[linkregister]

American companies, such as K-Mart, which failed to follow their peers (Walmart, Target) into setting up supply chains in China, ended up in defeat.

There are counterexamples, but most companies seeking to wait this out did not flourish.

"Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent" - Keynes

[prewett]

From a consumer perspective, K-Mart was failing before everyone started rushing to China. And Walmart's US logistics was way ahead of everyone else, which is what enabled them to have lower prices. Target succeeds due to having products that actually look good, as opposed to Walmart, whose style is distinctly lack-of-style. I remember going to K-Mart, and Walmart easily beat them without needing to go to China.

I'm not sure I see what kind of supply chains Walmart has in China, since it mostly sells other companies' goods. Maybe it produces the house brand (can't remember the name) in China itself, but I wouldn't be surprised if it outsources that.

[ericd]

Lack of a China strategy had very little to do with why K-Mart imploded afaict. Read a bit about Lampert’s strategies if you want to get a sense of the reasons there.