<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Bentonvile, AR-</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">2.18.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>As payroll-tax increases hit shoppers in the midst of an already sluggish economy, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has had the worst sales start to a month in seven years, causing shares to take a turn for the worse. <img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/walmart-stock-feb-banner.jpg" alt="Wal-Mart's Sluggish Feb Sales See Falling Shares - IMAGES" />On Friday, shares fell 2.2 percent to $69.30 at the close - the biggest decline since Dec. 12.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“In case you haven’t seen a sales report these days, February MTD sales are a total disaster,” Jerry Murray, Wal- Mart’s Vice President of Finance and Logistics, said in a Feb. 12 e-mail to other executives, obtained by Bloomberg. “The worst start to a month I have seen in my ~7 years with the company.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Discount retailers are preparing for the worst as payroll-tax increases promise to take a growing chunk out of consumers’ paychecks. The weak sales follow expectations for a strong February start due to the Super Bowl, milder weather, and paycheck cycles.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> “Have you ever had one of those weeks where your best- prepared plans weren’t good enough to accomplish everything you set out to do?” Cameron Geiger, Senior Vice President of Wal-Mart U.S asked in a Feb. 1 e-mail to executives. “Well, we just had one of those weeks here at Wal-Mart U.S. Where are all the customers? And where’s their money?”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.walmart.com/" target="_new">Wal-Mart</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
