Wal Mart thread

[:) Smiley]

Originally posted by Jonny
Perhaps, but at what cost?

"People will make more of their money from wealth rather than from work. Somebody will have to be left to produce things, but that can be left to denizens of the Equadors and Indonesias of the world. We will be the people who own things, and they will be the workers." - Stephen Moore, 2004

This whole "ownership society" sounds more and more like enslaving the rest of the world. So far Walmarts have not been targets of terrorism, who knows when that may change.

[flash9286]

I'll try to find statistics on country of origin for Wal Mart products...

Despite a well-publicized "Made in the U.S.A." campaign, 85 percent of the stores' items are made overseas.

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores2.html

[:) Smiley]

One day, Americans will import everything, even housing.

[dojoboy]

I love Walmart!

[aneeshm]

IIRC , Walmart is now entering the Indian market ( it is , at least , testing the waters by opening up stores in the metros ) .

[Ted Striker]

NetGrocer will PWN Wal-Mart

wait...

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Jonny
Yes, Walmart may be supporting domestic jobs now, but what about later down the road?

Depends upon what you mean by "supporting domestic jobs." That PBS documentary mentioned early has a portion where a guy who lost his job when Wal Mart stangled Rubbermaid is looking for a new job. The only company in town that is hiring is Wal Mart, which is paying half what he used to make a Rubbermaid.

Wal Mart has been successful in a large part because it has succeeded in holding down or driving down salaries of both itself and its suppliers. Lower salaries means a lower standard of living.

It's called the WalMartization of America and its corroding away our middle class.

(See the above post on the stagnation of the standard of living from American workers since the 1970's!)

[mrmitchell]

Depends upon what you mean by "supporting domestic jobs." That PBS documentary mentioned early has a portion where a guy who lost his job when Wal Mart stangled Rubbermaid is looking for a new job. The only company in town that is hiring is Wal Mart, which is paying half what he used to make a Rubbermaid.

Wal Mart has been successful in a large part because it has succeeded in holding down or driving down salaries of both itself and its suppliers. Lower salaries means a lower standard of living.

It's called the WalMartization of America and its corroding away our middle class.

(See the above post on the stagnation of the standard of living from American workers since the 1970's!)

Yes, but 100 million Americans shop at Wal Mart every week, and they get on average 4-5% lower costs on all those basics they buy that make up such a huge portion of their spending. As Wal Mart expands (which they will), they will eliminate the inefficiency in every business they enter, and more Americans will be able to afford more stuff.

[Zkribbler]

50% lower salaries to buy 5% cheaper stuff. Do you see the problem.

[mrmitchell]

It's not bad news for everyone...you know what? Murphy Oil (located a convenient short drive from me, it seems a lot of walmarts suppliers are arkansas buddies) has the contract for every gas station in front of a Wal Mart Supercenter or Sam's Club. It is a huge boon for them. They have entered the big leagues.

Don't cry foul about Wal Mart and Rubbermaid. Rubbermaid violated the number one rule of business: Don't piss off the customer. It's true if you're a retailer or a manufacturer.

EDIT:

50% lower salaries to buy 5% cheaper stuff. Do you see the problem.

No. Not everyone in the whole nation is losing their jobs to more productive methods, but everyone in the nation is benefitting from lower prices. Even if 0.1% of Americans (doubtful) have had to take 50% pay cuts because of Wal Mart, 100% of Americans can take advantage of the discounts, and it is a huge benefit to those lesser affluent when it's all added up.

[:) Smiley]

own goal!

[mrmitchell]

Originally posted by Smiley
own goal!

Maybe all of us should be rich and moralistic so we can all go shop at Target and those old fashioned, nasty unhelpful expensive mom & pops.

EDIT: What I mean to say is, many people can live at a better standard because they don't have to pay insane amounts of money for basic items, and they have Wal Mart to thank for it. No one ever recognizes this and it's probably the most influential thing the company has done.

[Theben]

Never set foot inside a Walmart, let alone made a purchase from one.

[Jonny]

Originally posted by mrmitchell
EDIT: What I mean to say is, many people can live at a better standard because they don't have to pay insane amounts of money for basic items, and they have Wal Mart to thank for it. No one ever recognizes this and it's probably the most influential thing the company has done.

But what happens when the factories that those same people work at are forced to move overseas to meet Walmart's demands for lower-priced goods? 5% cheaper goods mean nothing when you're making 100% less money...

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by mrmitchell
Don't cry foul about Wal Mart and Rubbermaid. Rubbermaid violated the number one rule of business: Don't piss off the customer. It's true if you're a retailer or a manufacturer.

POP QUIZ:
You're the CEO of Rubbermaid. Your No. 1 customer, Wal Mart, has just demanded price concessions which will, in effect, turn over all your profits to Wal Mart. What do you do? What do you do??