Walmart Beats -- November 17, 2015

National Oilwell Varco to close another Texas facility, cut jobs:

The facility, at 6738 Sideview Road in San Angelo, will cease operations, which will be finalized between January 15 and January 29, 2016.

The company did not specify a reason for closing the support facilities, though it cited economic reasons for closing other Texas facilities in previous WARN letters this year. Those letters have included 85 job cuts in Houston; 150 in Willis, north of Houston; and 110 in Mineral Wells, in North Texas.

Speaking of which, a reader wrote to tell me that OXY USA took the sign off its building in Dickinson earlier today, November 17, 2015.

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Wal-Mart Beats

Yahoo!Finance is reporting:

Wal-Mart (WMT) gave an upbeat earnings outlook for the current quarter after posting earnings per share that topped Wall Street views in its latest quarter. However, sales slightly missed forecasts, falling more than 1% from a year earlier on weak sales overseas. 

Shares up nicely.

And this is the answer to the oft-asked question: Wal-Mart or Walmart?

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Walmart vs Kroger, Whole Foods

I don't recall ever being in a Kroger supermarket before this past weekend. I assume I have, just didn't know it or don't remember.

My granddaughter and I were looking for a place to eat during a break in the water polo tournament, and on our way to Jersey Mike's subs in Flower Mound, TX, we walked by a Kroger. I've never met such friendly employees in a grocery store before, nor have I seen a nicer store.

When we walked in, an employee asked us if we wanted coffee and a donut. I assumed it was a fund-raising effort by some organization but it turned out to be simply Kroger's way of greeting us this particular Saturday morning. She had just run out of coffee, but told me there was more coming, but if I was in a hurry, there was also (free) coffee just inside the store.

The store was bright, not particularly busy, and seemed to have a really nice selection. I didn't do much comparison shopping but did note that there was an ample supply of 20-lb turkeys for 59 cents/pound (store brand) and Butterball 20-lb turkeys for $1.19/pound. So much for the media scare that there would be a shortage of turkeys this year, and if one found them, they would be overpriced. Yes, I know there's a lot of bone in a turkey but these prices are better than the prices we are used to paying for chicken in many cases.

Throughout the store there were many samples to try, and we almost did not need to go to lunch. But my granddaughter loves Jersey Mike's (this was my first time) and so we watched what we ate at Kroger and then went to Jersey Mike's. Best subs I have ever had. I told that to my daughter, and she says Jersey Mike's subs are good, but there is one sub restaurant that was better, but she couldn't remember the name; they were in Charleston, SC.

I have trouble with those who think Walmart and Kroger / Whole Foods are competitors. I think the customer profile for Walmart is a whole lot different from that of either Kroger or Whole Foods. I'm not saying which store will do better, Walmart or Kroger financially or is a better investment, I'm just saying that if given a choice, I would go to Kroger to shop for groceries before I would go to Walmart. But then that's me, and I'm not raising a family of six on blue collar wages.