What do you think of WalMart?

AlfredSokol said: "I've never been that impressed with them. I never shop there myself and don't understand the fuss. What are your impressions of WalMart (their stores and the company) ?"

Heather said: "Group think says "good" Prices are cheap, you can find just about anything you want whenever you there, some have grocery stores, service is always at least "Okay" and prices are cheap. Thrifty consumers are of course going to be attracted to the lower prices. A staple like laundry detergent is like 2-3 bucks cheaper at WM. As it affects other large retailers? Sears and K-Mart are entering this marketplace so it must be pretty lucrative."

misterjover said: "I hate WalMart. They are putting every other retail store out of business, and they won't stop there. WalMart's Superstores will put every grocery chain out of business as well. The Walton's are attempting to dominate the world, and they will contribute to the creation of a singularity that will ultimately annihilate all of mankind. You heard it here first! :)"

HappyHarry said: "They're too big. They have way to big of an impact on the areas in which the operate and it's generally negative. I don't like WalMart at all."

AlfredSokol said: "They really did one thing great: they computerized and automated before most companies. They got so good at data-mining that they were able to make their supply-chain as effective as anyone else. Now that they've leveraged over [B]$300,000,000,000[/B] per year in sales, they have purchasing power like no other company that ever existed. And they continue to expand, into countries all over the world. With 1.5 million workers they represent a large part of the whole work force! How can a company this huge continue to grow?"

bobjitsu said: "I love Wal-Mart, I hope they do put all the grocery chains out of business...only the strong survive. Wal-Mart's are popping up all over Las Vegas and I go there and Sam's Club at least once a week. Cheap food, ammo and anything else I need...what more could I want? :)"

AlfredSokol said: "Damn! A WalMart True Believer! Do you buy your gas there yet?"

bobjitsu said: "[QUOTE=AlfredSokol]Damn! A WalMart True Believer! Do you buy your gas there yet?[/QUOTE] Actually sometimes I do...at Sam's Club."

Heather said: "K-Mart has added some gas stations, but I never fill my tank there. There aren't many of them. A local WalMart/Sams Club occupies a large corner of a busy intersection here. They just added fuel pumps. I know that they have already had a large impact on the grocery industry because of the Labor Union. They don't pay Union wages to their grocery store workers. A few have even closed down..."

bobjitsu said: "Death to all unions! Why pay a guy $25-$30 an hour to water lettuce all day is beyond me. Grocery stores are not a place to work your whole life and retire at..it should be for highschool kids and retirees. JMHO."

Heather said: "Unions are a way to take a the dollars out of a working persons paycheck. I am sure that Unions are Unions are Unions. I worked in a non-union manufacturing job for a few years and they had a few different rallies to bring the union in, but they got shot down every time. No body wanted it, so they lost. And the company has survived, too.."

bobjitsu said: "I have a friend who used to work at Von's in Cali, I was amazed at how he would whine and complain about only getting $27 an hour to stack pineapples all day. :rolleyes:"

lost said: "Well i live in Arkansas so i go into a Wal-Mart at least once a week. you can get anything u want and it is cheap so y not? it is also like 90% of our states income."

HappyHarry said: "Kmart/Sears might have a chance to compete with them, but they haven't shown much ability too, though. They should probably try to hire someone away from WalMart."

ToastMonger said: "I firmly oppose WalMart on a moral level. It'll upset a couple of you but I am a firm believer in unions as well as a member of the UFCW (Union of Food Commercial Workers....not United Federation of Cool Wrestling). WalMart uses tactics that are creating major problems. The main one is the lack of benefits. They pay minimum wage and while they tout benefits for full time employees they fail to mention that no one in the company can get more than 28 hours. Btw, 29 hours would be considered full time and entitle them to benefits. They always try to make themselves look like something they aren't. If there is one thing that I can't stand it's duplicity. I remember a couple of years back they did a HUGE marketing plan about how all of their products were "Made in America". Shortly afterwards it came out that most of their products were made in South or Central America. The response from WalMart was along the lines of "well that's America". They are just expanding too big. Free trade is a wonderful thing but just as full communism only works on paper full capaitalism also only works on paper. Companies need to be regulated, no company should ever be allowed to get to the monopolistic point that WalMart is at. Not only does WalMart dominate the industry it is in now (Misc. Retail, I'll call it) it keeps moving in on other industries (gas, grocery, etc.). The only way that major problems can be avoided is to make sure that diversification exists and that consumers have options about who they shop with."

HappyHarry said: "You have a point. WalMart is now so big they represent a new social condition wherever they do business. They're changing the towns where they operate, all over the world. They must have some responsibility to the world."

bobjitsu said: "This is a free country, nobody is forced to work at any one company. If Wal-Mart can't give you what you want your free to seek employment elsewhere. I guess the upside to not having all those benefits is you know for damn sure Wal-Mart will be able to give you a check every week...rather than a slip that says they are "downsizing". Ronald Reagan had a great quote one...it went something to the effect of "I have some experience dealing with communism, remember I was the head of a labor union once. ;)"

HappyHarry said: "If the Union can't save your job, what's the point?"

misterjover said: "[QUOTE=HappyHarry]You have a point. WalMart is now so big they represent a new social condition wherever they do business. They're changing the towns where they operate, all over the world. They must have some responsibility to the world.[/QUOTE] The negative externalities that arise from erecting a WalMart greatly outweigh its benefits. First off... I'm in the money business, and I do a regular amount of real estate here in Southern CA. Whenever a WalMart pops up, houses within a 5 mile radius experience an immediate loss of 10 to 15% of their value. Traffic in surrounding areas increases exponentially, and these quiet neighborhoods turn into crime-infested centers of commerce (ok that's a bit of a disphemism but you get the point.) Overall, low prices doesn't necessarily save you money. In the long run, you pay for it and the community pays for it in various ways. It's all a sick series of economic exchanges."

ToastMonger said: "[QUOTE=bobjitsu]This is a free country, nobody is forced to work at any one company. If Wal-Mart can't give you what you want your free to seek employment elsewhere. I guess the upside to not having all those benefits is you know for damn sure Wal-Mart will be able to give you a check every week...rather than a slip that says they are "downsizing". Ronald Reagan had a great quote one...it went something to the effect of "I have some experience dealing with communism, remember I was the head of a labor union once. ;)[/QUOTE] You can't find a better job if all of the competition has been destroyed. That's the threat behind WalMart. You can see a microcosm of this in the small American towns. The kind where the cool-kid hangout is the Circle K. The only place that you can get a job outside of farming or super skilled (doctor, priest, stuff like that) is the WalMart. The low wages and lack of benefits are stabbing the employees in the back. While they do have a job they have a job that pays $5.15 an hour and they can only work 28 hours a week. The weekly paycheck is a whopping $144.20. That is honestly pathetic. Now let's pretend that there are 2 companies in the town. For the ease of the example we're going to avoid corporate pay rules. Each store realizes that they need so many employees in order to operate as well as possible. Since the work force has 2 different options of where to go the companies have to offer higher pay/hours and better benefits in order to attract the better employees. Pay would end up evening out around $6.50-6.75. Let's just take the low end of my prediction at $6.50. We're also assuming that these companies aren't doing the 28 hour limit because they are decent enough to pay benefits. Now someone is able to earn $260 a week. Still not much money, but it pays out a lot more money that goes into the economy. Wal-Mart would like to have the entire world be like those single store towns. While it may seem to be great to the people who are buying those products at the discounted rate they are not looking at the long-term implications. Wal-Mart destroys competitors, plain and simple truth. As competitors are destoryed Wal-Mart's employee pool gets even bigger allowing them to pay less and treat employees worse. Each of these employees is making very little money and has barely any expendable income. The end result is that the local economy is weaker than it would be if the Wal-Mart was not there."

bobjitsu said: "I'll take the idiot approach on my retort. Ammo is $10 per 100 rounds for new Winchester white box...that is cheaper than gunshow reloads....I love Wal-Mart. :)"

AlfredSokol said: "Obviously, Bob is not alone. So WalMart has changed people lives. They made things easier to find, and cheaper to buy."

misterjover said: "[QUOTE=bobjitsu]Death to all unions! Why pay a guy $25-$30 an hour to water lettuce all day is beyond me. Grocery stores are not a place to work your whole life and retire at..it should be for highschool kids and retirees. JMHO.[/QUOTE] That's true. WalMart's non-union approach to employment enables it to have higher profit margins and lower prices. It's kind of scary once you think of it... how fast this company has spread; it's like a virus for which there is no vaccine. Overall, the Walton's will eventually make Bill Gates look like a homeless street beggar once those Superstore groceries are in every major city in the world."

AlfredSokol said: "The Walton's combined worth is already scary. They're richer than most Sultans."

WellsTrader said: "I used to work at Wal-Mart and the first thing they tell you when you get hired is they don't want the union in there. (I think they say, "We are not Anit-Union, we are just Pro-Associate.")"

HappyHarry said: "Do the WalMart jobs pay much lower than union jobs?"

WellsTrader said: "I made 7 bucks an hour in central Iowa. My friend works union at a differant place and was making closer to 16. His job was more than just reatil, it involved afew other things like taking inventory, etc but still that is over double the pay."

ToastMonger said: "Here in Phoenix where there is illegal labor galore I'm pretty sure it's $5.15 (min wage)"

misterjover said: "[QUOTE=AlfredSokol]The Walton's combined worth is already scary. They're richer than most Sultans.[/QUOTE] Exactly. I need to get one of the Walton daughters pregnant (or several of them) so I can be part of that family. :)"

HappyHarry said: "[QUOTE=misterjover]Exactly. I need to get one of the Walton daughters pregnant (or several of them) so I can be part of that family. :)[/QUOTE] If done right, that could be profitable and fun :)"

scottigee said: "You could just about short sell Walmart at this point - or write a long term put option. They are just waiting to pop. Their supply chain is stretched way too thin and they expanded faster than their sustainable growth rate. Your best bet is to bang one of the daughters"

AlfredSokol said: "You may need Viagra, though. They're no lookers. [IMG]http://images.forbes.com/media/lists/10/2004/9S8R.jpg][/IMG]"

ToastMonger said: "Let's face it....when they have more money than a sultan they have more power. Expect to meet the Walmart Assassination squad if you knock a Walton girl up.....I kinda see it as the Kill Bill girls with those stupid vests"

misterjover said: "[QUOTE=AlfredSokol]You may need Viagra, though. They're no lookers. [IMG]http://images.forbes.com/media/lists/10/2004/9S8R.jpg][/IMG][/QUOTE] LOL!! I'd have to just close my eyes and think about the money. That should do the trick. :D"

ToastMonger said: "She might figure out something is up. The only thing worse than calling a girl by another girl's name is to accidently call her by her bank account #. "Would you like some more wine, 1358329531 ...uh I mean Beth""

Darren said: "you are a real man. or real greedy :)"

chahinemm said: "[QUOTE=misterjover]LOL!! I'd have to just close my eyes and think about the money. That should do the trick. :D[/QUOTE] or put a paper bag on the face :D HAHAHAH chahine"