Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, pulled out of Germany on Friday, selling its 85 stores for an undisclosed price after eight loss-making years in which it tried to break into a market dominated by discounters.

German consumers resisted such tried-and-true US retailing strategies as providing staff to pack customers’ bags at checkouts. Germans feared they would have to pay extra for the service, forcing Wal-Mart to re-assign its bag-packers.