SADDLE BROOK, N.J. – "The battle for shoppers is playing out in this New York suburb: Wal-Mart versus everyone else.
Dollar stores beckon, their small size ideal for quick shopping. Target offers 5 percent off if you pay with its store-branded card. Costco tempts with high-end, brand-name food and designer clothes at competitive prices.
Bernadette Clark used to visit Wal-Mart here twice a week. Now it's twice a month. She got fed up last year when Wal-Mart stopped stocking some of her favorite brands and she couldn't count on low prices.
"It gave me the opportunity to look elsewhere," she says. "I shop around more."
Three years ago, Wal-Mart ruled for convenience, selection and price. But today it is losing customers and revenue, and smarting from decisions that backfired.
Wal-Mart is not in danger of ceding its place atop the retail world. But competitors have begun to chip away at its dominance. "
Dollar stores beckon, their small size ideal for quick shopping. Target offers 5 percent off if you pay with its store-branded card. Costco tempts with high-end, brand-name food and designer clothes at competitive prices.
Bernadette Clark used to visit Wal-Mart here twice a week. Now it's twice a month. She got fed up last year when Wal-Mart stopped stocking some of her favorite brands and she couldn't count on low prices.
"It gave me the opportunity to look elsewhere," she says. "I shop around more."
Three years ago, Wal-Mart ruled for convenience, selection and price. But today it is losing customers and revenue, and smarting from decisions that backfired.
Wal-Mart is not in danger of ceding its place atop the retail world. But competitors have begun to chip away at its dominance. "
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