The shutdown will halt about $8 billion a month in federal food assistance. Walmart captures 24% of all SNAP shopper spending, according to Numerator’s 2025 SNAP Evolution report—triple Kroger’s share and far ahead of Costco, Amazon and Sam’s Club.
Walmart was the first retailer to accept SNAP online in all 50 states in 2023 and launched the Walmart+ Assist program, which offers half-price memberships for those receiving aid.
“If SNAP payments stop, spending by the lowest income groups will fall,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of data and analytics firm GlobalData. “Walmart gets a plurality of the spending, so it will be hit the hardest.”
This was somewhat epiphanic for me.
I already recognized companies such as Walmart were subsidizing pay through social programs such as SNAP and essential funneling/laundering tax payer money to their executives.
This headline made me further realize they’re not only making taxpayers subsidize wages, they’ve also effectively turned the USD into a form of company scrip. While that scrip can be spent at some other locations I bet a large percent of funneled right back to e.g. Walmart itself. If you already work at Walmart it makes spending your SNAP benefit there easier.
This is the only good news from trump’s term. The waltons losing money in this way exposes who they are, and might piss them off enough to do something.
As much as I hate the idea of corporate interests having that much influence over the government (any government), someone richer than him complaining could be the only thing that gets through Trump’s mushy head.
He’s saving them so much in taxes that they can just lose $2 billion and be fine with it. The Walton family is worth almost $500 billion. They don’t give a fuck about this.
If a rational person was in their situation, they would see the benefit of taking the loss and making it back. But I don’t know if you become a billionaire by having a healthy relationship with money.
Waltons only own 45% of walmart now. There are a lot of non-billionaires that will be pretty pissed if the stock slumps. But many of those will just be regular joes, not the rich folk who have divested and planned ahead.