I've never understood the WalkMart haters. It can be a pretty ghetto place to shop (at least the one by me), but the prices are low, the selection is broad and they employ alot of people of all ages and abilities. I worked for WalMart years ago (the now closed on in the Village). I took the job when I started my first business in my teens. I could pay three employes, but I couldn't pay myself. They were easy to work for, worked with the odd schedule I needed and offered lots of opportunities for overnight work for extra money. Hate them all you want, but they support a lot of families.

I'm not a Walmart hater. but I understand why some people are.

My father-in-law owned a Ben Franklin store in a small town. He hated Walmart. Any time a new Walmart goes in within 20 miles of smaller towns, small businesses in those small towns suffer and ultimately the towns suffer as well. Walmart is the queen of predatory pricing. When they enter a new market, they sell things at a loss so they can undercut their existing competitors and drive them out of business. This is why some towns have blocked Walmart building stores in their towns.

I'm not a Walmart hater. but I understand why some people are.

My father-in-law owned a Ben Franklin store in a small town. He hated Walmart. Any time a new Walmart goes in within 20 miles of smaller towns, small businesses in those small towns suffer and ultimately the towns suffer as well. Walmart is the queen of predatory pricing. When they enter a new market, they sell things at a loss so they can undercut their existing competitors and drive them out of business. This is why some towns have blocked Walmart building stores in their towns.

I'm fine with people having that opinion. But it seems to be ripe with nostalgia (which is okay too). In the bigger picture, it isn't WalMart that puts these mom and pop places out of business, it is the customers that obviously had no loyalties beyond low prices, more variety and convenience. If the mom and pop customers didn't take their business elsewhere then the stores wouldn't close to begin with. In there place is usually more jobs, more selection, and better savings.

The answer is simple. Wal-Mart employees need to unionize.

Wal-Mart has been fighting unions tooth and nail, hopefully this will be the nudge the effort needs to make it happen. Working conditions, pay and benefits simply have to get better for the working poor in big box retail. Goods might end of costing consumers a little more but the lifting of many millions of people into a living wage would be a huge boon to the overall economy and any increase in the price of good likely would be largely offset by getting these working poor off of Medicaide and onto employer insurance and by getting them off welfare generally.

Walmart is hardly the only offender here, but as the nation’s largest employer they are the worst offender. Studies by states have shown that up to 30-40% of Walmart employees are some form of public assistance. Walmart employees make only 75% of what Union employees in the same industry make with much worse benefits and fewer hours. Walmart doesn’t (or I was unable to find) report on specific labor costs but on their annual report their SGA costs were 19.7% of revenue and that figure includes much more than just front line store employee costs, though that cost is probably the largest single component of SGA. For calculation purposes let’s say store associates are half that value. They probably aren’t that much, but let’s go with that. So for the purpose of this example say roughly 10% of Walmart’s cost are these mostly poor front line employees. To raise their pay and benefits by 25% would increase Walmarts overall cost by only 2.5%. That’s the rough increase in prices that would be needed to get these people up to Union level wages and benefits, and largely off welfare (lower costs to taxpayers). To get them to a real living wage might take a 50% hike, that would increase the price of a loaf of bread to you from $2 to $2.10 but would make all those millions of impacted employees lives very different. And would save taxpayers billions of dollars while increasing tax rolls.

I'm fine with people having that opinion. But it seems to be ripe with nostalgia (which is okay too). In the bigger picture, it isn't WalMart that puts these mom and pop places out of business, it is the customers that obviously had no loyalties beyond low prices, more variety and convenience. If the mom and pop customers didn't take their business elsewhere then the stores wouldn't close to begin with. In there place is usually more jobs, more selection, and better savings.
You left out "and more local money leaving the area"

You left out "and more local money leaving the area"

Its not all roses in the real world. I'll take my Walmart, its serves its purpose and does so really well.

I'm not a Walmart hater. but I understand why some people are.

My father-in-law owned a Ben Franklin store in a small town. He hated Walmart. Any time a new Walmart goes in within 20 miles of smaller towns, small businesses in those small towns suffer and ultimately the towns suffer as well. Walmart is the queen of predatory pricing. When they enter a new market, they sell things at a loss so they can undercut their existing competitors and drive them out of business. This is why some towns have blocked Walmart building stores in their towns.
Other towns, such as Stillwater try to fight the Wal-Mart menace by turning their downtowns into Business Improvement Districts to offer tax incentives for new businesses to come there. Downtowns have a better chance against Wal-Mart and strip centers by offering types of stores and services those other places aren't involved in, such as used goods.

Its not all roses in the real world. I'll take my Walmart, its serves its purpose and does so really well.

Wal-Mart does what well? The Wal-Mart of today is not the Wal-Mart under Walton. The stores are cheaply built, badly maintained, dirty and filled with largely indifferent employees. The service is so bad that is very frustrating to shop at Wal-Mart. Top all of that off with the fact that they sell largely junk goods made in overseas sweatshops.

Wal-Mart for too long has stressed lowering costs and they have gone too far. This is a company that is likely on the verge of a big fall. If the company is too stupid to see that changes are needed then a union probably would also do them a lot of good.

Store employee turnover is so high and pay is so poor that the employees really just don’t seem to give a damn about their jobs. Thus the dirty and badly maintained stores with bad customer service. The stores always seem to have tons of unkempt employees that are largely standing around not doing much and not doing anything quickly or well. Increasing wages and lowering turnover would improve service and employee productivity which would in turn lower labor costs while making the stores more enjoyable to shop at. One of Wal-Mart’s biggest hidden costs is employee theft. That cost would go down as well.

The stores are not nice to shop at, they don’t have even decent customer service and they don’t sell quality items. But at least it’s cheap. Over the long term these are not the markings of a successful company. It was not that long ago that Kmart was the dominant discount store and Sears was the world’s largest retailer. Now combined they are barely surviving and probably won’t exist in 10 years. You get what you pay for.

Wal-Mart does what well? The Wal-Mart of today is not the Wal-Mart under Walton. The stores are cheaply built, badly maintained, dirty and filled with largely indifferent employees. The service is so bad that is very frustrating to shop at Wal-Mart. Top all of that off with the fact that they sell largely junk goods made in overseas sweatshops.

Wal-Mart for too long has stressed lowering costs and they have gone too far. This is a company that is likely on the verge of a big fall. If the company is too stupid to see that changes are needed then a union probably would also do them a lot of good.

Store employee turnover is so high and pay is so poor that the employees really just don’t seem to give a damn about their jobs. Thus the dirty and badly maintained stores with bad customer service. The stores always seem to have tons of unkempt employees that are largely standing around not doing much and not doing anything quickly or well. Increasing wages and lowering turnover would improve service and employee productivity which would in turn lower labor costs while making the stores more enjoyable to shop at. One of Wal-Mart’s biggest hidden costs is employee theft. That cost would go down as well.

The stores are not nice to shop at, they don’t have even decent customer service and they don’t sell quality items. But at least it’s cheap. Over the long term these are not the markings of a successful company. It was not that long ago that Kmart was the dominant discount store and Sears was the world’s largest retailer. Now combined they are barely surviving and probably won’t exist in 10 years. You get what you pay for.

That's all well and good as an editorial - but you put it out there like it was fact. They do lots of things well, for one, they are an excellent example of free market capitalism - something I support 100%.

I've been in WalMarts that were very nice (I particularly like the one on I-35 in Edmond) and I've seen them look pretty dirty (Tinker Diagonal). But, I can say the same for many mom and pop establishments.

As for the employees, they are responsible for their own attitudes. I've seen much worse customer service from city and state employees who make a damn good wage. Personally, even at my ghetto WalMart I've never had an issue with customer service and I'm someone who returns lots of items if I feel it was an impulse buy, etc. Never once have I been given a hassle.

As for quality of their products - some are cheaply made and some are excellent. You can buy top name brands in WalMart - everything from very nice TV's to Apple products.

I personally like the approach Penn & Teller took. Fairly simplistic in some areas, but it gets the point across.....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-o1fj1rX7A

Parts 2-4 are available on the YouTube channel above.

I'm fine with people having that opinion. But it seems to be ripe with nostalgia (which is okay too). In the bigger picture, it isn't WalMart that puts these mom and pop places out of business, it is the customers that obviously had no loyalties beyond low prices, more variety and convenience. If the mom and pop customers didn't take their business elsewhere then the stores wouldn't close to begin with. In there place is usually more jobs, more selection, and better savings.

Most of the owners of these small businesses would love to compete, but the prices Walmart sells stuff for is less than the small stores have to pay the wholesaler.

Most of the owners of these small businesses would love to compete, but the prices Walmart sells stuff for is less than the small stores have to pay the wholesaler.

And, what's the point? That is part of a free market society. Why would I want to buy the same item at a mom and pop shop for more money and less selection?

Mom and pop shops have to find ways to adapt in a free market society or they cease to exist. I don't see why anyone would have an issue with that other than nostalgia.

Don't want to compete on identical items? Then make a name for yourself with superior (or at least different items). Works for Whole Foods, William Sonoma, etc. Granted those are not mom and pop shops but plenty of boutique type shops do make it. I often shop at real hardware stores because Lowes and Home Depot do not carry the specialized items I am looking for. Adapt and survive!

Its not all roses in the real world. I'll take my Walmart, its serves its purpose and does so really well.

Slavery gets s*** done, as they say.

Slavery gets s*** done, as they say.

That's an insult to people who actually suffer or have suffered from slavery. In your world there is no need for a person to have boot straps because you have zero expectation that they should ever use them.

Slavery gets s*** done, as they say.

this is one of the dumbest comparisions I have ever read and even though you are not, I feel embarrassed for you.

As for walmart, they are one of the biggest corporations in the world not because they are stupid. they have things down to a science. and most importantly they employ people. in some cases they have kept small towns from going under. yes, when you sell things the cheapest you can you can't expect to be paid like it is a glorified job. that is just unrealistic. if you want to be paid better a) work to get promoted or b) quit and go find a better job. it all comes down to personal responsibility and accountability. where you can only blame you for the successes and failure. what a concept!

but it does it's prupose. fills the need for goods demand and fills the needs for jobs. And just like anything else, if you don't like it, shop somewhere else.

I apologize that you only saw the words I wrote.

If Main Street can't complete with Wal-Mart then it is the fault of City leaders. One of the small towns in rural Georgia I used to drive through on a regular basis was Waycross. By the time I first went there downtown Waycross was all but abandoned, which was really sad because they have some really cool old buildings. At the same time on the edge of town was a bustling commercial district that had many restaurants, a Wal-Mart Super Center, new car dealers, a mall, and acres and acres and acres of parking lots. In retrospect I can't help but wonder why city leadership would allow such a commercial district to occur in the first place. Not only did they allow it to happen, they encouraged it to happen by implementing segregated zoning laws that effectively killed their own downtown. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Every time I drove through I couldn't help but wonder how thing could have been so much different for them if Wal-Mart had been encouraged, or maybe even required, to fill existing vacant space (or build new space) in their downtown area.

Yep I work for Wal-Mart and this is exactly what they are doing

Walmart is more or less experiencing the return of fate and karma. They became king of the hill and got cocky about it. They thought nobody could beat them at their own game. Now all stores are offering customers steals and deals. Target looked everything Walmart was doing wrong and used as a launch pad to build their stores into profit machines.

I spent 8 years in retail. I'm here to tell you the days of building a career and supporting a family in retail as a store employee are long gone. The only way to have a career is to work on the corporate side. 80% of the people who work the corporate side end up leaving after hitting a glass ceiling or being used and abused by the upper part of the food chain.

I predict automation and expansion of online pickup and home delivery will likely cut jobs in box stores to the bone. Most retail stores have 5-7 part time workers for every full time worker. Most retail operations only offer employee discount for benefits and nothing more. If you get more than that you usually have to be on for few years. The average part time worker is happy with this arrangement because they only working there to pick up a extra money for bills or spending money. Most have insurance coverage through their spouse, parents, or just simply don't want coverage.

On a side note this is only effecting new hires that work less than 24 hours a week. It sounds pretty logical to me. If you want their insurance you could always work more hours or go to full time. There lucky they get insurance when my wife worked at Sears all they offered her was a AAA style discount plan. Insurance was reserved for full time people.

I'm not a Walmart hater. but I understand why some people are.

My father-in-law owned a Ben Franklin store in a small town. He hated Walmart. Any time a new Walmart goes in within 20 miles of smaller towns, small businesses in those small towns suffer and ultimately the towns suffer as well. Walmart is the queen of predatory pricing. When they enter a new market, they sell things at a loss so they can undercut their existing competitors and drive them out of business. This is why some towns have blocked Walmart building stores in their towns.

Wal-Mart isn't the problem in these type of cases. The problem comes from letting Wal-Mart build on 20 acres on the edge of town. The small towns should embrace Wal-Mart, but make them build on Main Street and provide public parking garages instead of 15 acre parking lots. If small towns had done this they could have saved their downtowns. Throw in some TIF districts and Main Street America could have easily returned to its glory days (and probably have been better than ever).

Wal-Mart isn't the problem in these type of cases. The problem comes from letting Wal-Mart build on 20 acres on the edge of town. The small towns should embrace Wal-Mart, but make them build on Main Street and provide public parking garages instead of 15 acre parking lots. If small towns had done this they could have saved their downtowns. Throw in some TIF districts and Main Street America could have easily returned to its glory days (and probably have been better than ever).

Their is no way Walmart is gong to change their entire business model for a small town, the truly small town locations are generally expected to pull in people from the region and their are too many cities then competing to make them spend multiple times the cost upfront and higher maintenance later. For the town that gets the Walmart it means increased sales taxes, for any near it means massive losses of taxes. MsProudSooner is totally right at least a few if not the majority of the stores in downtown would have been taken out by Walmart, maybe some they could adjust or others move in but it would not be an outright win.

And, what's the point? That is part of a free market society. Why would I want to buy the same item at a mom and pop shop for more money and less selection?

Mom and pop shops have to find ways to adapt in a free market society or they cease to exist. I don't see why anyone would have an issue with that other than nostalgia.

Don't want to compete on identical items? Then make a name for yourself with superior (or at least different items). Works for Whole Foods, William Sonoma, etc. Granted those are not mom and pop shops but plenty of boutique type shops do make it. I often shop at real hardware stores because Lowes and Home Depot do not carry the specialized items I am looking for. Adapt and survive!

I hate to disagree with you, Brian. The fact is that it has nothing to do with free markets, it has to do with unfair markets and the decline of American industry (not to mention jobs). WalMart is able to sell things for what they do by buying in extremely large quantities from China, South Korea, Singapore, etc. Ever since so-called "free trade agreements" and MFN for China, the floodgates opened up with cheap goods pouring into the United States to large corporations who can afford to buy in huge bulk quantities. We went from being the biggest exporter of products to the biggest importer of products over a short 12 year period in the 80's and early 90's. Nothing has been the same since in this country. Manufacturing is down to almost nothing while the big box stores buy goods from China at corporate bulk pricing that has run most all Mom and Pop shops out of business. It's hard to "adapt" when our politicians sold our country out for "free" trade and corporate globalization.

I hate to disagree with you, Brian. The fact is that it has nothing to do with free markets, it has to do with unfair markets and the decline of American industry (not to mention jobs). WalMart is able to sell things for what they do by buying in extremely large quantities from China, South Korea, Singapore, etc. Ever since so-called "free trade agreements" and MFN for China, the floodgates opened up with cheap goods pouring into the United States to large corporations who can afford to buy in huge bulk quantities. We went from being the biggest exporter of products to the biggest importer of products over a short 12 year period in the 80's and early 90's. Nothing has been the same since in this country. Manufacturing is down to almost nothing while the big box stores buy goods from China at corporate bulk pricing that has run most all Mom and Pop shops out of business. It's hard to "adapt" when our politicians sold our country out for "free" trade and corporate globalization.

I have no idea how anyone can claim any retailer having the ability to buy "in extremely large quantities from China, South Korea, Singapore, etc." is not an example of our free market system. That's what a free market system is - just saying.