Wal-Mart, It's Not Just for Gun-Toting, Abortion-Hating Rednecks Any More

Plano, Texas - which shouldn't be confused with just plain old Texas - has become ground-zero in a new experiment by Wal-Mart to attract affluent customers.

In its boldest effort yet to target upscale shoppers, the nation's largest retailer is opening a new store this week with an expanded selection of high-end electronics, more fine jewelry, hundreds of types of wine ranging up to $500 a bottle, and even a sushi bar.

Wal-Mart says it won't duplicate this format anywhere else. But if plasma TVs, microbrewery beer and fancy balsamic vinegar sell in Plano, those items could be added to stores in other affluent communities...

...The new store is just as notable for what's missing. The store won't sell guns. It has far less space devoted to lawn and garden, fishing, camping and automotive products.
"This customer is telling us they're not doing it themselves," said Ryan Lincks, the store's project manager. "They don't change their own oil."

...Hungry shoppers will search in vain for McDonald's. It has been replaced by an espresso bar with a sandwich menu and free wireless Internet service.

While this experiment is probably grounded completely in profit (good for them!), it could help Wal-Mart politically. For starters, people will defend stores they frequent. (Starbucks drinkers are rabidly pro-Starbucks). And Wal-Mart's image of being a place that poor, pro-war, anti-abortion rednecks shop in makes affluent and educated policymakers hate the company more. (There is no doubt in my mind that if the customers and merchandise at Wal-Mart were just like those at Whole Foods or Trader Joes, policymakers and "progressive" activists wouldn't hate the company so much. Even if its wages and business tactics were the same.)