Posted on 12/01/2005 10:22:41 AM PST by lastmanstanding
BERRYVILLE, Ark. - Nancy McShane used to spend $600 to $700 a month at Wal-Mart on everything from groceries to oil changes. Then in March she abruptly switched to other discount stores, upset over what her turkey-farming relatives saw as undue price pressure from the world's largest retailer.
McShane, a Springfield, Mo., housewife with children aged 11 and 12, is among what organized critics claim is a growing number of Americans turning against Wal-Mart amid allegations from unions and others that the company is bad for workers, the environment and communities.
"We cut off Wal-Mart cold turkey. Now I'm preaching it to other people," McShane said.
But for James Butler, a chicken plant worker from Alpena, complaints that Wal-Mart is bad for America just don't add up — but the savings do.
"It doesn't change my mind. It's just a convenience. And anywhere else costs more," Butler said Wednesday night outside a Wal-Mart Supercenter where he had just purchased batteries.
According to a poll released Thursday by Wake Up Wal-Mart, an anti-Wal-Mart group launched this year by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, more Americans have an unfavorable view of Wal-Mart today than at the start of the year.
The poll showed that a majority, 58 percent, viewed Wal-Mart favorably, but the figure was down from 76 percent in January. Wake Up Wal-Mart said that was proof that its message against the company's low-price business model is hitting its intended target — the average Wal-Mart shopper.
"What this polling indicates is that Wal-Mart's reputation is in a tailspin," said Paul Blank, campaign director at Wake Up Wal-Mart.
Blank said changes in behavior would follow if consumer's opinions about Wal-Mart continue to fall.
Wal-Mart said the survey was questionable and argued that November sales and an onslaught of holiday shoppers the day after Thanksgiving showed it remained popular.
Figures released Thursday showed that sales at Wal-Mart stores open at least a year rose 3.8 percent in November when compared to November 2004 — matching analysts' expectations. Same-store sales are considered the best indicator of a retailer's health.
Retail analyst Don Gher said Wal-Mart's monthly sales growth did not suggest that shoppers were staying away amid a slew of attacks by groups alleging that Wal-Mart's low prices come at the cost of poor treatment for its workers, suppliers and communities.
"At this point the sales numbers wouldn't seem to indicate a backlash," said Gher of Coldstream Capital Management in Bellevue, Wash. The company has Wal-Mart stock as part of the roughly $900 million in assets it manages.
Consumers appear divided.
Steve and Sandy Larsen of Holiday Island, which is near Eureka Springs, said they liked Wal-Mart for the prices and the company's pledges to the local food kitchen and the Habitat for Humanity in Benton County, the retailer's home town.
"We work a lot in charity, and they are great," Steve Larsen said at the Berryville Supercenter. "They just keep giving."
But at Springfield, McShane said she changed stores after her relatives, who also raise produce, complained Wal-Mart exerts too much pressure on suppliers to cut their prices.
"That's too much power for one company to have," she said.
The Wake Up Wal-Mart figures came from two national telephone surveys of about 1,000 adults in January and November. The January 15-20 poll by Lake, Snell & Perry had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, and the November poll by Zogby had a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.
"In terms of overall favorability, in the span of about 11 months, Wal-Mart experienced a decline of 18 percentage points in the number of American adults who view the company favorably," Wake Up Wal-Mart said in a summary.
The number of people who said they viewed Wal-Mart very favorably or somewhat favorably fell 18 percentage points to 58 percent while the number who answered that their view was very or somewhat unfavorable increased by the same amount to 38 percent.
The group said attitudes were starting to change shopping practices. Asked how often they plan to shop at Wal-Mart in the next month, the number who said they would not go at all rose 8 percentage points to 28 percent. The largest group, those who planned to shop there once or twice, fell 7 points to 32 percent.
Wal-Mart said the November poll appeared to be times to take advantage of publicity around the release of a scathingly critical documentary, Robert Greenwald's "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices."
"It would be hard for anyone to believe that a poll paid for by the UFCW was more accurate than the fact that our estimated November store sales were up 4.3 percent and that 10 million people shopped at our stores during the first six hours of sales last Friday," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark said.
She added: "A good poll would be to ask if working families enjoy the $2,300 in savings we provide per year."
Clark said Wal-Mart does its own internal tracking of consumer sentiment, but declined to release that data. She said the questions were not the same as Wake Up Wal-Mart's poll so they wouldn't be comparable.
If the unions are against them, they can't be all that bad.
yes, but that is not seen from the perspective of the suppliers of goods and services. sure, walmarts in your retail hub attract other stores. but its what's happening to suppliers that is the issue here - the cost pressures are driving all the manufacturers offshore - and that will extend to food soon also. and if company X takes a stand, Walmart goes out and finds company Y who is willing to knock off the same product and take it offshore, and company X is destroyed on price and the breadth of walmarts retail reach buries their product.
I think there's a whole romantic notion about small businesses. Hey I am going to go where where the price is cheaper.
One of the local TV news shows here in Austin did a piece on goods pricing at Super-Walmart, Super Target, and HEB (the local, very dominant grocery store.) Took a basket of 15 common items (diapers, detergent, 12 pack of Coke, etc) and bought them at each place. Walmart had the most items that had the lowest price, followed by Target then HEB. But as a basket, HEB's prices were lowest, and by almost $2. Walmart and Target were within pennies of each other.
Actual title of AP article is "Critics Say Tide Turning on Wal-Mart"....although AP is stupid enough to title it the other way.
Good. Maybe she'll leave me her parking spot.
Our WM's are pretty dang busy.
Sorry you have a crappy Wal-Mart. Ours is new and very nice and the workers are friendly and helpful. Complain to the manager or write their headquarters. I think the top management takes these things seriously.
How do you like them sour grapes?
We avoid shopping at unionized grocery stores. We save a lot of money doing so.
As for Wal-Mart, the fact that the MSM is running non-stop hit pieces on them is a big plus in my book.
Why are the fancy department stores, closing / consolidating, I believe the old Hudson's was just sold again, are you blaming Walmart for their demise?
You must be if you see WalMart as an emerging monopoly in retail.
Depends on what one wants. I am trying to boycott everything made in China, and do not like low quality stuff even when it is cheap, but Wal-Mart food dept is OK in my book.
I'm not going to bash Wal-Mart for being successful.
Oh please, quit being a tool. One person quits shopping at Wal-Mart and the release of a biased poll sponsored by an anti-WalMart group does not mean the end is nigh for Wal-Mart.
Welcome newbie.
That Springfield, MO woman can kiss my @ss.
I live near Springfield and the Walmarts are always full of people. Target and Kmart have empty parking lots.
They're building a new Super Walmart in my town and I can't wait for it to open in April.
This is an obvious hit piece against Walmart.
Ditto to that!
In any event, when I go to Bed Bath and Beyond, I could buy a towel from Portugal or Egypt that is $8.99, whereas one made in China would cost $2.99. As far as American made goods are concerned, if you look at the labor in the average textile or rug factory in the Carolinas, the workers are from, you guessed it, Mexico. Even the few garment factories in the New York area are largely staffed by immigrants now, and they are unionized.
"But guess what, last year this Ace had the highest sales in the country for its population group. And the year before, it was in the top 5 country wide in all groups.
How is that possible?"
Amazing, isn't it! Must drive the Lowes and Home Depot guys crazy. They just can't figure it out.
Customer: I need some screws to fix my front door, but I'm not sure exactly what to use.
Home Depot Wanker: Uh...screws are over there in the hardware section.
Lowes Wanker: That's not my department. I'm Paint.
Ace Guy: So, is your entry door a steel door or wood? Come with me, and we'll figure out what screws you need. By the way, are the screws kinda loose in the frame? If they are, we have some inserts that will tighten them up for you.
Say, how's that Toro you bought last month working for you? We're having a deal in a couple of weeks. You bring your mower in and we'll check it out for free...make sure everything's still OK.
That's right. Maybe they'd lose a little money on everything they sell, but they'd make it up in volume.
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