Target has better quality dress socks.
I have a limited agenda.
“There’s nothing wrong with a cheat sheet, but when it’s basic stuff like this you have to wonder, don’t you?”
Well, I often have to remind people what the emergency number is (it’s four numbers, not three)! 
I do see your point. Again, I’m not a big fan of Wally World - but I also know the, ah, forgetfullness of people. Even after being trained about something 20+ times.
Missy
I’m not really against Wal-Mart; if they weren’t doing what they do, someone else would be doing it.
It’s a nearly inevitable result of the fact that we’re trained to buy things with the lowest price tag, which is a really stupid way to be a consumer.
In 1990 I bought five compact fluorescent light bulbs for about $20 apiece and used them to replace five incandescents (that were probably less than $1 apiece). And yet that was a really smart decision because I’m still using all but one of those compact fluorescents today, 15 years later, and they’ve more than paid for themselves in the electricity savings (they use a fraction of the energy that incandescents do). You can get a 40% return on investment by replacing incandescent lights with compact fluorescents, and a 27% return on investment by replacing an old fridge with a more efficient one. Try getting rates like that in the stock market…it’s not easy. See http://hes.lbl.gov/hes/profitable_dat.html for more examples.
In 1982 or 83 I bought a Braun alarm clock for my bedside. Sure, it cost more than the cheap ones I could have bought at Woolworth’s, but I’ve never had to replace it – it’s still there by my bedside. I’ve knocked it over on the floor countless times but it just keeps going.
I buy most of my clothes from Patagonia. The prices are outrageous, but you know what? I’m still wearing Patagonia clothes that I bought in the mid-1980s and they’re holding up fine. I end up spending less overall on clothes (about $150-$200 every two to three years, but then, I’m a guy) because their stuff lasts longer and never really goes out of style.
Anyway, these are just examples: if more people started thinking about the total cost of ownership, they wouldn’t waste their money buying cheap stuff that they’ll just have to replace in a few months or years when it breaks or malfunctions, or appliances that drive up their electricity bill by consuming a lot of energy. And if the demand for cheap stuff declines (yeah, right), companies like Wal-Mart might not be so inevitable.
Thank you Brad. You made my day.
By helping me rationalize the purchase of a new flute that will cost approximately one part of my anatomy. 
Of course that’s the sensible way to buy things, but then there’s reality. There have been weeks, even months (thank God not recently), when I’ve had $30 to buy groceries for two people for two weeks - or $20 to buy a new blouse desperately needed. The reason a huge number of Wal-Mart customers shop there is because they can’t afford to go anywhere else. I don’t shop at Wal-Mart because there isn’t one near me, but even if there was I wouldn’t shop there because I dislike the crowds and jammed-in feeling of the merchandise and the stores in general. A few years ago I wouldn’t have had any choice.
Susan
Hmm… the anti-everything rabble went after Starbucks a few years back. I guess Starbucks is big, but nothing on the scale of Walmart, right?
When you get so big that your activities approach that of a sovereign nation, everything you do will be scrutinized and criticized.
I am no fan of 'em but like I say, just being that big is a sin in some circles. And how can you condemn them without condemning the conditions that led to them existing? The solution, provided in the original screed, is definitely grass-roots opposition and public awareness.
Hard to play the blame game, yet I don’t want to exonerate their corporate leadership either.
Buy less and of higher quality is a starting point. Great show about “Affluenza” back in the early 90s.
Well, to me this isnt about Wal-Mart, but about capitalism. What Wal-Mart is doing is being one of the most successful american company, and I’m sure 90% of all american, canadian or Europeean companies just wish they had Wal-Mart’s success. Some profit-oriented companies might be influenced by the fact that what they’re doing results in underpaid jobs in developing countries, but that’s only a few. In some ways, China doesnt have much choice, because if they can’t offer what american giants want, the giants will close the factories and bring the jobs to another country.
I believe that in the long run, the market will balance itself, and many bubbles will burst.
I think the truth about Wal-Mart depends on who you ask.
If you are the city (or county), they’ll probably think Wal-Mart is great because of the extra $300-600,000 dollars a year they contribute to the General Fund through sales and property tax.
If you ask some of the other Marts, like K-, and Bi- (at least in small towns of 50,000 or less) they’ll not like WalMart locating nearby at all. I asked the owner of a carpet store (family owned), who is just down the street from the new Home Depot here in town, if he’ll survive okay. He said business has imporved. When Wal-Mart came to town, K-Mart had to lay off about 13 employees. Bi-Mart closed one of their two location also. Now, WalMart has attracted a couple dozen small business nearby.
I see some of the NIMBYs who fought Wal-Mart the hardest occasionally sneaking into buy a few items. People who swore they’d never shop there. I never mention it. One lady in particular, the anti-WalMart leader, suddenly realized it was an easy walk to get diposable diapers for the new one.
If everyone would buy a whole bunch of “Made in China” items from WalMart, then return them because they were made in China, WalMart would get the message real quick. Imagine millions of dollars passing back through the refund account every weekend. That would throw them! I think Sam Walton always believed in selling merchandise made in the US of A. The China connection is a more recent thing. Lots of stuff from Mexico too.
Our county fought Wal Mart and lost. They were able to get around existing zoning laws and locate in an industrial park created for manufacturing businesses.
I do shop at Wal Mart on occasion, simply because there is no where else to shop, unless I want to drive almost an hour for some odd purchase.
I do not buy groceries there, since I do have alternatives for that, thank goodness.
Walmart quashes workers who stand up for themselves, as we’ve seen in Quebec this year. The article posted below was run back in Feb, when Walmart first announced its intentions to shut down the Walmart in Jonquiere after the workers voted to unionize.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/09/news/international/walmart_canada/
The kicker? Having given the employees three (if I remember correctly) weeks’ notice, Wal-Mart closed the doors of the store on April 30, a week early, claiming merchandise had run low on the shelves. The management chap told the press that it was a courtesy to the employees, who would now be paid for that week while they were out looking for work. Pretty thoughtful, eh?
Jef
Wal-Mart Closing Unionized Store (February 9, 2005)
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Wal-Mart is closing a store in Quebec that was closest to reaching a union contract after the retailer could not reach an agreement with the union representing workers there.
After months of negotiation with representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Wal-Mart (Research) said it will shut down its store in Jonquiere in the spring.
“It’s a deeply disappointing day for us,” Wal-Mart spokesman Andrew Pelletier told CNN. “The store in Jonquiere has been struggling for sometime economically, and in our view the union’s demands failed to take into account the fragile condition of the store.”
The company did not disclose how many workers will be affected, but said they would be offered “very generous packages which will far exceed what is required by law,” including severance pay and career counseling.
Wal-Mart said it met nine times with union officials in recent months, but that those efforts did not result in an agreement.
The company said in a statement that the union walked away from the bargaining table on Feb. 1 and asked for arbitration.
A spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers Union of Canada did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Workers at another Canadian Wal-Mart in the city of St. Hyacinthe are unionizing and the company plans to challenge the process.
Under fire in the United States for its employment practices, the world’s largest retailer announced last year that it was overhauling its practices on pay, promotions, diversity and how cashiers are notified of their breaks. In 2003, Wal-Mart was accused of hiring illegal immigrants through a contractor and underpaying those employees.
Maybe I should change my location in my profile. Looks like most of you detest the Republic of West Ozarkia’s chief export!
I do occasionally shop at Wal Mart if I’m near there and need something. I don’t buy clothes there for the same reason I don’t buy clothes from K-Mart - I bought a blouse there and after one washing it shrunk terribly. So I’d rather pay a bit more and have things that last. I’ll get printer cartridges at Wal Mart if I don’t have anything else to buy to make a trip to Costco worthwhile.
One thing Wal Mart does that really annoys me is the constant noise from the loudspeakers. It’s so loud!!! So if I do go in, it’s in and out real fast to get a specific item.
I used to get my coffee beans at this little shop that was actually the first coffee roastery in San Francisco till they moved away from a seedy part of Polk Street. The lady that ran the shop told me once that she had gone to school with the guy that started Starbucks. She said he used to tell her he would someday own every coffee shop in the country. When he first showed up in this area he gave a bad impression by going to the landlords of a popular mom & pop coffee shop and telling them he would pay triple the rent if they end their lease. This was written up in the local press and a lot of people thought Starbucks was using unfair tactics to take over. For that reason I still avoid the shop.
There was a good exposé about Wal-Mart on he PBS program, Frontline, the other night that corroborates much of what is said in the article that starts this thread. I have also read numerous articles that are saying basically the same thing about the superstore. The only thing the store is concerned with it seems is profits – but that’s the ugly underbelly of capitalism. Sadly, the merchants who inhabit this underbelly are the ones running the US government right now.
jGilder,
Note the location change. 
<----
Yeah, I really hate that anti-everything rabble. I’d start a movement against them but they’d probably join it. 
Yep - I just said I shop at 'em, didn’t I? :roll: In fact, when Walmart opened a hypercenter here in my fairly small town at least a half-dozen small retailers opened within two blocks of it to take advantage of the increased traffic!
In spite of its size Walmart really only hits a relatively small portion of the market in any one type of goods and only “threatens” small businesses that are targeted to the bottom of the food chain, so to speak. I.e. Walmart is barely a blip on the radar to you unless you are buying “bottom of the market” items - and for those who can only afford the bottom of the market Walmart is wonderful because it saves them a lot of money.
I.e. you can get food cheap at Walmart, but if you want good produce, meat, or bakery; or something other than “mainstream Americana/Mexicana” foods you have to go elsewhere. So, if you are a mom and pop grocer trying to make it selling Hormel canned chili Walmart is going to clean your clock - but chances are you were already put out of business by Kroger, Albertsons, etc. anyway. (Edited to add) On the other hand, if you are a top-drawer butcher or baker you pray Walmart will put a hyper-center right next door to you so you can take advantage of the increased traffic because you know that anybody who wants really good meat or bakery is not going to find it in Walmart!
You can get cheap clothing and shoes at Walmart, but if you want designer brands, business wear, or anything of quality you are going to go elsewhere. You can buy a TV at Walmart, but if you want a good selection of quality stuff and someone who can install an entertainment system you are going to go somewhere else. Etc., etc., etc.
Walmarts also adapt to local conditions and sometimes they have to change their stock when they are pushed out of a market by their competition. For example, the local hypercenter had a good selection of tools and garden supplies until a Home Depot and a Lowes opened nearby. Now they have one small aisle of tools and have expanded the toy section to fill in the space. When an Autozone opened a couple of blocks down the street the local Hypercenter shrank their auto parts section because they couldn’t compete there, and expanded their electronics section because they don’t presently have much competition there.
I.e. the only difference between Walmart and any other well run business is that Walmart is bigger.
The only mom and pop businesses really threatened by Walmart are those that are selling the same bottom-of-the-market goods that Walmart does but at higher prices - and why should we cry over their demise? Frankly, if not for Walmart and the other major “super stores” low income Americans would not have been able to afford many of the things they have. So - when you gripe about how “unfair” Walmart is because it uses its size to drive down prices what you are really saying is that the folks shopping there don’t deserve to be able to own the things they’re buying! I find that kind of elitist attitude disgusting!
I think the point is more that by driving down prices Wal-Mart is contributing to poverty in places that are “out of sight, out of mind” to most Americans, such as China. And we’re talking serious poverty here…the article I cited earlier mentioned that one of these factory workers was earning $58 a month for a 60-hour work week, $50 of which is used to pay for his accommodation, leaving $8/month for food. Granted, $8/month buys more food in China than it does here, but it’s still barely above subsistence living. There’s a lot of labor unrest in China right now over conditions like these, we’ll have to see what happens.
I earned $9,000 a year in my first full-time job, my take-home pay was $125 a week and my rent was $410 a month. I know how hard it can be to make ends meet in America, but hey, I was rich compared with these Chinese factory workers.
There was an article in our local daily newspaper (cant find it or I’d post it, sorry) that researched the effect of Starbucks on the local coffee shop community and found that the presence of Starbucks actually fuled the popularity of the localy owned shops. The stats were staggering, and I for one am glad the locals are doing so well!
I wish I could find this bloody article, because it was really interesting…if I find it I’ll edit this post and paste a link.
Mebey, if Sprawl-Mart continues to sell below average quality products, the same effect will happen in the retail/gocery industry; mayhaps we’ll see a resurgance in the locals…
one can hope right?
I find what you just said totally disgusting. You realize that millions of people in poor countries are struggling to get enough rice, potatoes, etc to be able to feed themselves and their families? Meanwhile, all you care about are poor american families who couldnt shop at Wal-Mart if prices were to go up? Let’s be honnest here, 95% of goods you’ll buy at Wal-Mart won’t be useful for your survival, and most people in there buy DVD, video games, clothes, etc. Low income in a developed country isnt the same as low income in a developing or third-world country, in case you did not know.
That reminds me…the new Walmart here is about 5 blocks from a health food store–which is about the size of a small grocery, and has been there forever. The manager of WalMart tried to run competition, but after the first year or so, he finally gave up and gave all the health specialty products to the health food store. WalMart shoppers apparently aren’t the kind. The manager did say that milk was his #1 seller.
Shoppers aren’t dumb. They’ll go to WalMart to buy Silk milk because it’s about .58 cents less p/half gallon than at the health food store. Regular cow’s milk is about $1.00 less p/gallon. Same with breakfast cereals, chips, and certain canned goods. The day WalMart got EarthShoes in, they all sold out within a week because the same product was about $24 more p/pair at the mom and pop shoe store.
The other day, I priced Step Flashing (a small piece of corner metal 4x4x12" tin used in roofing) at Home Depot. Price was 89 cents apiece. So I drove over to the mom and pop builders supply, across town, and got the same thing for 59 cents. I needed 100 pieces and saved $30.00 !!! BTW, you can carry 100 of these in one hand! I’ve never yet found a good deal a Home Depot.