The Humbling of Wal-Mart: 'There Is No Excuse for Us Not to Be Doing Better'
This article is for subscribers only.
Wal-Mart Stores got a new chief executive this year, and he appointed a new president for the company’s U.S. stores. The two leaders have taken over a business that has been struggling in many ways—including labor protests in the U.S. and corruption investigations overseas—but by far the biggest problem has been financial. Wal-Mart sales are not growing this year, and they didn’t increase last year, either.
“There is no excuse for us not to be doing better,” CEO Doug McMillon said Wednesday at a meeting in Arkansas for analysts and investors. That’s a humbling statement from the head of the world’s biggest retailer.