Wal-Mart reported Thursday that it will bring guns back to the aisles of many of its stores in an effort to rejuvenate slumping sales.
In 2006, Wal-Mart, which is the world’s largest retailer, stopped selling guns in the majority of its stores, citing slow demand for certain firearms. Wal-Mart currently sells “long-guns” and ammunition in about 1,300 domestic locations, but those items will now be available in roughly 2,000 of Wal-Mart’s 3,600 stores, according to several reports, including a breaking news story published in The Wall Street Journal.
Alaska is the only state where Wal-Mart sells handguns.
A spokesman for the company said reintroducing guns is a part of the retailer’s push to focus on supplementing sales of outdoor prodcuts in regions where hunting and fishing are popular activities. Thus, most of the inventory supplementation will take place at stores in rural areas.
Wal-Mart will also reintroduce products like fishing rods and fabric to its stores after a relatively brief and unsuccesful attempt to narrow product assortments and make inventory selection more “high-end.” Wal-Mart has reported declining same-store sales for seven consecutive quarters.
