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The Wal-Mart Effect

The hows and whys of beating the Bentonville behemoth

By David Moberg

Walter “The General” Brooks stood amid the vacant buildings of a former Reyerson Steel plant on Chicago’s South Side, the projected site of a shopping center anchored by a Wal-Mart discount store. “We need jobs,” exclaimed Brooks, owner of a nearby fried chicken restaurant. “There are no industrial jobs around. They’re all overseas.” But Wal-Mart may not be the answer… return to article

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    Page 1 of 1 pages

    This good vs. bad argument against Walmart is fiction. Some of my local retailers need to be tamed every bit as much as Walmart. Camping fuel costs $2.97/gal at Walmart, but I am offended by how Walmart treats its employees and so I don’t buy it there. On the other hand, camping fuel costs $6.99/gal at my local hardware store -a price differential of 135% over the Walmart price- and so i feel price-gouged and ripped off and offended by the hardware store too. Come to think of it, I don’t buy nearly as much camping fuel as i used to. Thanks America for the wake-up! I’m a lot better off now as a minimalist consumer.

    United States Posted by co-op guy on Jun 12, 2004 at 11:50 AM

    I always see if the same people are working where I shop, month after month. I know, how enlightened of me.
    But I always keep in mind if I am looking for a new job, what place has people who have been there awhile, who seem to like working there. I also talk to the people there, asking them if they’re hiring. Usually, someone unhappy will tell you the place is bad to work for.
    Wal-Mart’s main competitor where I live is employee owned. 90% of their items are at the same price if not lower than Wal-Mart’s. The other 10% are lower. So I shop there because I’ve seen the same people there for four or five years if not more.

    I like the CostCo approach. Their CEO is lower paid than most and they’re giving back to their employees. Every year they have steady growth.

    United States Posted by Ammonia D on Jun 13, 2004 at 9:47 AM

    Whine, Whine, Whine, man I have never heard as many whiners about Wal*Mart as I have heard in the past 2 days, if it is not from women who feel slighted because they were not promoted, It is a cse of blame everyone else but themselves, An Idea that is now taught in the Public School Systems across this country. If you dont get what you think you deserve be it your fault or not just take them to court. Americans need to grow up and take responsibilty for their actions.

    United States Posted by Ping on Jun 23, 2004 at 10:31 AM

    Doesn’t Wal-Mmart set a goood example for those who worship “American dream”? I think some people
    critize Wal-Mart because it just make lots of people lose their jobs.It is unfair to Wal-Mart .We should realize that it have to do that if it want to live and pay more tax for U.S.A

    China Posted by Stanley on Dec 4, 2004 at 12:18 AM

    well...first of all USA sucks big balls...secondly wal-mart sucks big balls also...wal-mart is the cause of a lot of job loss in the past years...wal-mart is claiming to have “low prices” when infact some of the stuff there is higher than most places...people just think that wal-mart is cheaper because they have a few lower prices than other reetail stores...thats BS because i know for a fact most of the things you can get at wal-mart you can get from like k-mart, sears, target, big lots, etc. for a lot lower price...if you want proof than just go to the wal-mart and buy somthing and then look at the other retail stores and find out if the prices are the same...or you casn even check the newspaper for ads from various stores that are a whole lot lower...i think the only thing that is lower in wal-mart is the items that are non-name brand and won’t last more than maybe a week or so…

    United States Posted by louis miranda on Dec 5, 2004 at 7:31 PM

    POOP
    all ur base r belong to us

    United States Posted by Gir on Dec 5, 2004 at 7:58 PM
    Page 1 of 1 pages
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