As Supercenters Gain, Wal-Mart Still Attracts The Affluent

MediaPost Publications – As Supercenters Gain, Wal-Mart Still Attracts The Affluent – 08/13/2008

While the limping economy has hurt most retailers, Wal-Mart continues to be a big beneficiary. A new report
from Information Resources Inc. finds that the Bentonville, Ark.-based company is posting market-share gains in an impressive 84% of the top 100 consumer-product goods categories.

While lower- and middle-income shoppers increased their spending at Wal-Mart when the economy started to soften, the report finds that the bigger change has been upper-income consumers who have flocked to
Wal-Mart in the last six months, as gas prices soared.