Wal-Mart gets a new logo
Posted
Jun 30 2008, 10:29 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Wal-Mart has finally decided to do something about its staid white-on-blue logo and red, blue, and grey color scheme. In a surprising move for a company that acted as though it was too big, too powerful, and too damn cheap to bother with its image problem, Wal-Mart's new face to the world will be a white "Walmart" logo and starburst on a burnt orange background and brick store exterior. This is according to planning documents filed for a new Wal-Mart Supercenter outside Memphis.
Accompanying the new look is a new, smaller store format that features "new department titles, less signage, curved lines and earth-tone colors" according to company public affairs and government relations manager Dennis Alpert. The building will also feature lighting systems that turn on when they detect a shopper in close proximity, large skylights, and other "green building elements" in an effort to conserve energy.
Word has it that an official unveiling of the logo will come later this week. A company spokesman proclaimed that the "update is simply a reflection of the refreshed image of our stores and our renewed sense of purpose of helping people save money so they can live better." That's a nice thought, but don’t let them fool you: Everything Wal-Mart does is driven by the profit motive.
Wal-Mart's makeover couldn't come at a better time as the American consumer feels the squeeze of a slowing economy and rising inflationary pressures. May same-store sales were up 3.9%, more than double analysts' projections, as consumers continued to trade down to discount retailers and spend their tax rebate checks on necessities over luxuries. Wal-Mart's vast scale and purchasing power helps extend the purchasing power of each dollar, an important quality discussed in a previous post.
If the company can fix its dowdy shopping experience and continue to modernize its offerings, while moving into untapped urban markets in the United States and growing internationally, there's no reason the company can't hit Morningstar analyst Joseph Beaulieu's $60 fair value target and beyond. A commitment to environmental sustainability, a wider selection of organic foods, hip-hop inspired clothing, exclusive sales rights to the new AC/DC album, wider aisles, a friendlier corporate image, happy employees, and a new grocery store format are just some of the ways Wal-Mart is challenging preconceived notions of itself. The new logo is just another facet of this transformation.
Here's the new logo: 
Previous posts:
Wal-Mart’s public relations disaster
Why Wal-Mart will save America
Wal-Mart kills video download service
(Disclosure: I don't own any shares of the companies mentioned.)
