"Project Impact," as the five-year push is called, includes updated signage, new layouts with wide-open aisles, more space for
categories such as electronics and baby care, lower fixtures and an all-around brighter appearance. But is also removes pallet-sized merchandising displays featuring stuffed goodies like $5 DVDs and
health and beauty aids, which some analysts feel is partly responsible for a substantial slowdown in U.S. sales.
The Impact stores look a lot like Target stores, Neff points out,
which may have something to do with the fact that the initiative has been led largely by chief merchandising officer John Fleming, a Target veteran. The trouble is that Wal-Mart has always enjoyed
considerably better sales per square foot than Target, partly because of the displays.
Wal-Mart declined to comment beyond reiterating that its executives have been upbeat about the results of Project Impact.
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