I’d really suggest to simply Google it. Not because I am lazy, but because many sources cover different aspects of that failure.
One I managed to find here: https://medium.com/better-marketing/why-walmart-failed-in-germany-3fdcc6469b89
And therefore the paragraph: Walmart Failed to Understand the German Culture
Let me give you this link as well: Wal-Mart pulls out of Germany | Business | The Guardian
Critics in Germany suggested that there were also cultural issues, with local shoppers reluctant to embrace Wal-Mart’s emphasis on customer service with hearty greetings from staff and packers at every check-out.
Back then Walmart simply had no idea what they were facing in Germany. They believed here comes the big US company that can turn the entire groceries market upside down and they miserably failed.
I traveled quite extensively through Germany several times. (Air Berlin managed to lose my bags 100% of the trips I took with them.) I really enjoyed the Munich area and found people very friendly but despised Frankfurt and found it very “sterile”. Austria is a different place but I also found I didn’t like Vienna very much. The impression I had of Austrian’s was they still wanted their empire back.
I also like Helsinki, Warsaw, Prague and Zurich a lot. I was fortunate to do a month of training an FAT acceptance tests in Paris but I am not a fan of that city either. But it was nice to be paid to stay there and see the place.
It is a similar thing when Germans come to deal with Russians. it “breaks” many Germans to be able to deal with three versions of a contract when dealing with tax matters for example.
Я родился и живу в г. Владивосток, Россия. Сейчас я на работе)) Прочитал всю ветку " Размышляя о пересечении национальных границ" и просто забыл, что я нахожусь на работе))). Очень крутой поворот от технической документации, до подробных статьях, о жизни в других странах и городах.
Интересная ветка получилась!