Wal-Mart says their customers are 'running out of money'

I used to be part of the once a month crowd. I would go to Walmart and stock up on all my canned and dry goods, lots of frozen stuff too. Then throughout the month I would hit my local supermarket for fresh meats and produce. That changed for me this past winter. Suddenly, I saw a big rise in prices, and many of the products I used were no longer there. It was very sudden too. I mean from one month to the next. It only took me one visit and I decided I could do better stretching my limited cash and newly awarded allotment of foodstamps at my two local supermarkets, as long as I shopped with the sale flyer in hand. I haven't been back to Walmart since for groceries.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wal-Mart's core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

"We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact."

Wal-Mart shoppers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, typically shop in bulk at the beginning of the month when their paychecks come in.

Lately, they're "running out of money" at a faster clip, he said.

"Purchases are really dropping off by the end of the month even more than last year," Duke said. "This end-of-month [purchases] cycle is growing to be a concern.

Full article from CNN Money at link:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/27/news/companies/walmart_ceo_consumers_under_pressure/index.htm