For your anti-walmart people

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
1

All the people who hate on walmart and look past that they are a business trying to make money and using their massive distribution to get lower prices from their suppliers and tell everyone not to shop there might want to take a read of this:

Walmart is donating 90 million lbs of food and NOT seeking a tax deduction on the donation.

Not only are they helping a cause, they are also paying taxes…so I ask you, what is so bad about this company besides they pay min wage to people to operate a cash register full time and in most cases pay more than min wage.

2

nice gesture.

3

Oh god. Where to start.
Corporate charity is what businesses do to help their image in the community. It is always a relative drop in the bucket and is usually performed when it’s determined that their image would be improved more dollar for dollar giving charity than it would through advertising.

And in terms of what they do wrong lets see: predatory pricing that kills mom and pop shops, forcing their terms and prices on small suppliers who depend on their contract to stay in business, paying their workers minimum wage and no benefits for those who depend on it as a “real job”, forcing American companies to meet the price levels of their Chinese competitors; which basically either drives them out of business or sends them offshore as well, shall i continue?

Sam Walton had a great vision. As soon as he died, they threw it right out the window.

4

That 90 million lbs of food, if bought at WalMart lol, isn’t going to add up to much in light of their profits. It’s just as Joe said, a drop in the bucket.

Now if it was 90 million $$$, different story.

5

It would be nice if walmart sold gas.

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Honestly, mom and pop shops suck esp now with the internet. At least walmart has comparable prices to the internet and allows you to see what the item is before you buy it.

If you are a small supplier and need Walmart as your only source of distribution then you need to rethink your business model.

They operate cash registers and mop floors unless you are an eliete and get to greet people walking in. How much are you expecting to pay these people? These jobs are meant for high schoolers and retirees, not 30 year old single moms supporting 3 kids.

Good. Cheap products esp in a economic slow down is what people are going for. If you have a fixed budget, how many people are taking the budget hit still to either have a little left over and support american made products or buy a overseas product and save the money?

7

they sell fritos bean dip!

8

:picard:
Lets see, some of the suppliers that wal mart drove into bankruptcy, shutting down US operations, or having to merge with someone else, just since 2000:
-Vlasic pickles
-Rubbermaid
-Master Lock
-Levi’s

These are not mom and pop shops. If you want to see it with more of a local flavor, look at how they screwed Buffalo Color.

9

Jesus christ people are stupid.

Hits-home example; Watkins Glen, NY.

Here is a small town. A main street filled with mom and pop stores. Not too many years ago, Wal-Mart moved in about 2 minutes off the main drag. Since then, 2 auto parts stores, the big (and only) hardware store, a shitload of clothing stores, hobby shops, and more have gone out of business. Why? Because Wal-Mart has shit cheaper, so people go there instead.

So, now you have all these people who used to own businesses. Their stores went under, and what are they left to do? Work at Walmart. How much did they make before? Enough to keep the store open and survive, that’s for sure. But now that they work for Walmart, do you think walmart went “hey, we shut your store out of business. Just for that, we’ll pay you $30 an hour?”

no.

They get minimum wage, or close to it.

So now there are all these people who are making a fraction of what they used to. The storefronts where their businesses used to be? Vacant. The landlords who own those buildings? They can’t afford to pay their mortgage, just like I’m sure a lot of the former business owners no longer can. Properties go into disrepair and/or default. In turn, the town no longer gets the tax revenue from those businesses, the homes owned by the business owners, the buildings that housed the businesses, etc.

Decrease in tax revenue is what? a. great for the town, or b. very bad for the town (tax revenue, remember, is used for everything from schools to plowing).

So now you have a main street full of vacant store fronts, people who can’t afford to pay their bills, and a town that can’t afford to pay their bills.

Oh, walmart gave away food so they can defend themselves when people call them monsters.

Big fucking deal. They ruin lives.

Am I blowing this out of proportion? Read every fucking word I wrote before replying. Take a drive down to watkins glen. Remember that GIANT store that always had the Indian Cigar guy out front? Gone. Remember those 3 auto shops? Only 1 remains. The big hardware store? Gone. The other clothing shops? Only 1 remains.

There’s a real-case example of what it can do. And that’s not even getting into all the ripple effects. This shit happens all over the country, and all over the world.

Wal-mart is great? Fuck you.

10

If Walmart went to selling USA made products, imagine what effect it would have on our economy. That’s the kind of corporate philanthropy I’d like to see.

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Yeah too bad that it would cost 10x as much to get the same products with less quality built here. The precious time of Americans with little to no work ethic isn’t cheap.

12

At first, it would be way more expensive. If it was instituted over time I’m sure costs could become much lower. Walmart is so big that it alone could induce economies of scale for US producers/manufacturers.

13

Ready this makes me ashamed that I work for a company that relies so heavily on Walmart to keep it afloat…

I would really like to find a new career option that frees me of this.

14

Says the Socialist… As sad as Walmarts affects are, you cant hate on a company for being the best example of Capitalism in the entire world.

15

Honestly though, if you go to a Mom and Pop hardware store, the prices are much higher than the big box store.

Is it my civic duty to pay more just to keep Joe Blow in business?

Same deal with the No Name grocery store.

Good locally owned stores will find their niche and will attract customers (Think Budwey’s Supermarket, or Market in the Square in West Seneca, or even VALU home centers)…

Those places will always attract customers.

Should I feel bad that Walmart came along, and outpriced a poorly run hardware store, or a clothing store? No…

Stores need to give people a reason to shop there, not just because they are local, we should treat them like a charity by shopping there based on pity.

Do I agree with everything that walmart does? Absolutely not.

Do I shop at walmart? Yes, even more so in this wintery economic situation.

Are there garbage items at walmart that I look at, and end up buying something better elsewhere for more money? Yes, all the time…

16

My thoughts exactly. It’s what America is built on.

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I’m going to bump this thread in 30 years. We’ll see what you guys think of lopsided free trade agreements and monopolistic mega-corporations then. In the mean time do yourself a favor and read this:

http://monkeyread.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/deepeconomy.jpg

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:clap:

x2

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The funny thing about this thread: Everyone who’s studied economics in any kind of depth is on one side, and the unwashed masses are on the other.

And you can’t honestly argue Chinese quality as being > American. Sure, it’s more cost effective. But that’s it.

I was in a graduate business class that basically did a semester long case study of wal-mart’s business practices. They definitely do some things better than anyone else. But their practices, as well as the path they set for this country, are not worth the 50 cents you save over even someone like Target.

Just be happy that of every dollar you spend at wal-mart, .70 cents is ultimately being removed from this economy and placed into others’. Mainly china’s. And no one will read the book Fry suggested because it would interfere with your interest in buying cheap shit, so people call it communist.

20

Relax there buddy…

On no premise am I claiming to be an economic wiz, but I am going to school for business and have heard the Walmart debate a thousands times over. Every economic teacher I have had, has drilled into my head that Walmart is pure evil and nothing good is to come from their approach to business for this economy…

But I still maintian in my head, that If I had any upper corporate job with years invested into growing this company into the best business it could be, that all my hard work should never be cut down due to me being too innovative and smart when it comes to generating the most capital I can for my company.

The government has been trying to chop Walmart down to size for years by enlisting new tariffs and regulations and policies… and when they grow right past them, people still bitch and moan. You cant hate a company for doing business the best they can… That is capitalism and that is what this country is founded on. Maybe I will get around to reading that book and maybe someone else could change my mind, Maybe I will be eating my words in 30 years but Walmart is amazing at what they do and thats just silly for people to ask for them to back down as a company.