Is WalMart killing America

[TAZ]

I miss the local mom and pop shops we used to seek out when camping as a kid. We now park in walmark parking lots and it is the norm for my kids. It is getting harder and harder to find the little stands and backwoods shops with local crafts. There are still a few but how long will they last?

I just read a post on a thread that was close that hit home regaurding WalMart. We freaquent walmart because they have the best prices, but how do they achieve the choke hold on the market. Are we being baited in and setting up our children and grand- childrens dependency on a small select numbers corporations.

If anyone has watched King of the Hill this is our future... MegaloMart!

[Mr_D]

Sure, just like Montgomery Wards and Sears did when they came in! Think how many Mom & Pop stores they forced out and no one got upset about it then.

[IMDSailor]

Don't even get me started on Walmart. Global domination of the retail market is their goal, and they are rapidly achieving it. Wonder why the manufacturing jobs are going to China? Walmart. I used to have the facts and figures at hand but can't seem to locate them now, but they are almost single handedly responsible for the trade imbalance between the US and China. Walmart in the King of the lost leader, thats where companies drastically reduce prices on items in order to get you in the store and while there buy something else. As an experiment a few years back I did a price check on four foot florescent light fixtures. I checked four stores Walmart, Canadian Tire, Home Depot and 1 other, might have been K Mart, they were all within twenty cents of each other and Walmart wasn't the cheapest. People only think they are the cheapest because they keep telling us they are, over and over and over again. I personally don't darken it's door. They don't need me and I don't need them.
Thats my 2 cents Cdn.

[TAZ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D Sure, just like Montgomery Wards and Sears did when they came in! Think how many Mom & Pop stores they forced out and no one got upset about it then.

I think there is a difference when there was a need for a larger metropolitan sales and shopping malls. But the shopping malls are closing and singularities are emerging. They are targeting rural areas. Another significant difference is that Sears and Wards resold merchandise were WalMart is not reseling.... They are manipulating the supply chain and dictating/controlling the manufacturing.

[frankdamp]

I've never seen a "Walmark". I don't think they're a risk. WalMart is a whole nother animal.

[toneumanns]

WalMart is successful because consumers have made them the giant that they are. Mom & Pop stores didn't survive for the same reason, consumers. Now I'm no flag waver for WalMart but we really need to look at ourselves for their success.

[TAZ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by toneumanns WalMart is successful because consumers have made them the giant that they are. Mom & Pop stores didn't survive for the same reason, consumers. Now I'm no flag waver for WalMart but we really need to look at ourselves for their success.

My point excatly... And if you mess up the tiltle in the first post the edit does not fix it :(

[JadedDancer]

Walmart would hold no power if no one shopped there. We can't really blame Walmart.

I can count the number of times I shop there on one hand in a year's time. For so long as I can afford to pay a dollar or two extra to shop somewhere else, I will. Their customer service is horrible, and the way they set prices with their distributors is killing the mom and pop shops to the point of extinction.

[Davdeb1]

Walmart is just giving people what they want. We are the problem, and if someone wants to be the martyr, and not shop there, it is their choice and right. Just know, there will never be enough people to boycott Walmart. Soon Walmart will be the number 1 retailer in the world.

It's a fact of life, we can't change it. Let's just live with it, enjoy the free parking and inexpensive stuff.

[JadedDancer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davdeb1 Walmart is just giving people what they want. We are the problem, and if someone wants to be the martyr, and not shop there, it is their choice and right. Just know, there will never be enough people to boycott Walmart. Soon Walmart will be the number 1 retailer in the world. It's a fact of life, we can't change it. Let's just live with it, enjoy the free parking and inexpensive stuff.

I know you are right, as much as I hate that it is the truth.

I guess things just change, and walmart - hate them or love them - truly have changed the way america does business.

[TAZ]

I fought to keep them from coming into my small town but we got railroaded. Too many people wanted a walmart. Try to support local shops as often as possible. The problem is sometimes I too have no choice. There is just so much lost and everthing comes off a production line in China.

Guess i am just old fashioned.

[akadeadeye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IMDSailor Don't even get me started on Walmart. Global domination of the retail market is their goal, and they are rapidly achieving it. Wonder why the manufacturing jobs are going to China? Walmart. I used to have the facts and figures at hand but can't seem to locate them now, but they are almost single handedly responsible for the trade imbalance between the US and China. Walmart in the King of the lost leader, thats where companies drastically reduce prices on items in order to get you in the store and while there buy something else. As an experiment a few years back I did a price check on four foot florescent light fixtures. I checked four stores Walmart, Canadian Tire, Home Depot and 1 other, might have been K Mart, they were all within twenty cents of each other and Walmart wasn't the cheapest. People only think they are the cheapest because they keep telling us they are, over and over and over again. I personally don't darken it's door. They don't need me and I don't need them. Thats my 2 cents Cdn.

Of course. Walmart is representative of the old evil free market capitalism that made this country great.

Hang'em high! Tax 100% of their profits. Throw them to the dogs. Marxism is the way to go. You bet.

The same with Home Depot. They ran all the mom and pop hardware stores out of business didn't they? Hang'em high! Tax 100% of their profits. Take away their citizenship. Capitalism just doesn't work. Bring back Karl Marx. Come on socialism. Down with Walmart, Home Depot.................let's see,.........who's next.........I know, McDonald's, Burger King......what about all those mom and pop burger joints they ran out of business? Let's see, who else in the business world can we diss? How about.....................and....................a nd.....................

Get a grip.

[mrschwarz]

I thought they already were the number 1 retailer in the world.

[hellojohnny]

In a Southpark episode the kid's were trying to find a way to stop Walmart from taking all the business away from small businesses in their town and in the end they had to break the mirror at the back of the store to stop it. Meaning: look in the mirror if you want to know why Walmart is successful.

Adam