Is Walmart Bad For America?

[the ringo kid]

Weren't the early Walmarts all about American made? With their volume of sales they could do a lot for American manufacturing by getting back to this.

When old man Walton was alive--they were an all-American store--the offspring changed his business model in ordfer to make loads of profit--causing many many mom and pop stores to close.

 

[the ringo kid]

Well... taking advantage of cheap labor abroad is exploited by manufactures and then passed along to retailers across the country, from small to large retail operations.. not just Walmart.

What I think you're really asking... Are the benefits from economies of scale in the retail industry outweighed by the downslide, perceived or otherwise?

You mentioned wages. Mom and Pop operating a 500sqf storefront have little bargaining power with manufactures, so they'll pay what the manufactures dictate, period. Having a small store, on par they'll pay a higher price per sqf as well as other building related expenses compared to larger operations. They'll enjoy no efficiencies with economies of scale on the purchase, operating or selling side of the business. So with no purchasing power, inflated operating costs and no economies of scale, where is all the extra money going to come from to pay their employee higher wages, better benefits and more opportunity for advancement in a Mom and Pop shop?

Some years ago, I watched a documentary I think called: "The High Cost of Walmart." Not to make a long story--Walmart dictates the prices of items that manufacturers can sell on their shelves. If the manufacturers dont agree on Walmarts dictated prices-they cant sell stuff on WM shelves till they bend to WMs demands. Rubbermaid fairly recently had that happen to them.

 

[rog8732]

Bad for America ?? I don't see that necessarily, but they do have some policies that rankle me a bit.
Their "lobby" budget; while way lower than those "working the pentagon" for instance, is substantial at just under $7 mil.
It bothers me in this respect:
It is most all spent to lobby "Uncle" to leave the food stamp program unchanged and stop any downward trend of costs for it.
The program that cost $76 billion annually, of which W-M reaps 18 percent. (I can't handle the math there, but it is a bunch.)
That 18% is listed 3rd behind Pepsi and Kraft, but this thread is not about Pepsi nor Kraft, however the "Kraft" part may give fresh voice to N.E. Patriots haters.

As to the wages paid by W-M, low or high, it gives me satisfaction just to see so many seeking gainful employment. I did read however many employees are themselves eligible for food stamps.
The number of employees eligible for food stamp assistance in Ohio for instance, is 15%.

Do not take this as a rant against those people who truly need assistance, we could all fall into that situation.

I will venture this opinion. Three of the most radical changes to ever come to this country in "peace-time", as seen from the perspective of most of us regular working-Joe "old goats", (with which I proudly stand) are communications, interstate road systems, and Wal-Mat....Good or bad ??... No changing it now I suppose.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Some years ago, I watched a documentary I think called: "The High Cost of Walmart." Not to make a long story--Walmart dictates the prices of items that manufacturers can sell on their shelves. If the manufacturers dont agree on Walmarts dictated prices-they cant sell stuff on WM shelves till they bend to WMs demands. Rubbermaid fairly recently had that happen to them.

Right. Walmart is such a huge buyer that manufactures/suppliers will meet their price points. And it can go well beyond that it into Walmart involved in how the product is manufactured. Mom and Pop stores don't have that kind of clout nor anywhere near the sophistication of Walmart. Mom and Pop will pay significantly more for their inventory and pass along those higher prices to you, the consumer.

 

[bricker]

It has been a while since a good old WM bashing thread. I rank these right behind bear threads and caliber vs shot placement discussions. Good times.

 

[Walkingwolf]

Walmart operating costs are over 100 billion dollars. They operate on a margin of between 3%-3.5%. If they did not get the deals they make, they could not stay in business.

We are still a free market country, don't like a business, don't shop there. Reward the ones you do like.

I like getting treated with respect, lacking in many shops. In many cases I prefer Mom, and Pop though. Dining out is one of them, and money I save at Walmart tips a waitress 20-25%.

 

[16thVACav]

As I read through the comments in this thread, I concluded that passing a class in basic economics should be required for every high school student.

 

[Big Cholla]

IF Walmart were a true monopoly YOU would have no choice but to shop there....

Walmart is not a monopoly, not even an oligopoly. I'm sure that the beating Walmart is taking from Amazon right now is proof. Walmart is an American corporation that has a business model to compete in today's market place. And, I'm sure that their business model is preparing big changes in emphasis to situate them better to compete with Amazon.

We live in the United States of America, the land of free choice. If you choose to not shop or to shop with Walmart, it is YOUR choice. If you choose to work for Walmart part time under the job conditions offered, it is YOUR choice. We can rue all the changes in local competition for as long as we want. But, competition and change is the name of the game for business as well as life. The buggy whip manufactures are gone because the horse could not compete with the Model 'T'. The USA is the better for it.

You decry the fact that "America doesn't make anything" anymore. You want to blame Walmart for that? How about placing the blame where it belongs.....with the politicians YOU elected.......

Big Box Retailers are going out of business at a record pace. You want to blame that on Walmart? How about blaming it on management's inability to make flexible and responsive business plans to respond to changes in technology, purchasing habits, costs of their existing business plan? A prime example is Sears. They are a dying institution because of their management and a business plan fixed in concrete. You don't see Walmart proselyting Sears managers. There are probably many ex permanent employees of Sears that are now working part time at Walmart. ...........

If Walmart doesn't change their business plan rapidly enough and Amazon puts them out of business, are you going to rant and rave about Amazon being a monopoly and unfair to its employees and it clients?....

Although how could it be 'unfair' to robots? ............

 

[gman51]

I shop for some things at WM because they do cost less. Yeah a huge part of their inventory comes from China. You can bet that in order to get those big so called "loans" from China that the US had to agree to open the gates for imports of goods from China. That's why even a lot of our food is coming from China now. The USA land of plenty doesn't have fish or other food that we have to have foods imported here?

WM didn't put American made companies out of business, China imports did that. Old Sam used to help start American companies to make products for him to stock and sell. It is almost impossible to start a manufacturing company in the US now with all the dang taxes and cost of labor and still make a profit these days.

Times are changing and WM like many other retailers is going to have to get serious on internet sales to stay in business. I love the internet because I don't have to drive all around trying to find what I am looking to buy and for the best price. I get the best price and delivered to my door. It cost me more in gas to drive around then it cost for delivery to my door.
Wm is not the have it all covered to put many local businesses out of business. WM barely scratches the need for some things such as their hardware dept. I go to my local hardware which has more than two isles of hardware products.
They say buy American. I say where? If people knew how much of the all American Harley Davidson is foreign made they would cringe.
I will keep buying from WM knowing at least WM is hiring Americans. That's more than many US companies can say. I so far don't have to speak Spanish to shop at WM.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I think Southpark's episode on WalMart just about says it all
Watch South Park Season 08 Episode 09 | Hulu We ARE Walmart.
I'm a big fan of Southpark.

 

[Muley Gil]

A lot of folks have no option. Wal-Mart is THE department store in the area.

 

[Arik]

I shop for some things at WM because they do cost less. Yeah a huge part of their inventory comes from China. You can bet that in order to get those big so called "loans" from China that the US had to agree to open the gates for imports of goods from China. That's why even a lot of our food is coming from China now. The USA land of plenty doesn't have fish or other food that we have to have foods imported here?

WM didn't put American made companies out of business, China imports did that. Old Sam used to help start American companies to make products for him to stock and sell. It is almost impossible to start a manufacturing company in the US now with all the dang taxes and cost of labor and still make a profit these days.

Times are changing and WM like many other retailers is going to have to get serious on internet sales to stay in business. I love the internet because I don't have to drive all around trying to find what I am looking to buy and for the best price. I get the best price and delivered to my door. It cost me more in gas to drive around then it cost for delivery to my door.
Wm is not the have it all covered to put many local businesses out of business. WM barely scratches the need for some things such as their hardware dept. I go to my local hardware which has more than two isles of hardware products.
They say buy American. I say where? If people knew how much of the all American Harley Davidson is foreign made they would cringe.
I will keep buying from WM knowing at least WM is hiring Americans. That's more than many US companies can say. I so far don't have to speak Spanish to shop at WM.

China didn't put anyone out of business. Companies went to china for cheaper labor. China didn't twist anyone's arm, didn't put a gun to anyone's head, didn't force anyone to set up shop there. Did they welcome new business? Of course, we would too!

It's a never ending circle. As employees we want to be paid top dollar, as consumers we want the most for our money. Those two things don't always go hand in hand.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[gregintenn]

I do not like going to Walmart, so I rarely go there. That being said, they seem to provide something the majority of people in my community want, need, or at least think they need.

 

[S42N8]

How can we bash WM when going there (specially after dark) provides the opportunity to observe the 'Murrican public in the wild? If Sir David Attenborough did the narration, Nat Geo would have another primetime series...

 

[fiasconva]

I kinda like Walmart myself. No matter how bad I dress there is always someone there who looks way worse than me.

 

[Tyrod]

Sure wish I could buy those $79 Chinese Norinco SKSs at Walmart.

 

[ACORN]

I kinda like Walmart myself. No matter how bad I dress there is always someone there who looks way worse than me.

Yep! You can be a raggedy arse crumb bum but you can bet there will
be someone there that makes you look like a Hollywood star.

 

[rwsmith]

They weren't bad....

They weren't bad when Sam was running the outfit, but they've strayed far from his philosophy. They completely changed the landscape of retail, but have pushed way to many foreign products at us. I don't go in there unless I have to.

I try to support my local mom and pop stores as much as I can.

 

[BigDog48]

Well, gee, I hate to ask do you "hate" Amazon, or any other super effective companies?

The America I have lived in fir almost 70 years is built on "build a better mousetrap and they will come" competition. Walmart and Amazon and quite a few other re-sellers are quite good at building their mousetraps.

They optimize every buying decision, help consumers figure out which of their many choices are the best, and then optimize every "selling" price and price-point decision. That creates a lot of jobs, but it also eliminates a lot of mom and pop operations who can't compete.

I can't hate them, because I recognize their "smarts" and the fact that they save me money, but do I feel bad for the corner store owners that I know that no longer can compete--yes. On the other hand, lots of corner hardware stores are now affiliated with Ace or True-Valu to minimize their wholesale and advertising costs, so locals are still around. They survived Home Depot and Lowes!

 

[snubbyfan]

At the nearest Walmart, they moved the ammo behind the counter so you havta ask.
Me, "do you have any 230 grain full metal jacket .45 acp?"
He turns around, turns back and says, "no."
I squint at the case and there's a whole shelf full of .45 acp, "There's a whole shelf full right there."
Him, "but that just says .45 auto."
I finally convinced him to take my money for a box of ammo.

My wife has a bunch of old cassettes that she likes listening to while she puzzles. Sometimes her and our cat Sarah sing along together (I've got to get that on video one day).
Anyway our old cassette players quit working. I found some on Amazon but we decided to see if Walmart had one before we ordered it.
My wife asked at the electronics counter, "do you have cassette players?"
Them, "No, Walmart doesn't carry cassette players."
Me, "oh well, we'll just havta order it from Amazon."
My wife decided to look around a bit while I drooled on the expensive video cameras.
She walks up and says,"look what I found."
It was a portable cassette player/recorder.
She showed it to the fellow at the counter.
Them,"that says recorder."
Well that player/recorder works pretty good.
If you can't just walk up to the shelf and pick the item up, forget about getting any kind of competent help.
I dunno if that's just our Walmart of if it's like that everywhere.
Competent customer service seems to be a thing of the past.