Understanding the Wal-Mart Effect

TechCentralStation.com ^ | 04-11-05 | Max Borders

[Roots]

Ping for later (late for class)

[Balding_Eagle]

I'm sure none of this is true. I know because I've read so not only at DU, but here at FR many have told me so too.

[wideawake]

Good article. When you can't compete on price, you differentiate.

Or you bitch and moan until you can convince the local government to outlaw your competition.

The former strategy is worthy of Americans.

[Pondman88]

Walmart beneficial?? Come on, all those customers can't be right!!!!!

I think he hits on a good point, that Big Box stores invite specialization and tend to spruce up areas where they are located. In Quincy, MA a Home Depot opened about 10 years ago on a former steel/scrap metal yard in an area which was blighted. Today that same area is vibrant with many new businesses.

[Petronski]

It's difficult to comprehend sometimes what the modern Walmart is. I think of it as an aircraft hangar filled with merchandise at sometimes absurd prices. It's like that Brit says in the column: one is tempted to presume in looking at the prices that the staff can't do their sums.

[Keith]

what? Capitalism and competition work in America?

Heresy!

[babyface00]

Today that same area is vibrant with many new businesses

I've noticed the same thing. I think there are two reasons for this.

1) Its prudent to locate your business, especially retail, near your customers. If "everyone" is going to WalMart or Home Depot, then they have to pass by your store on the way there or home.

2) WalMart and Home Depot not only lower costs to consumers, they lower the costs for other businesses, allowing them to allocate costs towards profit, employee benefits, capital improvements, etc.

I'm not saying that there aren't downsides to WalMart, but there are also upsides that are often ignored.

[FReepaholic]

...But something interesting has happened: many new businesses have sprung up...

Wal Mart is a business magnet. Thousands of folks go to Wal Mart and other businesses know that and put their stores near Wal Mart.

In a community near me, Wal Mart build a Supercenter near the interstate in an area basically void of businesses.

Now, there are tons of restaraunts, office supply, hardware stores and car dealerships.

If Wal Mart builds it, they will come.

[KevinDavis]

What do you think should be done?? Tell people that they shouldn't go to Walmart? Tell business in what they could buy?

[Wonder Warthog]

"i truly believe Walmart is bad for the United States. Walmart DOES destroy the diversity of businesses in a community, especially small individual or family owned business and they work at doing that deliberately. Isn't that one of the major goals of America - to OWN something?"

And you are wrong. I watched the process in action in a small city in south Louisiana. Wal-Mart moved in, and the people in the community were OVERWHELMINGLY in favor, both before and after the fact. A very few businesses closed---MOST did better than ever--and those that closed were replaced by successful businesses of different type.

Add to that Wal-Marts low prices, and the simple fact that for folk in rural areas and small communities like this one that many of the products Wal-Mart was providing previously simply COULD NOT BE HAD locally--resulting in a half-hour drive to the "big city" to make various purchases.

[Straight Vermonter]

Vermont was the last state in the US to have a Walmart. The state government and the lefty elites fought to keep Walmart out because they said it would be detrimental to downtowns. I think it was actually because to these elites Walmart's employees and customers are "undesirables".

A Walmart representative was questioned about why they were not willing to locate downtown where people had access to busses and the bike path. The representative responded that he could not imagine anyone buying a 64 pack of toilet paper and then riding home on his bike. The place cracked up!

[tfecw]

"Walmart underpays its workers, it steals overtime money from them, it hires illegals, it employs child labor and it works with countries - like Red China (which is still RED China to me regardless of how the neocons try to spin it for their own economic gain) that either use slave labor or where the standard of living is so low that an extra bowl of rice will suffice. Walmart has been both cited and convicted of these charges repeatedly. This is not an admirable organization, even though it has been a successful one. A shark is not a particularly lovely creature. "

Most US companies hire illegals (well anyone with a cleaning service does) and most companies outsource. Ask the US Army who makes their hats. Also walmart isn't exactly burning down Mom and Pop's Useless Junk Store. Sucks to be a Mom and Pop store but that's competition for you. Sharks might not be well loved, but they are damn good at what they do.

[rhombus]

...and please don't tell me they should just get other jobs because Walmart frequently is the only employer of size in an area

So we subsidize Walmart because their employees must be on welfare to make ends meet? And they can't get other jobs because Walmart is the only employer in the area? Still sounds like a plus to me. I presume without Walmart we'd be shelling out even more "safety nets".

[Pondman88]

We should just make a law that forces Walmart to pay its workers 50 an hour. That would solve all these problems.

[egarvue]

Same thing happened here in my hometown; depressed northeast side of town had a Wal Mart move in a couple of years ago. Now there's so many new businesses going in up there that you can barely keep track of them. Completely revitalized a formerly crappy part of town.

[tfecw]

I think the feds should just print more money. Then everyone would have some ;)