Pallets of goods and towering boxes at a Walmart store.
Walmart’s excess inventory is piling up in stores, workers told Insider’s Ben Tobin, after the chain ended the quarter with a 32% increase in inventory.Walmart.
AP
Source: Insider
I visited my local Walmart in Rochester, New York to see what it was like on the ground.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
The shoe section was the first area where I saw clear overcrowding of merchandise.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Paris of shoes were stacked up in large piles and falling off shelves.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Walmart recently said that customers slowed down spending on apparel because of rising costs of essentials like food.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Source: Insider
I saw a similar situation in the clothing areas, where hangers were packed so tightly that they couldn’t be moved.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Walmart said that it was marking down prices on clothing to “reduce inventory” and get them into customers’ hands.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
This was evident during my Walmart trip, with clearance racks overflowing.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Four Walmart employees told Insider’s Ben Tobin that their stores are using trailers to store extra apparel inventory.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Source: Insider
I wasn’t able to see if there were trailers at this Walmart, but every single shelf and rack in the clothing areas were full beyond what they seemed designed to hold.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
The overstock and packed shelves extended to accessories, too.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
It was hard to tell how much of the disarray was from an overstock of merchandise, and how much was just from general disorganization,
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Some other areas were similarly overcrowded, like this section of crafting supplies.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Walmart said it was using discounts on certain products to try to sell more inventory, which I saw during my visit.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Source: Insider
End caps and displays in between aisles showed dozens of rollbacks, primarily on appliances.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
I also saw boxes holding more items throughout the store, some being unloaded by workers and others seemingly left there.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Boxes of hats and purses looked like they were in the middle of being unloaded.
Near the checkout aisles of the store, bins were lined up with sale items displayed.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
I’ve never seen these bins with items set out before, so it’s possible that they’re a temporary measure to store excess merchandise.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Over half of the items in the bins were more shoes.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Walmart is now allowing regional managers to pause automatic delivery on certain items, which could help alleviate inventory overflow.
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
Source: Insider
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