Wal-Mart's next victims

When Toy's R Us in August said that stiff competition from Wal-Mart was making it consider whether or not to exit the toy industry, had struck fear in the hearts of retailers everywhere. Toy's R Us was the first to pioneer the idea of the "category killer" that is now used by many big box specialty retail stores including Best Buy, Home Depot and Bed, Bath & Beyond. These retailers giant specialty stores that cater to one particular product segment of the U.S. economy. Wal-Mart is the antithesis of a category killer with isles filled with a vast amount and variety of many different products is posing a threat to many of these "category killer" stores.

Walmart is threatening many of these "category killer" stores with their expansion and improvement in many of the different types of products they offer. They are looking into expanding into gasoline, a better and expanded fashion line to compete with stores like JCPenney and Target, drugstores, an extended line into electronics, and even are considering getting into the business of banking. This has many other stores worried. Although Wal-Mart does have more competition with the merger of Sears and KMart.

I find this story to be scary. I know it is a long way away but if Wal-Mart eventually becomes the only store in a town will they then raise there prices because there will be no competition to go against them. I think in the future they may become a monopoly and in some smaller towns where they are the only retail store they already are.