Walmart and the Lucky Duckies

Scott Neuman, reporting for NPR:

In a sign of just how much the economy is hurting its traditional customer base, Walmart finds itself going head-to-head with Target for middle-income customers just as its lower-income clientele is being lured away by an even cheaper option — the dollar store.

“If you go to the dollar stores, they’ve done a much better job of offering food to the consumers,” Sozzi said, adding that a lot of people who used to shop at Walmart “don’t have the money” to shop there anymore.

But those lucky duckies who can’t afford to shop at Walmart don’t pay any federal income tax. Unfair.

★ Friday, 19 August 2011