Posted on 02/17/2007 1:06:21 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
Nope, in our household that is not the equivalent of Payton Manning saying after the Superbowl that he’s going to Disney World. It has nothing to do with Disney World. It has everything to do with Sam Walton.
Sam Walton’s creation, WalMart, initially flew below the radar of Wall Street and the national press. It did so in part because of its business model. Beginning in Bentonville, Arkansas, its stores were located in small towns, where no one in his right mind would deliberately locate a chain of stores. And by doing that, and succeeding at that, WalMart created the largest, most successful business in the history of the human race.
But that’s not what I came to talk about. I’m looking at this from the other end of the scale, as a retail customer.
There are two Super WalMarts within easy driving distance of our home. The “Supers” are the newer, larger ones with full grocery departments and pharmacies built in. One is in Clayton, Georgia; the other is in Sylva, North Carolina. Which one we go to depends on whether we intent to buy a tank of gas – NC gas taxes are the highest in the region at 17 cents a gallon – or whether we intent to have lunch during the trip – a Sonic “soda” shop is across the street from the one in Sylva.
We live in a very small town, Highlands, North Carolina, population about 1,000. It has two and a half grocery stores, a couple gas stations, etc.. Everything for sale here has to come up an hour’s drive on winding mountain roads from any direction. Everything here costs more. So we do our occasional shopping here, but “go off the mountain” for major shopping.
That means a trip to Wally-World First, we buy an Atlanta Journal-Constitution for its coupons, and throw the rest away as journalistic trash. Then, we head off to WalMart for a two-cart raid on all its departments. What we do illustrate why Sam Walton was right.
At the beginning of my checkered career, I worked for a company that produced brochures for the Rouse Company, which was then developing the first closed mall shopping centers in the US. At the heart of each brochure was a map showing hundreds of thousands of potential customers within a 20-minute, or 40-minute, drive of the location of the mall. What Sam Walton realized was that folks would come from an even longer distance, and buy even more stuff per trip, if you gave them the opportunity and incentive to do that.
We spend about $500 to $600 a trip. That multiplies out to roughly $6,600 per year. Multiply us by the 100 million Americans who regularly shop at Wally-World, and the key to its billion-dollar success is apparent.
Why do people come to Wally-World? For the same reason that millions of people come to McDonalds. The name on the door is the guarantee you will get a decent product at the lowest possible price. Always. Only in Wally-World, you find not just a handful of products, but tens of thousands of products.
So, why is WalMart under attack in some jurisdictions? The enemies come from two different camps. One is the steadily dwindling union movement which wants to get its hands in the pockets of the most successful business in history. The other enemies are those who neither understand nor respect a free-market economy. They think, against all evidence, that life gets better when the government runs things. WalMart is the primary example that they could not be more wrong.
If WalMart was so bad for communities, why would most communities welcome and appreciate a new WalMart? If WalMart was so bad to its employees, why would people line up around the block for a chance to work there, whenever they open a new store? If WalMart was such a failure for ordinary citizens, why would millions of us be planning our shopping habits around our visits to Wally-World?
Success speaks for itself. Only those who resent success, or seek to mooch off it, falsely deny it.
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About the Author: John Armor is a lawyer specializing in constitutional law, who may again be a candidate for Congress in the 11th District of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
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Wegmans has it all! Including your fresh produce! Good for you.
Another grist for the WalMart mill--Clemson, South Carolina, not too far from you in NC. The local businessmen kept WalMart out of Clemson, made a big political stink about it. So the store got built in the next town, Central. All that lovely tax money that Clemson doesn't get...
I'm always surprised at what I can find that isn't made in China...heavy duty plastic hangers, underwear, my face wash, nail polish, cutting boards, you get the idea.
I had to make a special trip to Target to get a good brownie pan, though, and guess where it was made?
China! I think most of the folks here equating WW with chinese goods aren't even reading the labels to make sure, because I do
and I usually guess wrong.
Guess what else- my FIL bought a big Dodge PU a couple of years ago, and was mortified to read the label (too late), that it was made in Mexico.
I'll wait here while everybody goes outside to check. :<)
Well written, John. Lucky me: I have three Super Wal-Marts and a Super Sams, all within twenty miles!
A Subway moved into one of them a couple of months ago which is pretty handy.
If I have my aunt with me and she gets tired, I can sit her in there with a cup of coffee and a sandwich and finish my shopping:-)
Had something similar in my neck o' the woods. The businesses in Prescott, Az didn't want a Wal-Mart either, so they built their superstore on reservation land outside of town.
The prices are the same, but instead of tax revenue going to the city of Prescott, it goes to the Yavapai Apache.
Now I need to read the replies :)
I agree with you on that, you've got to watch.
I don't buy jelly/canning jars in WalMart for just that reason. I can find the identical American Made jars in a local supermarket for nearly $3 a case cheaper than in WalMart, and when you buy them at the rate I do (5 or 6 cases ata time) that kind of money adds up. However, I do buy all my pectin, sucgar and vinegar to make my jelly in WalMart, because I save nearly another $3-6 per case with those lower costs......by keeping my coast of production down, I can keep my prices down.
Ain't capitalism grand!!!!!???????
Oh, it's not the employees. It's the patrons. Well, that and half the announcements. Yes, we have a rather large number of spanish-speaking people in my town, a surprising amount given we are in Virginia.
I avoid "chinese crap" as well, everything I'm currently wearing was purchased in WalMart. Not all of it is made in the USA, but none was made in China.
We live way up in Ashe County,NC next to Virginia and Tennessee....I don't mind the 15 minute drive to WalMart...I find the things I need at great prices....our county is rural and we have no Best Buy or Circuit City; so we got our new flat screen HD television at WM...heck, we even got our pet house cat there....somebody had dumped her in the parking lot...when I was working it was nothing but Brooks Brothers for me....now that I'm retired it's camo and jeans from Wallyworld.
come over to the Eastern Shore, it might stop surprising you..........
WalMart and FoodLion are 2 of the few chain stores where I don't encounter Spanish signs or announcements.
I do have a question for those on FR. Here in southern Indiana WalMart is closing out their fabric and sewing department. Is that happening any other areas?
I like their return policy too. Recently I bought a new microwave from them. It quit working and I just took it back with my receipt and they gave me no hassle. Returned my money. For their fairness I purchased another one from them. A different bland of course.
Unfortunately, yes.
2 cart raid, slacker. You have nto rally hit one until you needed a trailer on your suv. Been there done that.
Basically, because Wal-Mart won't "play ball". Some years ago, Wal-Mart approached my small town of 11,000 to put in a distribution center, roughly 600 jobs. Our town fathers said, "That's terrific. We have a terrific location for you (owned by a member of city council). Also, we're in a position to grant tax variances, but you have to assure us that you'll hire x number of women, x number of African Americans, x number of Hispanics, and then, we'll make sure you get your tax variances."
The Wal-Mart distribution center went in 20 miles up the road in another town, where THEIR city council said, "Great, what do we need to do to bring the distribution center here?"
"We live in a very small town, Highlands, North Carolina, population about 1,000. It has two and a half grocery stores, a couple gas stations, etc.. Everything for sale here has to come up an hour’s drive on winding mountain roads from any direction. Everything here costs more. "
You forgot to mention the town of Highlands exists as a mountain tourist/resort town where the population quadruples during the summer/fall season and is a place where real-estate prices have reached the level of ridiculous, beyond the means of 90% of the people in this nation.
In addition to having to suffer only two and half grocery stores there's an abundance of seasonal, gourmet restaurants, fudge shops, antiques, boutiques, art galleries, etc. which help ease the sacrifice of a spartan existence when living there during the winter months.
I am neither a union nor socialist person. I refuse to shop at Wally World because the two stores closest to me are filty. Getting in an out of the trash littered parking lot is one big traffic jam. Many of the people who shop and work there do not have command of the English language and I suspect that many of them are illegal. A significant number of the shoppers that I have observed are beyond over-weight, and can only be characterized as super-obese, yet they trudge through the isles with their fat kids in toe, wearing clothes that are three sizes too small as they munch down potato chips, Doritos, candy, and biggie sized sodas at 600 calories a pop before they have even paid for them. While Wally World may have slightly lower prices, service and a knowledgable sales staff is almost non-existant, and the trade-off for the lower prices is lower quality products. Wally World is also the world's largest company store. And my real pet peeve is that this multi-billion dollar business has a nasty habit of extorting real property tax abatements from the local community, which effectively shifts Wally World's tax burden to the rest of us in the community.
Or topically, for that matter (in its gaseous state).
I'm not interested in attempting its use as a suppository, but that's just me.
Just don't breathe the stuff.
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