Not every milestone is worth celebrating. For the first time ever – or at least since the company went public some 45 years ago – Walmart’s revenues shrank from the year before, according to its annual financial filing released Wednesday. Walmart is clearly having trouble adapting its gigantic stores to the Internet age. To be sure, it is a retail juggernaut that brings in half a trillion dollars (that’s right, trillion) in sales every year.
And with more than 11,500 stores in 28 countries,there’s no way it will disappear anytime soon. Still, Walmart might have just hit its growth limit. And the sales dip comes despite the fact that Walmart spent $11.5 billion (roughly matching what J.C. Penney made in sales last year) to build more than 400 new stores, remodel old locations, and revamp its website and other technology to better serve its customers. READ MORE
