Wal-Mart CEO: Recession Has Changed Consumers for the Better

January 22nd, 2009 | by alexis |

Suggesting that retailers “are closer to working men and women… than any other industry,” Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott addressed the public once more in his farewell address after ten years at the helm of the retail megastore.

Scott offered a candid take on the country’s current economy and where it’s going. He’s confident that the first half of 2009 will bring more of the same struggles for both retailers and consumers, and it’s his belief, as well as that of many economic specialists, that the second half will experience only a slight upturn, if any change occurs at all.

But that may not just be a result of where the economy stands currently. This recession has hit millions of people very hard, and Scott is quick to suggest that it may have had a very long lasting effect on the way people handle their spending habits.

“I’m not necessarily convinced that just when all this liquidity and things hit, if you’re going to have the same immediate desire to go back to consumption and debt,” the departing CEO offered. “There are a lot of young people who have learned what it’s like when you are living on the edge and the bad times come.”

It’s a sentiment that’s easy to believe, especially after processing the fact that Wal-Mart’s biggest jump in sales since the recession began has been in frozen dinner meals, a sign of short budgets and shorter free time.

American’s who aren’t used to keeping a close eye on their wallets have been forced to make a significant amount of changes in the past year, and it’s likely that they’ve either gotten used to their shorter-spending lifestyles or they’ll want to save up in order to more comfortably survive another economic breakdown.

With savings at a negative percentage across the country, it will likely take some time before Americans can shore up their bank accounts.  Will you be turning to Wal-Mart for the sake of your wallet?

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