NationStates Jolt Archive

Haven't seen a Wal-Mart thread here in a while, so I figured we might as well have one.

What do you think of Wal-Mart?

Good, bad, evil, neutral?

Why?

Wal-Mart is run by the Grey Aliens, who are using it as their vehicle of Galactic domination.

Duh!

I'm in college. The largest town in northern Missouri, to be exact, and Wal-Mart is the SHIT. Seriously. It doesn't get better than that. Unless you count hte Hyvee, which I don't. Other than that, I'm sure people think it's a big bad giant corporation... and blah blah blah. The fact of the matter is, I'd be dead without it. Yay Wally World!

:p

I'm glad the last time Wal-Mart tried to open a store in the area it was protested until Wal-Mart decided not to build the new store.

First word that popped into my head on reading thread title was 'slavery'.

Hate's not strong enough a term for me. Unless there's a sea change in the way they do business, I'll never shop there again.

Zellers is good enough for my town, so why do I need to travel 140km just to buy things from Wal-mart.

Wal-mart is a vessel for American capitalist monoculture. I hate it.

I dispise Wal-mart. It is a company which sells low-price items to people, while employing people who work for technically lint. The old people who greet you at the door? When they die, Wal-Mart collects their death fees, not the family. Wal-mart, since it sells everything, destroys local businesses, and makes people go bankrupt for not being able to keep up their store for lack of customers. If I could, Wal-Mart would be gone, utterly destroyed, politically, physically, economically.

I like Wal Mart just fine. They have low prices, provide work for non-skilled laborers and generally have a positive effect on any community in which they open a branch. Here's an article I read about Wal Mart I read a while ago:

http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/business/article.jsp?content=20050725_109503_109503

It's a bit long, but it gives a positive view on Wal Mart, which seems to be kind of rare.

It's a bit long, but it gives a positive view on Wal Mart, which seems to be kind of rare.There's a reason it's rare--the only people who know anything about the way Wal-mart does business and like them are their stockholders--because they fuck everyone else as hard as they can.

i believe walmart is one of the few successful crypticly subversive attempts of the aryan race to defend itself in the arena of international capitalism dominated by the international banking cabal who are using globalization to destroy us as a people. all hail the corperate giant of the white people, may it subjugate the world as others have tried to subjugate us!!!!

First word that comes to mind? 'Scapegoat.'

Yes, Walmart has officially replaced Microsoft as the corporation people (particularly anti-capitalists or trade protectionists) love to hate. It is the new representation of Evil Business.

I particularly enjoy how folks liken employment there to "slavery." I guess they must have had a different education in history as to the nature of slavery than I did...

Though I used to hate Wal Mart like nothing else, I think the only thing wrong with it is that it's prices are too low. It forces a strain on its suppliers who must in turn take it out on their factory workers--mainly people in the third world who don't make enough money to even buy meat. Now before you go giving me that arrogant "well without Wal Mart they wouldn't even have a job" bullshit, if Wal Mart could take that pressure off its suppliers therefore enabling the factory workers to lead a little easier life, and also ease up for the competition, it would keep jobs for those here in America as well as make life better for its suppliers and factory workers.

I dispise Wal-mart. It is a company which sells low-price items to people, while employing people who work for technically lint.

And who have chosen of their own free will to work for said "lint". If Wal Mart wasn't employing them they would either not be working or they would be working at a job that was worse for them (since if they are working for Wal Mart it is presumably the best job they could find).

The old people who greet you at the door? When they die, Wal-Mart collects their death fees, not the family.

That sounds like a bizarre arrangement. Do you have a source for that?

Wal-mart, since it sells everything, destroys local businesses, and makes people go bankrupt for not being able to keep up their store for lack of customers. If I could, Wal-Mart would be gone, utterly destroyed, politically, physically, economically.

First of all, Wal Mart doesn't necessarily destroy the local business: it does sometimes put competitors out of business, but it also creates wealth in the areas in which its stores are located, and that is usually good for the local business. Secondly, you say that Wal Mart is evil for destroying other businesses, and then you say that you would like to destroy Wal Mart's business. If destroying business is evil, doesn't that mean that you are evil?

First of all, Wal Mart doesn't necessarily destroy the local business: it does sometimes put competitors out of business, but it also creates wealth in the areas in which its stores are located, and that is usually good for the local business. Secondly, you say that Wal Mart is evil for destroying other businesses, and then you say that you would like to destroy Wal Mart's business. If destroying business is evil, doesn't that mean that you are evil?

actually communities suffer a small but statistically signifigant increase in poverty when walmart stores open in an area, but that's a small price to pay for supporting this bastion of white christian values.

Walmart fucking rules.

All the Walmart haters are just jealous they can't get a piece of the sweet green action.

First of all, Wal Mart doesn't necessarily destroy the local business: it does sometimes put competitors out of business, but it also creates wealth in the areas in which its stores are located, and that is usually good for the local business. Secondly, you say that Wal Mart is evil for destroying other businesses, and then you say that you would like to destroy Wal Mart's business. If destroying business is evil, doesn't that mean that you are evil?
Except wal mart carries just about everything, so any nearby business would need to be highly specialized in areas Wal Mart lacks, or give out their products for free. That's why my business had to do a major overhaul of the products we carry just to get out of Chapter 11. And there's something special, a type of intimacy that some people find attractive, in working for a small local business not found in large, multinational corporations like Wal Mart.

Walmart fucking rules.

All the Walmart haters are just jealous they can't get a piece of the sweet green action.
mmm, now I'm starting to hate Wal Mart again just because of the arrogant attitude of its supporters.

actually communities suffer a small but statistically signifigant increase in poverty when walmart stores open in an area, but that's a small price to pay for supporting this bastion of white christian values.

Well, my source for my assertion that Wal Mart benefits local economies was the article that I previously posted a link to (http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/business/article.jsp?content=20050725_109503_109503) which said:

In 2002, Ryerson University completed the first major study on the company's impact on nearby small retailers, and found the opening of a new outlet is generally an economic boon for the whole area -- attracting other retailers and driving up sales at nearby stores. In metropolitan areas, a new Wal-Mart was generally followed by an increase of $56.8 million in local sales, and the opening of 12.9 new stores. In rural areas, the commercial boost was $74.1 million and 16.7 new stores on average. Meanwhile, economic growth in areas with Wal-Mart stores far outpaced growth in places without them. The final line of the study said it all: "It is difficult to make the case that a Wal-Mart store actually puts other retailers out of business."

What is the source for your statistics?

Walmart fucking rules.

All the Walmart haters are just jealous they can't get a piece of the sweet green action.

You work for some Chinese factory in China?

Well, my source for my assertion that Wal Mart benefits local economies was the article that I previously posted a link to (http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/business/article.jsp?content=20050725_109503_109503) which said:






http://cecd.aers.psu.edu/pubs/PovertyResearchWM.pdf

Wal-Mart: ALways low prices, always trying to move into the middle of neighborhoods, always being protested against. Always. :sniper:

they're putting one in my town and nobodies protesting... i'm a bit miffed its gonna ruin the view from the mental hospital's potter's field where i like to visit... but i expect i'm completely alone in this concern.

they're putting one in my town and nobodies protesting... i'm a bit miffed its gonna ruin the view from the mental hospital's potter's field where i like to visit... but i expect i'm completely alone in this concern.

Well, work at Walmart and go mental! :)

http://cecd.aers.psu.edu/pubs/PovertyResearchWM.pdf

Very interesting reading. Two things in particular caught my attention; one was this paragraph:

A third and perhaps more subtle effect may be that, by destroying the local class of entrepreneurs, the Wal-Mart chain also destroys local leadership capacity. This has been pointed to by rural sociologists and others as one outcome of the increasing concentration of non-local bank ownership and the resulting branch plant economy that is believed to have destroyed the pool of local leadership talent. The destruction of small, locally-owned businesses may also reduce social capital levels, as has been argued, for example, by Cornell University’s T. Lyson (pers. comm.. 2002). Social capital, or civic capacity, is also an essential ingredient for economic growth to occur, according to Harvard University’s Robert Putnam. Thus, the elimination
of local leaders from among a key group of entrepreneurs may be the single-most important and far-reaching impact of Wal-Mart Corp.

I hadn't considered the fact that the presence of a large corporation might cause a decrease in the entrepreneurial spirit of a community, and if it does, that is something to be concerned about. However, I'm not sure that Wal Mart and its ilk are necessarily the worst destroyers of entrepreneurs. Governments have also been known to be very anti-business. If I have time, I'd like to look into this idea of "social capital".

The other interesting point was this:

The question whether the cost of relatively higher poverty in a county is offset by the benefits of lower prices and wider choices available to consumers associated with a Wal-Mart store cannot be answered here.

That means that, although the amount of money earned in an county that has a Wal Mart is less than the amount earned by a Wal Mart-less county, the purchasing power of the residents may actually increase due to the lower prices that Wal Mart offers. The study doesn't deal with the social benefits of Wal Mart's lower prices, but the article I sited earlier does:

Those savings are substantial. In 2002, a study by the New England Consulting Group estimated that Wal-Mart's "everyday low prices" on a wide range of groceries and household goods saves U.S. consumers US$100 billion annually, or US$600 a year for the average American family. That's because not only does Wal-Mart sell for less, it forces competitors to cut prices in order to compete. UBS Warburg analysts measured grocery prices in various markets across the country and found that basic food items are 10 to 15 per cent cheaper in areas where Wal-Mart competes. So it's far from being an insidious influence: those savings are a godsend for consumers, especially for working-poor families. As W. Michael Cox, chief economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said in 2003: "Wal-Mart is the greatest thing that ever happened to low-income Americans."

You know, where I grew up, the nearest wal-mart was fourteen miles away. It wasn't even a super wal-mart, it was one of those small ones that give many people clausterphobia these days..."You can see the back wall from the entrance?! Oh my gosh!"

Anyway, when I visited my grandma, a few years after moving away, they had opened a super center. Around it spawned a myriad of other faceless super-chains. Something that would give a level 32 Mage ballsweat if it was a D&D dungeon. Since then, the town has turned into yet another fast-food stop on the way to some other place. The inhabitants, more A&F/Hot Topic "Hardcore" Linkin Park fans that have the audacity to call themselves Punk/Metalheads.

Let's not even jab a sharpened stick at the so-called Goths.

Unless it's tipped with jagged stone.

So anyway, if you ask me, Wal-Mart's greatest falacy is the fact that it kills a town's culture. It's like a Whale, it sucks up all the krill (people) into its gaping maw, and a whole bunch of little fish eat off of its bacteria...ala A&F, Hot Topic, other cheaply-made, over-priced and fake peddlers of idiotic trends...

Then, with growing dependancy, a town would simply die without it. Kind of like a drug - once you're dependant, it consumes everything else, and once you're without it...you simply shrivel.

Well, work at Walmart and go mental! :)

well i don't actually want to be buried in their cemetery i just like visiting it every now and them... the walmart is actually being built on what use to be part of the hospital's farm colony where the patients grew their own food, they're tearing down the old stables too, but i didn't even know they existed until one of the guards there mentioned it too me, i think they were kinda overgrown and hard to see from the road until they cleared the feilds.

You know, where I grew up, the nearest wal-mart was fourteen miles away. It wasn't even a super wal-mart, it was one of those small ones that give many people clausterphobia these days..."You can see the back wall from the entrance?! Oh my gosh!"

Anyway, when I visited my grandma, a few years after moving away, they had opened a super center. Around it spawned a myriad of other faceless super-chains. Something that would give a level 32 Mage ballsweat if it was a D&D dungeon. Since then, the town has turned into yet another fast-food stop on the way to some other place. The inhabitants, more A&F/Hot Topic "Hardcore" Linkin Park fans that have the audacity to call themselves Punk/Metalheads.

Let's not even jab a sharpened stick at the so-called Goths.

Unless it's tipped with jagged stone.

So anyway, if you ask me, Wal-Mart's greatest falacy is the fact that it kills a town's culture. It's like a Whale, it sucks up all the krill (people) into its gaping maw, and a whole bunch of little fish eat off of its bacteria...ala A&F, Hot Topic, other cheaply-made, over-priced and fake peddlers of idiotic trends...

Then, with growing dependancy, a town would simply die without it. Kind of like a drug - once you're dependant, it consumes everything else, and once you're without it...you simply shrivel.

My God.
Do we live in the same town?

Because Pre-WM. Everyone was like... I don't know, 'normal' I suppose, then they came in and suddenly everyone is "Goth/Punk/Emo/etc. etc."

walmart sells the best fried chicken, starbucks ice cream, ben & jerrys, and A&W soda. they pwn

actually communities suffer a small but statistically signifigant increase in poverty when walmart stores open in an area, but that's a small price to pay for supporting this bastion of white christian values.Why does it not surprise me that someone would bring Christianity into this? :rolleyes:

Why does it not surprise me that someone would bring Christianity into this? :rolleyes:

yeah that was a slight break in character, AE is supposed to be an odinist neonazi not a christian identity type, but i slipped up and used the "white christian " phrase... sorry about that.

walmart is just the leader(or one of). if walmart was to go away, another will take its place. for all the mom and pop store advocates, those mom and pop stores never stay mom and pop forever,

they either
1. go out of business
2. expand

its the consumers that decides which ones succeed and which ones fail, and thats the way it should be. a store that has crap for selection and service that rates right next having your brains scrambled with an egg beater should not make it too the top, but if consumers decide they like that and they start buying there, then it will.

Wal-Mart (or ASDA as it's called over here) took the place of an un-used crappy "entertainment complex" as something useful and wanted (as the nearest Asda previously was in Luton, next to NTL's offices).

its the consumers that decides which ones succeed and which ones fail, and thats the way it should be. a store that has crap for selection and service that rates right next having your brains scrambled with an egg beater should not make it too the top, but if consumers decide they like that and they start buying there, then it will.

I hearby declare you to be the smartest person in the whole thread.

Wal-Mart does not put local retailers out of business. WE do. The consumers. It was us who decided that Wal-Mart's low prices are more important than the goods the locals had. It was us who decided that its low prices mean more than the business practices they use (which I'm not totally against, by the way).

People, put the blame where it belongs--the community.

Not Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is damn good at what they do. I don't have one near me, but I wish I did. It's not that I like shopping there, because I don't. But every time one moves in nearby, the prices in surrounding retailers take a nosedive.

I live in Chicago, Illinois, blue-state capital of the world, and the hatred of Wal-Mart mystifies me. As People without names pointed out, nobody's being forced to shop at a Wal-Mart whenever a new one opens. If the tiny local stores were superior, then they'd be preferred by the customers and get the business no matter what Wal-Mart was like; if they provide inferior service and goods, then the customers will go elsewhere once given the chance. It doesn't have to be a Wal-Mart- it just has to offer superior service, and the customers will know what they want.

There are many things and places in this world- Iraq for example- that could benefit from Wal-Mart. The stores provide jobs to people who might not ordinarily have the opportunity for them, and the prices and merchandise are competitive. Speaking as a manual unskilled worker with no experience whatsoever, places like Wal-Mart are a godsend for those of us without college degrees.

I like them. They're a strong company with a successful business model. Their lower prices are good for consumers, and they help revitalize or expand existing shopping centers where they are located. They also bring hundreds of jobs to communities where they locate.

Sam's Club is also useful, especially for small businesses that save money by buying in bulk at lower Club prices. Plus, they offer several services in one store.

And for people who complain that Wal-Mart destroys small stores:

Nobody forces you to shop at Wal-Mart. If those stores were better, they'd be able to compete or even outperform Wal-Mart. Obviously, they aren't that good if people flock to Wal-Mart instead. It's competition.

If you are looking for an alternative to Wal-Mart, what about Costco (http://www.reclaimdemocracy.org/articles_2004/costco_employee_benefits_walmart.html)?

Any company that is taking flak for refusing to treat its employees like dirt is worthy of my business.

Any company that is taking flak for refusing to treat its employees like dirt is worthy of my business.

I like both of them, and even moreso when both are in the same town. Competition between multiple megaretailers is the best for consumers, workers, and shareholders.

If you are looking for an alternative to Wal-Mart, what about Costco (http://www.reclaimdemocracy.org/articles_2004/costco_employee_benefits_walmart.html)?

Any company that is taking flak for refusing to treat its employees like dirt is worthy of my business.
Target is my favorite. All the best of a discount store, yet it feels like a real store.

The beginning of knowing your town is a pretty good place to live is having at least one Wal-Mart.

I personally don’t shop there. I prefer HEB for my groceries and Target for my sundries, but I can’t help but admire their brilliant business model, all the people that they employ and the low prices that they offer.

Remember, in order to destroy a Walmart, you must find its heart. The heart is located in the back of the electronic section by the plasma TV's....

I'm somewhat conservative, but I hate Walmart because does not provide health care and puts more burden on an already overburden federal healthcare system. Also, it only pays $5.50...

The reason why Walmart is on top is because the typical consumerist whore finds it irresistable. For one, it is the cheapest place for them to recieve instant gratification. Two, they like how they can just shop at one place and be done. I don't understand the second part. I rather travel everywhere, knowing that I got the best quality stuff and that if something goes bad, I have good support there knowing they can fix it or replace if need to. With Walmart, you get none of that.

About how people suddenly turn into punk/goths or A.E. preppies, well America is just a shallow puddle drying up by the second. Real individuality is just not valued anymore....

Also, it only pays $5.50...



The most "Anti Wal-Mart" studies I've seen state that on average, Wal-Mart workers earn around $8.50. The company itself claims that on average, the workers earn about $10.

I'm sure you're not meaning that on average you'll get $5.50 there.

Haven't seen a Wal-Mart thread here in a while, so I figured we might as well have one.

What do you think of Wal-Mart?

Good, bad, evil, neutral?

Why?

To me its not really bad but for taking down small business well its hard to tell

Shitty Products. (WalMart=FallApart)
Shitty Employement.
Shitty Politics.
Cheap Prices.

Its one of the stores I won't enter unless I know the product I am buying is a "loss leader". I want them to lose money on every purchase I make there.