Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart Stores, is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of discount department stores and warehouse stores. Wal-Mart is the world's largest company by revenue, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2014, as well as the biggest private employer in the world with 2.2 million employees. Wal-Mart's investments outside North America have seen mixed results: its operations in the United Kingdom, South America, and China are highly successful, whereas ventures in Germany and South Korea failed.

Germany: Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany is a federal parliamentary republic in western-central Europe. Various Germanic tribes have occupied northern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before 100 CE. The rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states in 1871 into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic. In the 21st century, Germany is a great power and has the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP.

Wal- Mart to Germany: Wal-Mart purchased the 21 store Wertkauf hypermarket chain in December 1997 and the 74 unit Interspar hypermarket chain in January 1998. Together, the acquisitions gave Wal-Mart 95 stores in Germany. Hypermarkets are large European discount retailers, selling food and nonfood merchandise.

Why Germany? With 80 million people, Germany represented Europe’s largest economy. Translation: lots of customers. In addition, the country is educated, wealthy, and technologically advanced. However, for two years Wal-Mart had been looking to enter the European market, and the purchase of Wertkauf and Interspar simply presented a good opportunity.

Germany immediately presented economic and marketing difficulties for Wal-Mart. The discount retail industry in Europe was already mature...