Wal-Mart to Trim Growth

Wal-Mart had its annual meeting this week. The surprising news to their stockholders wasn't so surprising to us: their scorched earth growth plan isn't working.

Wal-Mart said it would scale back the number of planned U.S. supercenter store openings this year by more than 25 percent, a move that will drop its capital expenditures by $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year and help improve store sales.

"The priority for a potential store is selecting a location that makes the most efficient use of capital resources and aligns with market growth priorities," Wal-Mart Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer John Menzer said. "We also have been focused this year on reducing cannibalization of existing stores via our more strategic selection of U.S. real estate projects."

The Northcross development isn't just bad for the community, it's bad business. It looks like Wal-Mart management may be increasingly receptive to that message.

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