7/24/2011 - Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money

Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money'

Wal-Mart's core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

Wal-Mart has struggled with seven straight quarters of sales declines in its stores

With food prices rising, Duke said Wal-Mart is charging customers more for some fresh groceries while reducing prices on other merchandise such as electronics.

"We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact." "Purchases are really dropping off by the end of the month even more than last year," Duke said. "This end-of-month [purchases] cycle is growing to be a concern.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/27/new...ssure/index.htm