Walmart - dance with those who brung ya

I often return to friend Tom's observations about corporate DNA - companies that stray far from their original vision will generally falter or fail. We're now seeing Google struggle to become a social networking company when its roots are in search and high-order geekdom. Apple is a hardware company and Facebook is about nerds who understand social relationships.
Walmart, we read, is buying its way into social media and mobile access. Uh-huh. Walmart is feeling competition from other low-cost, low-price competitors and thinks that it needs to move into new areas - new to them and new in general - in order to keep their business growing.
Or, they might stick to what made them the retailing weather-maker of the world, the one with annual revenues (north of $400B)^[1] that exceed about 90% of the world's countries.^[2].  In other words, keep the aisle crowded with stuff that plain folk want and can afford.
According to Walmart's $1.85 billon dollar mistake - Daily Artifacts, Walmart asked customers if they wanted wider, less-cluttered aisles. The customers agreed that it would be nice. Walmart implemented the change chain-wide. Year-to-year, same-store sales dropped.
We have to wonder if Walmart's forays into social media, mobile presence, and online food shopping isn't more of the same. A kid from Arkansas grows up to be very successful, only to deny the people from home, and still wishes that the pretty kids from the coasts would send an invitation to the big dance.