There's a New Logo in Town

They're rolling out something new -- and it's not new, lower prices this time. It's a new look and logo.

Walmart is changing its logo, and it's getting a lot of press these days for it... at least in the business news headlines. In fact, the company seems to be making a huge deal out of its logo change. They've even set aside a page on their website to chronicle the evolution of their name and logo at http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/8412.as...

But does it really matter?

Founder Sam Walton spent a lot of money on improving the company's trucking and logistics, and now they are one of the biggest -- and in some people's opinion, the best. He spent lots of money on check-out scanning and computer technology when this was still in its infancy to many competitors' jeers. This enabled the retailer to outperform these peers in later years because, for example, when you check out with six GI Joes with the Kung-Fu grip, it not only rings up your total, but reduces the store's inventory count by six, and orders six more from the distribution center -- all automatically.

I'm just not sure this very frugal founder, who reportedly still drove an old pick-up truck after becoming a multi-millionaire, would have approved such an expenditure. What dropping the hyphen and adding a sunburst will really do for the company's bottom line is a mystery to me. And frankly, I don't think it'll benefit the stockholders -- or the shoppers.

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This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, “Riddle Me This”.