if you're talking about bahnhofstrasse, it's the same like talking about 5th avenue.

there are many 5th avenue, but of course the one that comes to mind first is in new york. same for bahnhofstrasse and zurich, switzerland. very famous street indeed, but very expensive.

if I'm not mistaken, walmart had a few stores in germany, but closed all of them a few years back. couldn't imagine walmart having a chance in switzerland either. too big of a competition (migros, coop, etc)

Silvester17 

couldn't imagine walmart having a chance in switzerland either. too big of a competition (migros, coop, etc)

A few years back Lidl and Aldi came from Germany to Switzerland. Everybody was thinking "no chance". But they still exist. (not at Bahnhofstrasse).

At Bahnhofstrasse they will not find a store that is big enough. Even Apple had some years and many $$$ to get a little store there.

Silvester17 

if you're talking about bahnhofstrasse, it's the same like talking about 5th avenue. there are many 5th avenue, but of course the one that comes to mind first is in new york. same for bahnhofstrasse and zurich, switzerland. very famous street indeed, but very expensive. if I'm not mistaken, walmart had a few stores in germany, but closed all of them a few years back. couldn't imagine walmart having a chance in switzerland either. too big of a competition (migros, coop, etc)

Walmart left Germany because of the mandatory Unionization of workers. Or at least that is what the biz pub's all said at the time. Nothing to do with profitability as the German stores were VERY lucrative. Walmart is 100% against worker unions.

bluemele 

Walmart left Germany because of the mandatory Unionization of workers. Or at least that is what the biz pub's all said at the time. Nothing to do with profitability as the German stores were VERY lucrative. Walmart is 100% against worker unions.

sure the worker unions were a problem. but they struggled from the beginning to gain any market share. and it only cost them about 1bln. sorry but it was not profitable at all. so much for the adventure germany.

Silvester17 

sure the worker unions were a problem. but they struggled from the beginning to gain any market share. and it only cost them about 1bln. sorry but it was not profitable at all. so much for the adventure germany.

Maybe a combination of both. I know they were in a court battle w/ the Gov for quite some time and Walmart threatened them that they would leave if they were forced. Well, you know the end of that story.

I am not a fan of Walmart, but not sure on if I agree with you on profitability, but you probably know much better than I do!

Walmart is an interesting 'success' story in and of itself.

in some towns in germany, the "bahnhofstrasse" is the red light district

bluemele 

Walmart left Germany because of the mandatory Unionization of workers. Or at least that is what the biz pub's all said at the time. Nothing to do with profitability as the German stores were VERY lucrative. Walmart is 100% against worker unions.

Sorry, but no.

There is no forced or mandatory unionization of workers in Germany. But they had a problem with their internal Statement of Ethics which didnīt comply with German law.

Nevertheless profitability was their main problem. For supermarkets (food stuff) Germany is one of the most difficult markets in the world with fierce competition and very low profit margins.

bluemele 

Walmart left Germany because of the mandatory Unionization of workers. Or at least that is what the biz pub's all said at the time. Nothing to do with profitability as the German stores were VERY lucrative. Walmart is 100% against worker unions.

Sorry, you are dead wrong.

Customer Satisfaction: Wal-Mart ranked 7 out of 10 supermarket chains in 2001 (source KPMG).
Legal requirements: Wal-Mart was forced to publish P&L and balance sheet in line with German laws.
Margins: Discounter margins are around 2% in Germany as compared with 5% in the US.
Profits: Wal-Mart Germany lost over US-$ 1 billion between 1997 and 2007

The reason they left was not the (additional) problems they had with the employees. The Wal-Mart way of doing business was simply not competitive over here. The market is already well served by competitiors with lower prices and higher quality products and Wal-Mart never had any chance to gain significant market share.

One of the German local competitors - Aldi - is now operating over 1,000 markets in the US, selling grocery items much cheaper than Wal-Mart. By US standards still a small operation, but they are making money.

Fat Tails 

Sorry, you are dead wrong. Customer Satisfaction: Wal-Mart ranked 7 out of 10 supermarket chains in 2001 (source KPMG). Legal requirements: Wal-Mart was forced to publish P&L and balance sheet in line with German laws. Margins: Discounter margins are around 2% in Germany as compared with 5% in the US. Profits: Wal-Mart Germany lost over US-$ 1 billion between 1997 and 2007 The reason they left was not the (additional) problems they had with the employees. The Wal-Mart way of doing business was simply not competitive over here. The market is already well served by competitiors with lower prices and higher quality products and Wal-Mart never had any chance to gain significant market share. One of the German local competitors - Aldi - is now operating over 1,000 markets in the US, selling grocery items much cheaper than Wal-Mart. By US standards still a small operation, but they are making money.

I have been wrong before. I find that surprising, but not surprised the media had it wrong. Like I said that is just what I read and never confirmed any numbers. I personally stopped shopping at Walmart/Sam's for 2 years because of their bullshit. :0

Good info. I grew up with Aldi's.

Old fun thread, but just for information:

We don't have a Walmart (neither Aldi) on Las Vegas Strip. But, several large and expensive corners are now occupied by Walgreens and CVS drugstores, and THC/CBD dispensaries selling "legal" drugs to ~45M tourists visiting this 24/7 neon city annually.