In 2015 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the world's largest retailer, faced several strategic challenges. The company had just been ranked number one on the Fortune 500 list, but same-store sales in the United States had barely been growing for the past six years. International expansion had turned out to yield uneven results, and Wal-Mart lagged in online sales. To foster continued growth, the company was considering a strategic shift: looking outside the store's traditional customer base to attract more upscale consumers. Wal-Mart's past efforts to move upscale had not been successful. What are the strategic risks and benefits of the company's latest efforts to improve sales?
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