WALMART to cut health benefits to a lot of their employees and raise premiums on the

[Alyssabri]

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

[oneforone]

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.

[Just the facts]

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).

[Snowman]

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.

[MikeOKC]

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.

[BBatesokc]

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.