Walmart's Remodeled Stores a Turn-Off for Upscale Shoppers

Last Updated Aug 10, 2010 2:00 PM EDT

Walmart (WMT) has a plan to try to lure back some of the more upscale shoppers who gravitated to its aisles during the downturn, but are now leaving again -- the company is remodeling all of its stores. Unfortunately, so far the new look reminds some of a blue version of Target, and has resulted in sinking sales and customer confusion about whether Walmart is still about low prices or if maybe it's going more upscale.

The remodels are known at Walmart as Project Impact, an effort to remodel all U.S. stores between 2008 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQK4Bl3s_I 2013. Though so far the changes haven't seemed to help sales, Walmart has kept the remodel rolling. Besides a softer blue tone in the signage, the remodels include finally changing the store signs to reflect the company's official name since 2008, Walmart, not Wal-Mart as of old. You can see them changing out the signs in the photo at right.

Everything about the remodel, including the new name, seem kinda hipper, more dot-com friendly...and a hair more refined. It includes wider aisles, better signage, fewer displays clogging the aisles and improved lighting. Which has some worried that customers are being driven away because they think Walmart is repositioning its prices upwards. That's not part of the plan -- it's just a store refresher. But the style may be putting customers off.

As Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates in New York, told the Columbus Dispatch, "They can't appear expensive. It's got everyone confused."

In its attempts to upgrade its store look, Walmart has to walk a fine line. Many of the stores can definitely use a revamp -- all those hordes tromping through do make a store look worn-down in pretty short order. It's not like they could leave the stores as-is forever to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQK4Bl3s_I avoid confusing customers. But the

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But the new look hasn't been tied to any marketing that introduces the remodel program to the public, leaving them to form their own impressions about what it means. That's a mistake Walmart could easily rectify as the remodels pick up steam. More than 200 stores have been remodeled, but many more are coming -- Project Impact is supposed t o hit the halfway mark by the fall.

It's an opportunity for a feel-good ad: "Look at how we're sprucing up our stores for you!" Walmart shouldn't pass it up.

Photo via Flickr user journeyguy

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Gardening is sexy, says celebrity landscaper Durie | Reuters

By Miral Fahmy

| SINGAPORE



SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Landscape artist and environmental activist Jamie Durie is on a mission to make gardening sexy -- and to save the planet one backyard at a time.

"Gardening is no longer a granny sport," the Australian gardening celebrity told Reuters during a recent visit to Singapore, where he is landscaping a luxury housing compound.

"Gardens are now a reflection of your personality as much as the rug on your floor or the jewellery around your neck. They are a connection to nature, a sanctuary."

A self-confessed frustrated architect who "paints with plants", Durie is a bit of a pin-up boy for gardening.

A qualified horticulturalist, he is the founder of the award-winning PATIO Landscape Architecture Design (www.patio.com.au) and author Sprinkle r System Rockwall of five books on landscaping. He was host to popular Australian TV garden makeover show "Backyard Blitz" and currently hosts long-running American gardening and outdoor show, "The Victory Garden", for U.S. network PBS.

Durie also trained with former U.S. vice president and environmentalist Al Gore to become an environmental ambassador.

Q: How can landscaping help the environment?

A: Any plants that you can get into the soil will help absorb carbon dioxide emissions, and yes, it is possible to have urban developments and sustain the environment -- that's where landscaping comes in.

Also, if you take care of your own garden, it encourages others to do the same and then we'll be saving the environment one small backyard at a time. That's why I try and make gardens sexy, an evocative space that provides a destination, not just something that you see from behind your kitchen window.

Q: So, is gardening fashionable now?

A: Ce rtainly! People are becoming more creative and they recognize that gardens are as much a part of their decor as their living room. There's also a trend towards going back to nature, towards organic produce because of all the chemicals and hormones and gene splitting... that is more dangerous than actual warfare. Growing organic produce has never been more popular and it will continue to grow. We're in the middle of an organic revolution.

Q: What inspires your designs?

A: Everything. I travel extensively, so I often gain inspiration from the natural landscapes I see. You have to be receptive to your surroundings and keep your eyes open. One of my designs was based on a crack in the pavement. The bigger my library of concepts, the more I've got to give.



Q: Creating a beautiful garden can be very expensive and also requires space -- luxuries many people don't have.

A: That is true, but I want the homeowners of today to fast-track to what the older generation have achieved after years of working: the nice house with the big garden. See what gardens can do for you! They give you peace http://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Watering-Irrigation-Lawn-Sprinklers/N-5yc1vZc63c and tranquility. My advice would be to look at the value of your property and use that as a benchmark to decide how much to spend on your garden. If you're spending less than 5 percent, that's skimping, you can do better. And if you don't want to do it Sprinkler System Rockwall for you, do it for your kids. Do it for the environment. It's your responsibility.

Q: Do you have any tips for city-dwellers who would love to have a garden but who don't have the time or the space?

A: Go to your local nursery and start taking photos of plants you find attractive. Go to the botanical garden on the weekend and see how plants are arranged. Fall in love with the plants and then take them home. By growing a plant, you're empowering yourself, giving yourself confidence, demystifying nature.

Everyone can have a little patch of paradise, there's no excuse not to.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gardening-jamiedurie-idUSSP18722020071015