I visited my local Walmart and saw overflowing shelves and temporary sales bins as the company and employees face overstock issues

Mary MeisenzahlJul 30, 2022, 18:17 IST

Pallets of goods and towering boxes at a Walmart store.Anonymous

Walmart stores are dealing with overstock of some merchandise, workers told Insider.
I visited a Rochester, New York location to see if there was evidence of overstock,

Walmart's excess inventory is piling up in stores, workers told Insider's Ben Tobin, after the chain ended the quarter with a 32% increase in inventory.

Walmart.AP

I visited my local Walmart in Rochester, New York to see what it was like on the ground.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The shoe section was the first area where I saw clear overcrowding of merchandise.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Paris of shoes were stacked up in large piles and falling off shelves.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Walmart recently said that customers slowed down spending on apparel because of rising costs of essentials like food.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

I saw a similar situation in the clothing areas, where hangers were packed so tightly that they couldn't be moved.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Walmart said that it was marking down prices on clothing to "reduce inventory" and get them into customers' hands.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

This was evident during my Walmart trip, with clearance racks overflowing.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Four Walmart employees told Insider's Ben Tobin that their stores are using trailers to store extra apparel inventory.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

I wasn't able to see if there were trailers at this Walmart, but every single shelf and rack in the clothing areas were full beyond what they seemed designed to hold.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The overstock and packed shelves extended to accessories, too.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

It was hard to tell how much of the disarray was from an overstock of merchandise, and how much was just from general disorganization,

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Some other areas were similarly overcrowded, like this section of crafting supplies.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Walmart said it was using discounts on certain products to try to sell more inventory, which I saw during my visit.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

End caps and displays in between aisles showed dozens of rollbacks, primarily on appliances.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

I also saw boxes holding more items throughout the store, some being unloaded by workers and others seemingly left there.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Boxes of hats and purses looked like they were in the middle of being unloaded.

Near the checkout aisles of the store, bins were lined up with sale items displayed.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

I've never seen these bins with items set out before, so it's possible that they're a temporary measure to store excess merchandise.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Over half of the items in the bins were more shoes.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Walmart is now allowing regional managers to pause automatic delivery on certain items, which could help alleviate inventory overflow.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

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I visited my local Walmart and saw overflowing shelves and temporary sales bins as the company and employees face overstock issues

Walmart's excess inventory is piling up in stores, workers told Insider's Ben Tobin, after the chain ended the quarter with a 32% increase in inventory.

I visited my local Walmart in Rochester, New York to see what it was like on the ground.

The shoe section was the first area where I saw clear overcrowding of merchandise.

Paris of shoes were stacked up in large piles and falling off shelves.

Walmart recently said that customers slowed down spending on apparel because of rising costs of essentials like food.

I saw a similar situation in the clothing areas, where hangers were packed so tightly that they couldn't be moved.

Walmart said that it was marking down prices on clothing to "reduce inventory" and get them into customers' hands.

This was evident during my Walmart trip, with clearance racks overflowing.

Four Walmart employees told Insider's Ben Tobin that their stores are using trailers to store extra apparel inventory.

I wasn't able to see if there were trailers at this Walmart, but every single shelf and rack in the clothing areas were full beyond what they seemed designed to hold.

The overstock and packed shelves extended to accessories, too.

It was hard to tell how much of the disarray was from an overstock of merchandise, and how much was just from general disorganization,

Some other areas were similarly overcrowded, like this section of crafting supplies.

Walmart said it was using discounts on certain products to try to sell more inventory, which I saw during my visit.

End caps and displays in between aisles showed dozens of rollbacks, primarily on appliances.

I also saw boxes holding more items throughout the store, some being unloaded by workers and others seemingly left there.

Boxes of hats and purses looked like they were in the middle of being unloaded.

Near the checkout aisles of the store, bins were lined up with sale items displayed.

I've never seen these bins with items set out before, so it's possible that they're a temporary measure to store excess merchandise.

Over half of the items in the bins were more shoes.

Walmart is now allowing regional managers to pause automatic delivery on certain items, which could help alleviate inventory overflow.