Posted on 08/03/2005 12:54:00 PM PDT by summer
.... But to chalk up Wal-Mart's success simply to the exploitation of its work force, as many of the company's most ferocious critics do, is simply wrong, for two reasons.
First, Wal-Mart hasn't just sliced up the economic pie in a way that favors one group over another. Rather, it has made the total pie bigger....
Second, most of the value created by the company is actually pocketed by its customers in the form of lower prices. According to one recent academic study, when Wal-Mart enters a market, prices decrease by 8 percent in rural areas and 5 percent in urban areas.... And because Wal-Mart's presence forces the store's competitors to charge lower prices as well, this $16 billion figure understates the company's real impact by at least half.
These kinds of savings to customers far exceed the costs that Wal-Mart supposedly imposes on society...
... Is such pro-consumerism a good thing?
The answer depends on who these consumers are, and Wal-Mart's customers tend to be the Americans who need the most help. Our research shows that Wal-Mart operates two-and-a-half times as much selling space per inhabitant in the poorest third of states as in the richest third. And within that poorest third of states, 80 percent of Wal-Mart's square footage is in the 25 percent of ZIP codes with the greatest number of poor households. Without the much-maligned Wal-Mart, the rural poor, in particular, would pay several percentage points more for the food and other merchandise that after housing is their largest household expense.
So in thinking about Wal-Mart, let's keep in mind who's reaping the benefits of those "everyday low prices" - and, by extension, where the real conflict lies.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I don't think I am "over reacting" but I also don't think that you and I are that far apart.I am sure that HEB is a fine store. I have only ever been to one and that was in Gatesville, Texas. That's not enough experience with them to make an assessment.
Thanks for letting us know what HEB stands for. While at the store in Gatesville I saw a sign that said "HEB- Here Everything's Better" I didn't think that's actually what it stood for.
"The dims hate Wal-Mart because they are a highly successful free enterprise business and they have achieved that success without being union."
The real fact is Dims hate that there's a lot of money being generated by WalMart and they can't get their grubby lazy fat cat non-working hands on one cent of it to line their wallets.
http://www.bloghouston.net/item/388
HEB holds off Wal-Mart in Houston grocery battle According to a Wall Street Journal article reprinted in the Austin American-Statesman, Houston is ground zero in an escalating grocery business battle between longtime Texas grocer HEB and retail giant Wal-Mart:
Although H-E-B is relatively unknown among consumers outside of Texas, it's providing a blueprint for competing successfully against Wal-Mart that's being closely watched by the grocery industry.
Even as Wal-Mart has spread throughout the state, with 213 supercenters, H-E-B has held on to market share above 60 percent in key cities, including Austin and San Antonio.
Now, both retailers have set their sights on Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city and one of its toughest grocery markets because of an eclectic immigrant population and cutthroat competition. Since 2000, H-E-B and Wal-Mart have opened stores and grabbed market share from local competitors. Houston is the greatest test yet of H-E-B's strategy of thriving in Wal-Mart's shadow by paying attention to local tastes.
BINGO!!!!!!!!
And that goes for your entire commentary.
Our newest union goon doesn't seem to understand that there is not necessarily a manufacturing base in every region in this country. Around here, unless you work for the government or are in a profession(medical, legal, finance, teaching), employment is VERY limited; agriculture, which is seasonal, fishing, which is also seasonal, poultry which is nasty work, or retail - that's it.
If I had to go back to work and my choices were retail or poultry - I'd be applying at WalMart in a heart beat...but I would be waiting for quite a while. Opennings at the local one are few and far between, and the waiting list for jobs is about 2 years long.
That has proven to be a successful strategy for stores wherever Wal-Mart sets up shop. It is the answer for those who say Wal-Mart is killing smaller businesses. Competition is the name of the game and it benefits consumers.
That reminds me. There is a hospital in Dallas named RHD. When I lived there it went by its given name. R.H. Deadman Hospital. Wonder why they changed that?
But trying to fight market forces isn't going to stem the tide and harms those doing the fighting the most. Best way to stay ahead is to stay nimble career-wise. That is a way of working that probably changed in the latter part of the boomer generation, but for me it is a fact of life.
They also have the "Free Meal Deal" which is a winner when it comes to loss leaders. I think that is what they are called. Anyway, you buy one or two items and get four or five things free. And usually the free items are things you normally buy anyway...cola, cheese, salad, bread, etc. Sometimes they might throw in a "new" thing just to get you to try it out.
On a light note and completely off topic.
I have a daughter who lives in Jackson, Missouri. When she first moved there I visited and noticed that there was a "Carpenter's Funeral Home" there and I seriously asked my daughter if there were THAT many carpenters in the area that they had their own funeral home just for carpenters? She gently informed me that the folks who owned the funeral home were named Carpenter.
I guess that shows you are either a union shill or just not quite bright enough to factually back up what you rant about. Ignore me all you wish, but your refusal to do so shows everyone that you can't back up what you say.
LOL...and there is a "Goodnuf" funeral home in Livonia, MI. Or Redford. Well, somewhere near Detroit.
Well, I better get off now. I'm going to try some fajitas tonight from HEB...:D The hubby likes their pre-cooked brisket so I'm going to try the pre-cooked fajita meat. Take care!
Bravo Sierra..........you want no such thing. You want people to agree with your drivel without any back up for your opinion.
"Less than a living wage"........wHat is a living wage in your mind? WalMart pays well over minimum wage
"Living wage" is a catch phrase for the libs.
Living wage is whatever the free market says it is.
Yeah, my boss won't give me a raise either. I guess my wages are being depressed.
Wal-Mart also pays so little that many of its workers rely on state healthcare subsidies, food stamps, housing vouchers and other public aid.
And this is Wal-Mart's fault? I thought we Rs stand for personal responsibility. Wal-Mart jobs are for single people in high school and college who are looking to make some money in a NO SKILL job. They are also good for disabled people who cannot learn skills. Look - I can't buy the CTS-V I want with my current job - is that my employers fault or my fault for not having the skills or entreprenerial ability to get a job that pays enough for me to buy one?
They have pressured manufactures to go overseas to "keep the price low". That costs jobs. There are more but that's just a start.
Of course it's not the actual consumers fault they would put Wal-Mart out of business if they didn't have the lowest prices. And these are jobs that aren't going to exist anywhere in a few years because they are no skill, manual labor that will be done by machines.
The future of the 'job' market lies in three areas - science, science application (engineering), and art. If you are doing something a machine could do, it's time to rethink things and where they are going.
I just hate it when the union folks punch the clock and go home. Ever notice how they appear and then seem to leave when the job clock says it's quitting time? Please come back and play, bipolar.
What about the communities where Walmart does not get a tax abatement?
I like capitalism...period.
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