for using phrases that they probably shouldn't have.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[nigel99 144]

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I will never forget my first visit to Walmart. It had guns on one side of the aisle and Barbie dolls on the other (literally).

Those were targets.

It really highlighted the gun culture in the US to me. I grew up with specialist gun shops (not in the UK and guns were common). There was something surreal about it. You should of seen the look on the couple of brits faces though

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[Andy9o8 0]

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You should of seen the look on the couple of brits faces though

Sort of like an Irishman in a condom shop, eh?

[kelpdiver 2]

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but you've already insisted that retail space is a valuable commodity. TP may have a great markup, but it takes up a huge amount of space for small dollars.

I can almost guarantee the toilet paper sales are higher than the guns on a day in and day out basis. Stand at any Wal-Mart check out line and watch how many people buy toilet paper vs guns.

You abandoning your thesis, again. "If they could sell any item at a higher profit margin per square foot of floor space they would."

Your claim is that it's not about gross sales, but only about profit for unit of area. And no, this is wrong.

[virgin-burner 1]

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no more "we stop selling ammo" after columbine, ey!?

It was actually K-mart that stopped selling ammo because of Michael Moore and Bowling for Columbine.

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thanks for clarifying, i thought it was wal-mart..

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[quade 3]

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but you've already insisted that retail space is a valuable commodity. TP may have a great markup, but it takes up a huge amount of space for small dollars.

I can almost guarantee the toilet paper sales are higher than the guns on a day in and day out basis. Stand at any Wal-Mart check out line and watch how many people buy toilet paper vs guns.

You abandoning your thesis, again. "If they could sell any item at a higher profit margin per square foot of floor space they would."
Your claim is that it's not about gross sales, but only about profit for unit of area. And no, this is wrong.

Not abandoned at all. I stand by everything I've said.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[JohnRich 4]

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Why are they moving the guns next to the butter? That seems like a silly place to put them.

That's JR's attempt at "humor". Not mine.

Bzzzt. Wrong. That headline comes straight from the Wall Street Journal. Did you even bother to open the link in post #1 and read it?

[quade 3]

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Why are they moving the guns next to the butter? That seems like a silly place to put them.

That's JR's attempt at "humor". Not mine.

Bzzzt. Wrong. That headline comes straight from the Wall Street Journal. Did you even bother to open the link and read it?

Well, we'll blame them then, 'K?

I stopped reading the WSJ when they tucked most of their content behind their pay wall. It's not even worth clicking on links to them any more because I can only read a small portion of article. I just clicked on your link to make sure what I was saying was correct and the article cuts out for me mid-sentence in the second paragraph.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[JohnRich 4]

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Well, we'll blame them then, 'K?

I stopped reading the WSJ when they tucked most of their content behind their pay wall. It's not even worth clicking on links to them any more because I can only read a small portion of article. I just clicked on your link to make sure what I was saying was correct and the article cuts out for me mid-sentence in the second paragraph.

There's no need to blame anyone. It's a clever, catchy headline, and literally true.

And as media savvy as you profess to be, I'm surprised that you don't know the work-around to that pay-to-view requirement. You just copy the headline from the limited text article, paste that back into a google search, and voila! The full story now appears in the search list without having to pay a cent for it.

Here's the google search list, just for you:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Wal-Mart+Adds+Guns+Alongside+Butter
Now click the top entry in that search results list.

Pretty good, for someone who is not a professional word smith, eh?

Now you can start reading the Wall Street Journal again. You're welcome.

[Andy9o8 0]

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Now you can start reading the Wall Street Journal again.

That's like, "Here's a pair of pliers. Now you can start tearing off your fingernails again."

[kelpdiver 2]

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no more "we stop selling ammo" after columbine, ey!?

It was actually K-mart that stopped selling ammo because of Michael Moore and Bowling for Columbine.

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thanks for clarifying, i thought it was wal-mart..

worth noting that K-Mart is basically on life support these days, already merged with Sears.

[kelpdiver 2]

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but you've already insisted that retail space is a valuable commodity. TP may have a great markup, but it takes up a huge amount of space for small dollars.

I can almost guarantee the toilet paper sales are higher than the guns on a day in and day out basis. Stand at any Wal-Mart check out line and watch how many people buy toilet paper vs guns.

You abandoning your thesis, again. "If they could sell any item at a higher profit margin per square foot of floor space they would."
Your claim is that it's not about gross sales, but only about profit for unit of area. And no, this is wrong.

Not abandoned at all. I stand by everything I've said.

snicker.

Sounds like the Christians in the God threads that seem to have replaced gun threads of late. Nice to have a change of scenery, but those guys can't pick and hold to a single stance if their lives (physical or spiritual) depended upon it.

[wolfriverjoe 1,346]

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It's not always about a single item either but being able to buy everything you want in as few places/stores as possible so as to be more convenient.




Not sure if it is all states but I believe there is a law that gas must be sold at or above what you buy it for. This prevents using it as an attraction to draw people in to buy stuff inside the gas station. If true I don't agree with that particular law.

Wisconsin has a "Minimum Markup Law" for gasoline. It isn't to prevent the use of gasoline as a "loss leader" (sold at a loss to draw in customers) but to prevent the big conglomerates from forcing the "mom and pop" places out of business by undercutting prices.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[JohnRich 4]

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Wisconsin has a "Minimum Markup Law" for gasoline. It isn't to prevent the use of gasoline as a "loss leader" (sold at a loss to draw in customers) but to prevent the big conglomerates from forcing the "mom and pop" places out of business by undercutting prices.

Interesting. I have this kind of debate with friends, with whom I convoy on long trips. They like to stop at the cheapest possible fill-up station, which inevitably is Wally-World. But the price difference might be only a nickel a gallon, and 5-cents per gallon times 12 gallons or so, is only 60-cents. 60-cents means nothing, and I'd rather go to the mom-and-pop gas station and give them all my money, than to dump it into the coffers of giant corporate Wally-World in po-dunk Arkansas. I prefer to support local mom and pop's.

[BlindBrick 0]

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You abandoning your thesis, again. "If they could sell any item at a higher profit margin per square foot of floor space they would."

Your claim is that it's not about gross sales, but only about profit for unit of area. And no, this is wrong.

What Quade is refering to is a concept the miitary calls a force multiplier. An AWACS or a KC-135 doesn't carry ordanance, but it does allow the weaps-carriers to be more effective.

In the same vein, TP is a force multiplier boosting the sales of other items, though as Quade pointed out, it's combo of high profit margin and enormous demand means it does pretty well on it's own. Kind of like if a B-52 and an AWACS got it on and had a bastard luv child.

-Blind

"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."