Understanding the Wal-Mart Effect

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

[ccmovrwc]

what happens when your baby grows up and can only get a job at Walmart's making a subsistence living and having to take welfare handouts from the govt because Walmart doesn't pay enough?

That is exactly why I shop at WalMart today: so I will have enough money to send my baby to college so he can get a well-paying job. I'm more interested in his future than in Mom and Pop's.

[kevinm13]

Boy you must have really had a bad experience with WalMart. Maybe one of the senior greeters didn't smile enough when saying "Welcome to WalMart". Or just maybe you are bitter because your Mom and Pop store couldn't adapt to changes in consumer demand and went out of business. OR MOST LIKELY YOU SUPPORT UNIONS AND WANT TO TAKE AWAY WALMART'S PRICING ADVANTAGE BY BRINGING IN UNION THUGS TO DRIVE COSTS UP????

You still haven't articulated a valid argument against WalMart that I would have an objection to. Free enterprise dictates that you acquire goods for sale wanted by your customers at the best price. These days that means a lot of the goods available are from China. I don't support the economy of China but if they have the best products at the best prices for things I want to buy, I will buy it. I support buy American policies as much as possible. Look at what are the top sellers at Amazon.com. Many of the electronics and clothing we see in the US comes from China. If you don't like it, pay more somewhere else and stay away from WalMart. WalMart employs over 1.6 million people worldwide so they can't all be underpaid. Many of these people are in racial minorities. Simple economic theory is based on supply and demand. WalMart supplies goods and jobs and satisfies the demand in the communities in which it operates.

WalMart is a wonderful chain. I wish there was one close to me in NJ. The closest store is about 45 mins away and in the same complex is a Lowes, Michael's, Borders and several other stores including a Sam's Club which I frequent more often than WalMart. Many other local businesses including several restaurants, have benefited from WalMart locating in this complex employing many local people.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Try being one of those Moms or Pops who have been run out of business by Wal-Mart at age 50 or 60. My father-in-law was one of those. He had to close his small sporting goods store and is still in litigation with Nike over less than $20,000 in unsold inventory. It ruined his life and took what little savings he had. Now he has to work as a greeter at Wal-Mart because he needs a job to supplement his meager Social Security and small 401(k), and there is nobody in his small town that has a job for a senior citizen. He has years of valuable retail experience, but his Wal-Mart store manager is 32 years old and won't listen to any of his suggestions. His eldest son also had to give up on his plans to take over his dad's store and ended up in an unsatisfying career selling cars. His daughter worked in the store as a young teen and made all the signs, which led her into a successful career as a graphic artist. She would not have done this working as a cashier at Wal-Mart or McDonald's.

Many of these Mom and Pop stores used to employ Sons and Daughters, giving them valuable sales, inventory, graphics, and customer service experience. Are they going to learn these skills as cashiers or grocery baggers?

[downtoliberalism]

what happens when your baby grows up and can only get a job at Walmart's making a subsistence living and having to take welfare handouts from the govt because Walmart doesn't pay enough? what's the REAL price of that pair of shoes for America?

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The average wage for regular full-time hourly associates in Missouri is $9.53 per hour (Wal-Mart Discount Stores, Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets). Additionally, associates are eligible for performance-based bonuses.
In recent years, Wal-Mart has contributed four percent of an associate's eligible pay to their combined Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan.


If this does not supply enough income for your way of living, get an education.

Bottom line is, no one makes the 41000 people that Wal-Mart employs in MO only work for them. If you don't like the way you are being treated or paid by your current employer, find a different one.

[ken21]

there's an amusing poll on the da vinci blog of the denver post which asks which organization would you trust to issue their own money. examples include wall mart and harvard university, wells fargo. i chose wal-mart. wal-mart's ahead at this time at 16%.

http://www.impactlab.com/modules.php?name=Surveys&op=results&pollID=19&mode=&order=&thold=

[tfecw]

"what i don't understand is why folks like you don't see anything wrong with grossly UNDERPAYING average working people"

Since you don't shop at walmart you don't know who actually works there. Lemme give you an example. Walmart actually has a Greeter. Now this person usually old and their is nothing wrong with that. Their job is to stand or sit at the front of store, smile, and say hello. That's it. That's all they do. How much is that person really worth in terms of what skills and assets he brings to the store? Well in NY he's worth at least 6+ bucks an hour. It sucks to not be educated or squander your chances at a decent life through laziness and or bad choices. 90 percent of the time people are poor for a reason. It's not because they are educated, motivated, and make intelligent choices.

"being a conservative does not mean that you have to automatically suck up to the rich all the time"

I think you are a little too bent on what the definition of conservative means. You aren't looking at what makes sense to you as a person and then seeing where you fit into that schema. I think you are basically confusing the Stereotypical definition of republicans and conservatives. There's a big difference. Hopefully Pat Buchanan will cover it in his next book so you can regurgitate it in a mindless manner for us.

[downtoliberalism]

by the way, love your tagline.

[downtoliberalism]

Many of these Mom and Pop stores used to employ Sons and Daughters, giving them valuable sales, inventory, graphics, and customer service experience. Are they going to learn these skills as cashiers or grocery baggers?


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On the job training is extinct. You get your training for your career at a University. I do feel for your father-in-law, my father-in-law used to work for the railroad. Should we hate the other means of transportation also?

[The Great Yazoo]

read Pat Buchanan - that would be my advice to all of you.

Really bad advice at that. Much better advice: Read Economics in One Lesson (available on-line free from the Foundation for Economic Education) instead.

[The Great Yazoo]

Or Free to Choose: A Personal Statement by Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman

[KevinDavis]

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah!

[The Great Yazoo]

Or Basic Economics: A Citizens Guide to the Economy, Revised and Expanded by Thomas Sowell

[downtoliberalism]

...is unhealthy for american business and for america in general.

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I would argue that liberalism and corruption are the cause of the unhealthy business heartbeat of late. 9/11, Enron, and Westar Energy I believe have caused more harm to business then anything that Wal-Mart has ever done.

[ccmovrwc]

what field of study would you recommend for him in college, if you are able to afford it at all?

Economics.

[MortMan]

Nevertheless you still cannot avoid knowing that multiple Chicom missiles are still aimed at us, thanks to the billions per year that W-M et al send along to China with nary a worry about how that mega-money is used. All other pro-W-M arguments are insignificant when compared to this truth.

So, WalMart is responsible for Clinton's sale or gift of missile technology to China? Give me a freaking break!