Posted on 11/27/2006 5:32:42 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Lower prices - the secret brain-altering radiation that forces shoppers to flock to Wal-Mart in spite of proof by the ultra left and the ultra right that the chain is directly controlled by the Devil (lucifer@aol.com) himself.
the chain is directly controlled by the Devil (lucifer@aol.com) himself
I thought it was the Chicomms, or was it the sprinkled Methodists, (isn't Hillary both of those?)oh, I get so confused!
Competition has always been the fuel for capitalism. If a business can't compete they won't survive. Simple. Wal-Mart has been very good for the economy as it forces other businesses to compete and get better. We have a wonderful drug store here that is locally owned and has several stores in the surrounding areas. They are matching Wal-Mart's $4 generic drug offer. I will do a lot of my Christmas shopping at that drug store because they have a great gift shop area, and the prices are competitive. They are not whinning about Wal-Mart, they are competing and thriving. Same with my son's photography studio. He can't compete with Wal-Mart's prices, but he can offer things that Wal-Mart does not; a better quality portrait and computer generated personalized special effects. Wal-Mart sells pictures, he sells art.
Do the math. A pharmacist makes 80-100 K. That's $40-$50/hr. At $4 Wal-Mart makes $1-2/Rx max. That means a pharmacist has to fill 20-40 of these every hour just to cover their wages. That is unsafe! (Don't worry, they make it up in a big way on other Rx's)
As far as minimum markup laws, you seem to think they cost you. Study up & you'll learn what Wal-Mart is all about. Undercut & run the competition out of business, then they have a monopoly. That explains why they sold the same baby formula for around $10 in a city with a pharmacy & $20 in a city less than 10 miles away without one. (this came out in a court case in Arkansas 10-15 yrs ago) Which price do you think they intended to stay with if/when they ran the pharmacy out of business.
Is that why every Wal-Mart attracts a batch of small stores surrounding it, feeding on the traffic the megastore brings, like fish in a coral reef?
Thanks for the reminder. The deed is done.
Sorry for the slow reply, haven't logged in for a while. In answer to your question, there are still some people that understand that service is important. A customer I get from Wal-Mart is mine for good! As far as the $4 RX program, I have lost 1 customer to date. She will get her 4 prescriptions for $4 each (if they 4 are all on the list,which they probably are not) instead of the $10 copay she would normally pay. She is over 70 & will drive 8 miles instead of 1, park 100-700 feet from the pharmacy counter instead of 15-25 and wait an average of 10-30 minutes instead of 1-3 minutes. I laughed when I gave the transfers to Wal-Mart because she gripes about everything. I will probably get her back & she will be a lot easier to deal with when I do.
What all those anti-Wal-Mart whiners out there miss is that customers don't only look at price when they shop: service does count. Small retailers who understand this CAN compete with Wal-Mart and its fabled $3 jar of pickles.
Old people on fixed incomes tend to watch every penny. Now that my generation is getting old, we're starting to be as chintzy about our prescription costs as we were about our nickel bags and bong hits back in the day. The cost and convenience of parking, waiting times, and ability to one-stop-shop all factor into the equation when we get our presciptions filled. Give us services and amenities that improve on Wal-Mart, and we'll come back. It's the American way.
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