Business wires report that Wal-Mart will reduce the number of new supercenters to be opened this year by nearly 30 percent, or roughly 75 stores. The announcement was made Friday during Wal-Mart’s annual shareholder meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas. The retailer, which had 2,307 U.S. supercenters at the end of April 2007, said it now expects to open 190 to 200 supercenters this fiscal year, down from its previous plan of 265 to 270. Pop singer Jennifer Lopez provided musical accompaniment to the news of the cutbacks.
The pullback, the second in six months, may be the biggest in Wal-Mart’s 45-year history, and suggests that the company is reaching a turning point. Wal-Mart’s stock price rose 4% on the news, suggesting that even investors believe Wal-Mart may now be too big for its own good. Wal-Mart is not revealing whether or not the proposed Hadley Supercenter is one of the 75 stores to be cut.
