I Love Walmart!

Quote: LarryS

actually the chance of being gouged has a better chance of happening from a single business owner rather than a chain of stores wherenational negative publicity can cause millions in lost sales.

+1

Exactly. Unfortunately, libs like Mr. Tangent don't seem to care when the mom-and-pops shops are the ones doing it.

Quote: Beethoven9th

Mr. Tangent must be getting frustrated.

—First, he tried to ignore being called out on his s2pid statement about "selling products at a loss" not being a benefit to the consumer.
—Then he was speechless after he was asked to name just ONE instance of Walmart selling products at a higher price than a store that went out of business.
—Now he acts like he's a friend of mom-and-pop shops when we all know full well that the policies he supports (e.g., Obamacare) will put these same mom-and-pop shops out of business.

Keep digging yourself a deeper hole, dude...lol!

Hmmm.....

I can't necessarily say that it was the Wal-Mart in Moundsville, West Virginia that led to the Convenient Food Mart in town closing, because both Greg's Market locations stayed open and are open to this day. However, I can say that Convenient Food Mart had lower prices on deli products, especially cheeses, than anywhere else in town, so automatically, Wal-Mart charged a higher price on those than a store that went out of business.

However, I don't believe that Wal Mart's prices on those deli items was ever the same in the first place, and I also don't think they really cared at all about what Convenient Food Mart did or did not do one way or the other.

On the other hand, Wal-Mart did have cheaper prices on tools than K&W Pro Hardware, which is now out of business in Moundsville. Although, Ace Hardware is still in business along with 84 Lumber, which does some hardware. Lowe's also opened in nearby Wheeling, WV during this time, so I think the problem with K&W Pro Hardware was that they just absolutely sucked because the market could clearly support three hardware stores.

I remember when I was nineteen (prior to WalMart) and I had to order something of a specialty tool for my Step-Dad. I went to Ace Hardware and got a quote (not in stock at the location) to order it and then I went to K&W Hardware, and the quote was higher. I explained to K&W that I got a lower quote from Ace Hardware, and if they'd give me that price, I'd just go ahead and order it from them since I was already standing there. They said no, so I had to call when I got home and order it from Ace Hardware.

They could have matched the price and would have still profited on the item. That's the kind of crap that will result in your hardware store closing, not Wal-Mart coming to town. I never again bought anything from K&W Pro Hardware because I found it ridiculous that they would not match that price.

Quote: Beethoven9th

Mr. Tangent must be getting frustrated.

—First, he tried to ignore being called out on his s2pid statement about "selling products at a loss" not being a benefit to the consumer.
—Then he was speechless after he was asked to name just ONE instance of Walmart selling products at a higher price than a store that went out of business.
—Now he acts like he's a friend of mom-and-pop shops when we all know full well that the policies he supports (e.g., Obamacare) will put these same mom-and-pop shops out of business.

Keep digging yourself a deeper hole, dude...lol!

What kind of fantasy world are you living in, I don't have any responsibility to you. You bullshit about your success when you never have any.

Quote: EvenBob

They were ruthless in obtaining the monopoly, but the point
was to control costs, not so much raise them. They were
in constant price wars with competitors, so the answer was
to have no competitors. Once Standard had over 90% of
the oil business, they could control production and sales costs.
What's fascinating is, we're talking kerosene here, not gasoline.
Gas had no uses until the 20th century, and the Standard trusts
were broken up in the 1890's. Rockefeller became the richest
man the world has ever known thru a product we rarely even
use anymore, yet was the best fuel for lighting at the end of the
1800's. He sold even more overseas than in the States.

Kersosene, is used synonomously with heating oil, and #1 diesel fuel. Yep, gasoline was a by product that they just poured into the river.

Hard to believe that control of the world's oil wasn't about obscene wealth, maybe just philanthropy?

Maybe at the time he was the richest, but there are others. In the documentary I think it said he wrote Carnegie a check for 250 million dollars, at the time it was probably the largest ever written. But I don't think he had the money till he borrowed it from JP Morgan, who was rich enough to bail out the United States around 1906?

What's interesting is that at his death, Sam Walton's personal
fortune was about $100 billion if you adjust it to today's dollars.
When Rockefeller died in 1937, his fortune is estimated at
around $500 billion, adjusted. It's an incomprehensible amount
of money, they say nobody will ever come near it. Rockefeller
was obsessed with money. As a child his sister used to say,
if it was raining porridge, while everyone was using their bowls
to cover their heads, John would be the only one with it right
side up to collect the falling porridge.

Quote: petroglyph

Kersosene, is used synonomously with heating oil, and #1 diesel fuel. Yep, gasoline was a by product that they just poured into the river.

The kerosene they made for lamps is very different than
the product they make now.

Quote: petroglyph

Hard to believe that control of the world's oil wasn't about obscene wealth, maybe just philanthropy?

It was about obscene wealth. A minister named Reverend Gates
approached Rockefeller and told him unless he started giving the
bulk of his wealth away, it would crush him and the next generations
of his family. That's how it began. Rockefeller was always a giver
to charity, but without that push he never would have done it on
a grand scale.

He's the richest man who ever lived, see my other post.

Quote: EvenBob

They were ruthless in obtaining the monopoly, but the point
was to control costs, not so much raise them. They were
in constant price wars with competitors, so the answer was
to have no competitors. Once Standard had over 90% of
the oil business, they could control production and sales costs.

"Standard's actions and secret transport deals helped its kerosene price to drop from 58 to 26 cents from 1865 to 1870. Competitors disliked the company's business practices, but consumers liked the lower prices."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil#Early_years

Quote: EvenBob

The kerosene they made for lamps is very different than
the product they make now.




It was about obscene wealth. A minister named Reverend Gates
approached Rockefeller and told him unless he started giving the
bulk of his wealth away, it would crush him and the next generations
of his family. That's how it began. Rockefeller was always a giver
to charity, but without that push he never would have done it on
a grand scale.

He's the richest man who ever lived, see my other post.

I don't know how kerosene would be any different? Just an amount of distillation, certainly not worth a bunch of energy to haggle about.

You do know there are people who's wealth isn't even estimated by the forbes list right?

The Saudi family isn't doing to bad for themselves and you hardly ever hear for sure how much the Queen of England is worth. Both those fortunes are said to be incalculable.

If Yamamoto's gold wasn't just a myth that was said to be immeasurable as well.

As far as Bill Gates, Buffet or Carlos Slim they are just piker's comparatively.

And if the Pope ain't broke I'd like to see what's stashed at the Vatican.

The Federal Reserve is also Privately held.

Quote: petroglyph

The Federal Reserve is also Privately held.

And who started the Fed and still controls it. And Chase
Manhattan Bank. The Rockefellers.

Rockefeller has always fascinated me. I did a paper on him
when I was in college, and ever since I have found out all
I could on him and his family. Unbelievable wealth and
influence. I remember an interview with Nelson Rockefeller
in the 60's. He was a son of the old man's mans only son,
John Jr. Nelson said he'd never carried cash in his life or
any kind of credit card. He never had a drivers license, he
was driven everywhere by body guards and chauffeurs.
When asked how he paid for things when he shopped, he
said somebody always 'took care of it'.

Can you imagine a life like that. Never one thought to how
you'll go somewhere or pay for anything.

Quote: EvenBob

And who started the Fed and still controls it. And Chase
Manhattan Bank. The Rockefellers.

Rockefeller has always fascinated me. I did a paper on him
when I was in college, and ever since I have found out all
I could on him and his family. Unbelievable wealth and
influence. I remember an interview with Nelson Rockefeller
in the 60's. He was a son of the old man's mans only son,
John Jr. Nelson said he'd never carried cash in his life or
any kind of credit card. He never had a drivers license, he
was driven everywhere by body guards and chauffeurs.
When asked how he paid for things when he shopped, he
said somebody always 'took care of it'.

Can you imagine a life like that. Never one thought to how
you'll go somewhere or pay for anything.

No, I can't even imagine that kind of money. Even when I'm dreaming I hardly ever go over a few mil.

Quote: petroglyph

No, I can't even imagine that kind of money. Even when I'm dreaming I hardly ever go over a few mil.

It's how royalty lives. The Rockefeller's and Mellon's and Carnegie's
and Morgan's are our royalty. Nobody really knows how much the
Rockefeller family is worth today because so many of their sources
of income have been hidden for such a long time. And none of them
talk about it. The richest people in this country are people we've
never heard the names of. A lot of it is in NYC and goes back to the
1600's. Families that are fabulously wealthy from real estate that's
been theirs for 300 years. Ground that skyscrapers sit on, that you
couldn't find out who really owns with a fleet of private detectives.

Quote: EvenBob

It's how royalty lives. The Rockefeller's and Mellon's and Carnegie's
and Morgan's are our royalty. Nobody really knows how much the
Rockefeller family is worth today because so many of their sources
of income have been hidden for such a long time. And none of them
talk about it. The richest people in this country are people we've
never heard the names of. A lot of it is in NYC and goes back to the
1600's. Families that are fabulously wealthy from real estate that's
been theirs for 300 years. Ground that skyscrapers sit on, that you
couldn't find out who really owns with a fleet of private detectives.

I agree here completely. Certainly Rockefeller was a superstar.

It's odd that I can type in the 10 wealthiest in the country and names like Getty[sp], or Dupont or Brown brothers Harriman aren't even mentioned. I agree that some are so rich we shall never hear there names. The puppetmaster's. Yeah there were family's back in colonial times that already had generational wealth. What about Hearst?

Jackie O, didn't have to take out a student loan either.

This is what I mean when I say it doesn't really matter who the POTUS is.

Quote: petroglyph

What about Hearst?

.

George Hearst's son, William Randolf Hearst, the newspaper
guy, was amazing. He started buying up antiques in Europe
in the 1880's and continued it for 40 years. He'd go to these
royal estates and buy an entire room. Floor, ceiling, walls
and contents. An army of workers would take it all apart,
number it, and ship it to NYC at enormous expense. He had
secret buyers all over EU buying for him. He had a a 3 story
warehouse that covered an entire city block and 30 full
time employees who's job it was to unload, catalog, and
store his stuff. He fell on hard times in the 30's and an entire
floor at Macy's was devoted to selling George's antiques.
He used many of them to furnish his castle at San Simeon.

The details of what he owned from 40 years of plundering
a financially distraught royal EU are incredible. You name it,
he bought it. The time from the end of the Civil War, to the
1930's, is the most interesting and fascinating chapter in
American history.

Quote: EvenBob

George Hearst's son, William Randolf Hearst, the newspaper
guy, was amazing. He started buying up antiques in Europe
in the 1880's and continued it for 40 years. He'd go to these
royal estates and buy an entire room. Floor, ceiling, walls
and contents. An army of workers would take it all apart,
number it, and ship it to NYC at enormous expense. He had
secret buyers all over EU buying for him. He had a a 3 story
warehouse that covered an entire city block and 30 full
time employees who's job it was to unload, catalog, and
store his stuff. He fell on hard times in the 30's and an entire
floor at Macy's was devoted to selling George's antiques.
He used many of them to furnish his castle at San Simeon.

The details of what he owned from 40 years of plundering
a financially distraught royal EU are incredible. You name it,
he bought it. The time from the end of the Civil War, to the
1930's, is the most interesting and fascinating chapter in
American history.

It's funny though when you hear about one of those guys going broke you never see them washing dishes or anything.

I read a story not long ago about a couple distraught over going broke and not knowing how they were going to make it they were down to their last 20 or 30 million dollars.

Like you mentioned those people are our royalty. It's like there is some mechanism for the uber wealthy that have fallen and all their old crony's all kick in a few million so they aren't disgraced and having to earn a living or something. Oh the horror. I imagine they are a little helpless not ever having to do anything, about the only thing they'd be qualified for is being a politician.

Quote: EvenBob

I started this thread a year and a half ago and I still love Walmart.
They dropped the amount you have to buy from $50 to $35 to get free shipping.

I understand that sales of candy and other impulse purchases are being hurt by the massive numbers of people who do online shopping for groceries as well as other purchases. It seems everything is delivered now: food, prescriptions, auto repairs.

Quote: EvenBob

What's interesting is that at his death, Sam Walton's personal
fortune was about $100 billion if you adjust it to today's dollars.
When Rockefeller died in 1937, his fortune is estimated at
around $500 billion, adjusted. It's an incomprehensible amount
of money, they say nobody will ever come near it. Rockefeller
was obsessed with money. As a child his sister used to say,
if it was raining porridge, while everyone was using their bowls
to cover their heads, John would be the only one with it right
side up to collect the falling porridge.

The "robber barons" of that era were way more wealthy than the top of the rich today. Andrew Carnegie was at one point the world's richest and in constant dollars he would have made Bill Gates peak wealth look like a welfare case, AC was worth over 4xs BG at each man's peak. Here in Pittsburgh we have a killer museum he started along with a library system second to none. All that from a guy who started by working in the mills.

Quote: Mission146

I can't necessarily say that it was the Wal-Mart in Moundsville, West Virginia that led to the Convenient Food Mart in town closing, because both Greg's Market locations stayed open and are open to this day. However, I can say that Convenient Food Mart had lower prices on deli products, especially cheeses, than anywhere else in town, so automatically, Wal-Mart charged a higher price on those than a store that went out of business.

However, I don't believe that Wal Mart's prices on those deli items was ever the same in the first place, and I also don't think they really cared at all about what Convenient Food Mart did or did not do one way or the other.

Ah finally, a serious reply. (Are you listening, rxwine???) You took the words right out of my mouth in the bolded part. I have no idea why some people think that Walmart even gives a crap about a small store when it's no threat to them at all. There's no way in hell a tiny little mom-and-pop shop is going to hurt a behemoth like Walmart.



rxwine, please take note:

Quote: Mission146

On the other hand, Wal-Mart did have cheaper prices on tools than K&W Pro Hardware

Like I said before, Walmart very often has prices LOWER than the smaller stores. So your argument that Walmart specifically comes in to a small town, lowers prices, puts the tiny mom-and-pop shop out of business, and then raises prices to a point higher than what the mom-and-pop shop had.....well, that argument is just plain s2pid!

Just admit it, dude. Walmart is a HUGE benefit to the consumer.

Quote: rxwine

What kind of fantasy world are you living in, I don't have any responsibility to you. You bullshit about your success when you never have any.

Wow, what an excellent argument to support your position! lol

Quote: Beethoven9th

. deleted...

Fixed it. I assume you want to talk about more gay stuff, since I've told you repeatedly your posts are worthless trash, and you have nothing of interest worth debating.

Quote: rxwine

Fixed it. I assume you want to talk about more gay stuff, since I've told you repeatedly your posts are worthless trash, and you have nothing of interest worth debating.

That's the 5th time you've made a 'gay' reference out of the blue. You obviously have some 'issues' that need to be resolved. lol

Quote: Beethoven9th

That's the 5th time you've made a 'gay' reference out of the blue. You obviously have some 'issues' that need to be resolved. lol[

I have no issues about it at all. But as long as it's a gay related topic you may continue undeleted.

Quote: EvenBob

George Hearst's son, William Randolf Hearst, the newspaper
guy, was amazing. He started buying up antiques.

I would offer him half for them.

Business tactics at the time of the robber barons allowed for predatory pricing such as intentionally driving a competitor out of business by underpricing and then raising prices after he folded.

Corners on the market were often attempted by manipulating barge traffic or the availability of rolling stock.

Major banks once tried to freeze out Henry Ford from credit and he forced the credit risk onto Mom and Pop Banks in Small Town America by shipping everything he could, billing them for immediate payment upon penalty of losing their Ford Tractor and Fort Motorcar franchises. Sales managers went hat in hand to their local banks, local banks lent the money and broke the attempt by Chicago banks to freeze out Henry Ford.

Quote: rxwine

I have no issues about it at all.

Denial. *facepalm*

Mr. Tangent apparently has some deep-seated issues. lol

Quote: Beethoven9th

Denial. *facepalm*

Denial about talking about gay issues. Not me. How about you?

Quote: Beethoven9th

Mr. Tangent apparently has some deep-seated issues. lol

I have so few issues, I know that my name will be associated with gay issues, but so will yours. Web searches for people coming here will bring up your name.

That sounds good to me. How about you?

Nope. Denial that you...well, I'd better stop there. Don't want to get suspended. Nice try. ;)

It's obvious that a person has some issues when the topic is 'Walmart', yet they are fixated on talking about gays. (Not that there's anything wrong with that)

Quote: Beethoven9th

Nope. Denial that you...well, I'd better stop there. Don't want to get suspended. Nice try. ;)

It's obvious that a person has some issues when the topic is 'Walmart', yet he wants to talk about gays. (Not that there's anything wrong with that)

Nah, I like to debate real posts here, not your crap posts. Anyone else is fine. So, it's better to just keep it gay issues with Beethoven.

Of course Walmart competes.

Of course Walmart checks out the competitor's prices and undercuts when possible. There are all kinds of commericals showing Walmart showing competition to other nearby stores all in the local market.

Of course without that competition Walmart would not need to lower the prices.

Walmart has fantastic power to tell its vendors what it's willing to pay the vendor to have their product in the store, and they comply, because it's enormous exposure for the vendor, especially for smaller companies. Walmart has the best supply chain distribution system in the world which makes its shipping and distribution costs lower than anyone else, and its inventory systems are 2nd to none. This economy of scale allows one to buy its goods and sells them atat lower prices than any mom-and-pop (or Walgreens, or Target, or Kroger, or Safeway) on earth. These are well-publicized.

Also well-publicized is Walmart's hiring practices and their cutthroat competitive practices. We've talked about the average life of an employee and their average wages.

It's really perfect capitalism. The question is "do you want that?", all to save a few bucks on a bill, or for convenience?

Would you want to be a vendor of Walmart's forced to squeeze your labor force and manufacturing / distribution practices to reach a price point dictated to you? Do you want to have a relative of yours working there or would you rather have them at a mom-and-pop, or anywhere else, for that matter?

And I have to admit, I shop at Walmart sometimes. For example, there is a good that my wife needs that sells for $11.96 for a tube at Walmart that she uses once every two weeks. That same tube sells at Shoppers for $18.00, so yeah, I'll step in there and grab it. And once in a blue moon, my wife will need to go to the medical clinic on a weekend when her doctor's office isn't open, and I'll shop there.

In my Vancouver days, i worked as bookkeeper at a "design centre" that sold its services and various hardware items for home builders and renovators. The store did well for a few months, and then the home depot opened about three miles away, which the owners thought would never happen because it's atypical for a Home Depot to open in an urban setting. Business plumetted and prices were so low at the Home Depot that the stuff we were selling had a cost price to us that was at RETAIL prices at the Home Depot. It was to the point where if they were running low on stock of something, they'd trek to the Home Depot, pick up the stuff, and resell it.

Quote: rxwine

Nah, I like to debate real posts here, not your crap posts. Anyone else is fine. So, it's better to just keep it gay issues with Beethoven.

I don't blame you for going off on tangents now. I would too if my positions were that s2pid. ;)

I think rxwine likes the Bronco John Elway.

Quote: Beethoven9th

I think rxwine likes the Bronco John (Elway).

Nope. Do you want to talk about guys we both like?

Quote: rxwine

Nope. Do you want to talk about guys we both like?

Nah, you have your own reasons for liking them. lol

As for me, I'm just your average, normal guy.

Quote: Beethoven9th

Nah, you have your own reasons for liking them. lol

As for me, I'm just your average, normal guy.

So am I. Do you have posters on your wall of football players? I wouldn't of thought of this, but since you brought it up.

No Bronco John, I don't.

Quote: boymimbo

O

Also well-publicized is Walmart's hiring practices and their cutthroat competitive practices. We've talked about the average life of an employee and their average wages.

It's really perfect capitalism. The question is "do you want that?", all to save a few bucks on a bill, or for convenience?

Would you want to be a vendor of Walmart's forced to squeeze your labor force and manufacturing / distribution practices to reach a price point dictated to you? Do you want to have a relative of yours working there or would you rather have them at a mom-and-pop, or anywhere else, for that matter?

People line up to work at WMT as well as to sell to them. No vendor ever shipped a pallet they did not want to sell and nobody ever signed a W-4 that did not want to work there. Sell to someone else or work somewhere else if it is so bad, in time WMT would raise wages (they already pay a competitive wage) or be forced to pay more for product.

I minimize my shopping there because their check-out lines are too long and I find the stores kind of crappy. Vendor and employee relations matter little. Though I would gladly cross a UFCW picket line there. That union is paying low wages to picket the store they say pays too low wages. At least the money is not going to OC like when I was forced to pay dues there.

Quote: Beethoven9th

No Bronco John, I don't.

You should put some up. You can probably buy some at Walmart even.

Quote: rxwine

You should put some up. You can probably buy some at Walmart even.

Sure, right after you do one of the following:

—Admit that it was s2pid to say that "selling products at a loss" is not a benefit to the consumer.
—Name just ONE instance of Walmart selling products at a higher price than a store that THEY put out of business.


I won't hold my breath though. ;)

Quote: Beethoven9th

Ah finally, a serious reply. (Are you listening, rxwine???) You took the words right out of my mouth in the bolded part. I have no idea why some people think that Walmart even gives a crap about a small store when it's no threat to them at all. There's no way in hell a tiny little mom-and-pop shop is going to hurt a behemoth like Walmart.

Wal-Mart may in some locations, I have no idea. Giant Eagle, for example, was a major grocery store in Moundsville, WV and Wal-Mart went out of their way to build themselves on Giant Eagle's doorstep and was directly responsible for taking that store out. The one thing that the Moundsville, WV market could not support was three major grocery stores, so that left Wal-Mart and Kroger.

Wal-Mart will not ever beat Kroger out of business in Moundsville, WV and they will not do it in Saint Clairsville, OH, even though they are right next door to them in Saint Clairsville. Kroger's distribution network is every bit as sophisticated and they have sufficient stores as to centralize distribution for maximum efficiency and purchasing power. Any price Wal-Mart could ever think of, Kroger could safely match if they wanted to, or beat, which they usually do. Wal-Mart is no threat, certainly the location makes less money, but is still profitable.

Anyway, Wal-Mart definitely cared about taking out Giant Eagle. They went out of their way to do so, there were commercial locations available in Moundsville with equal convenience to WV-2 that Wal-Mart could have had and developed upon, one near Kroger, and they chose not to. They knew they wouldn't ever be able to take that Kroger out, but they felt Giant Eagle would be vulnerable against an equally convenient Wal-Mart for people in Glen Dale or on that side of Moundsville, and they were 100% right.

Anyway, prices effectively went up after Giant Eagle got knocked out. The sales ads for Kroger and Giant Eagle were always more powerful than anything that Wal-Mart ever advertises, though Wal-Mart's, "Everyday Low Prices," were better than Giant Eagle. If you were willing to combine your Giant Eagle and Kroger action, and maybe throw a little CVS and Save-A-Lot in there, as appropriate, you would do much better than the same combination with Wal-Mart taking the place of Giant Eagle.

Wal-Mart also does not feel the need to ever place any grocery items on any meaningful sale now that they have their ad match guarantee. The problem is that Save-A-Lot has a bunch of off-brands and no real sales anyway, Kroger is Kroger but that is only one ad from a major grocery store in the Moundsville market. It's better in Saint Clairsville, Saint Clairsville has Kroger and Reisbeck' who both put out some powerful ads, although, I tend to take my business to the place that actually has the ad most of the time, anyway. The cashiers are a PITA about the Wal-Mart ad match, and half of them refuse to match generic-for-generic in the same quantity, which is patently bullshit.

Quote:

rxwine, please take note:Like I said before, Walmart very often has prices LOWER than the smaller stores. So your argument that Walmart specifically comes in to a small town, lowers prices, puts the tiny mom-and-pop shop out of business, and then raises prices to a point higher than what the mom-and-pop shop had.....well, that argument is just plain s2pid!

RXWine's position is far, and could often be true, depending on the specific market. For example, Wal-Mart has many hardware items that have gone up in price to a level in excess of that K&W Pro Hardware, but that could be inflation, too. I don't think Wal-Mart slapped a target on K&W Pro Hardware, I think K&W was just the weakest in the market. Like I said, that Lowe's opened up in Wheeling, WV and I don't think that any of the smaller hardware stores in Wheeling closed. The market could clearly support multiple hardware stores, K&W just sucked at customer service and made multiple stupid decisions that pissed off customers.

Furthermore, Wal-Mart does not beat the Moundsville Ace Hardware price on many items, they largely have no reason to. If someone is doing the grocery shopping, for example, and that person decides they need a wrench. The wrench can be $0.30 more at Wal-Mart than Ace, but Wal-Mart figures you'll just buy a wrench from them if you are already there, no reason to make a special trip to Ace if you are already at Wal-Mart, unless you have other stuff to get from Ace or other price comparisons to do.

The reason Wal-Mart wins and many places close has more to do with convenience than pricing, in terms of some goods and services. It's really tough to have a niche thing, such as a bakery, with a limited market when Wal-Mart comes to down. Get the birthday cake when you do the grocery shopping, and pay bills, and cash your check, and file your taxes, and get a haircut, and eat at Subway....I think you see where I am going with this.

Who wants to drive ten minutes out of the way for a birthday cake, especially during the bakery's limited hours of operation? It's a PITA and nobody wants a PITA. The bakery just tries to survive off of customers who are essentially their friends, at that point, and that's not going to get it.

They can't really reduce prices because they can't buy in bulk like Wal-Mart can, negotiating better deals, which makes their margins already pretty slim. They also have bills, in the meantime, the bakery department at Wal-Mart can LOSE money and the rest of the store makes up for it. I don't know that Wal Mart lowers bakery prices because of the independent, and tend to doubt it, for the independent in a small town, Wal-Mart coming to town is all it takes to make death an inevitability. Two independent bakeries in Moundsville closed after Wal-Mart came in, even though Giant Eagle also had a bakery, but Wal-Mart's is bigger and Wal Mart sells more party supplies that Giant Eagle...not to mention you can get the gifts from Wal-Mart!!!

Again, you're already there. What kind of gift would you get someone from Giant Eagle? Sack of potatoes?

That could be their slogan, "Wal-Mart, because you're going to be here anyway!"

Quote: Beethoven9th

...deleted

Fixed. 100% improvement. He really is interested in interacting with me? What does that mean? Hope I don't get any pms.

Quote: rxwine

Fixed. 100% improvement. He really is interested in interacting with me? What does that mean? Hope I don't get any pms.

Uh oh...he's getting mad again. :)

Quote: boymimbo

Also well-publicized is Walmart's hiring practices and their cutthroat competitive practices. We've talked about the average life of an employee and their average wages.

Who? The Distribution Centers or the store associates? The store associates don't deserve 1/3rd of what they get, I've watched them stock. I could stock shelves faster with one friggin' arm.

Quote:

Would you want to be a vendor of Walmart's forced to squeeze your labor force and manufacturing / distribution practices to reach a price point dictated to you? Do you want to have a relative of yours working there or would you rather have them at a mom-and-pop, or anywhere else, for that matter?

Apparently someone wants to be a vendor, or nobody would be a vendor. If the vendor was taking a loss, then they wouldn't sell to Wal-Mart. They will trim their own costs as much as possible to try to preserve their margins and remain profitable. It sounds to me like being a vendor of Wal-Mart may force operational efficiency, which sucks on the Macro-Level in terms of gross employment, but on the Micro-Level, operational efficiency is a positive.

I would rather work at Wal-Mart than a Mom-and-Pop grocery store, Wal-Mart pays more than any of the Mom-and-Pop's for a cashier, or comparable, from what I have seen. The Wal-Mart Distribution center closest to here pays DOUBLE what the Cabela's Distribution Center closest to here does for a starting position. Wal-Mart DC also pays in excess of 20% more than United Dairy, though United Dairy has far superior health benefits.

Ever see Wal-Mart's health insurance plans for employees? I thought they were good at negotiating lower prices from vendors!!! I guess that's not always true!

Quote:

In my Vancouver days, i worked as bookkeeper at a "design centre" that sold its services and various hardware items for home builders and renovators. The store did well for a few months, and then the home depot opened about three miles away, which the owners thought would never happen because it's atypical for a Home Depot to open in an urban setting. Business plumetted and prices were so low at the Home Depot that the stuff we were selling had a cost price to us that was at RETAIL prices at the Home Depot. It was to the point where if they were running low on stock of something, they'd trek to the Home Depot, pick up the stuff, and resell it.

Unusual in that industry, but gas stations that have a few grocery items do that sort of thing all the time.

I'd like to respectfully request that RXWine and Beethoven please stop the back and forth sniping.

I've added to the topic, I hope, with a few lengthy posts...

OK, will do. He likes bringing up gay-related topics, but I guess that's his problem.

I will comply. Sorry.

Quote: boymimbo

That same tube sells at Shoppers for $18.00, so yeah, I'll step in there and grab it.

Tube of what? Inner tube? Tube of toothpaste? Potato
chips?

Potato Chips, Bob, very EXPENSIVE potato chips. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Duplicate

Quote: boymimbo

Potato Chips, Bob,

OK, what's 'tube' then, enlighten me. The tubes
we have hold Brylcreem and Preparation H.

Quote: Mission146

Who? The Distribution Centers or the store associates? The store associates don't deserve 1/3rd of what they get, I've watched them stock. I could stock shelves faster with one friggin' arm.

Unfortunately, they have to earn at least minimum wage. Them's the rules.

Quote: Mission146

Apparently someone wants to be a vendor, or nobody would be a vendor. If the vendor was taking a loss, then they wouldn't sell to Wal-Mart. They will trim their own costs as much as possible to try to preserve their margins and remain profitable. It sounds to me like being a vendor of Wal-Mart may force operational efficiency, which sucks on the Macro-Level in terms of gross employment, but on the Micro-Level, operational efficiency is a positive.

Cutting down a workforce or having a workforce outsource their operations to Mexico or China may be good for the operational efficiency of the vendor, not so good for the American worker. You rarely see manufactured goods, textiles, or anything else for that matter (besides food) sold in Walmart that was made in the good-ol USA. That's because the vendor can't compete with an offshored operation.

Quote: Mission146

I would rather work at Wal-Mart than a Mom-and-Pop grocery store, Wal-Mart pays more than any of the Mom-and-Pop's for a cashier, or comparable, from what I have seen. The Wal-Mart Distribution center closest to here pays DOUBLE what the Cabela's Distribution Center closest to here does for a starting position. Wal-Mart DC also pays in excess of 20% more than United Dairy, though United Dairy has far superior health benefits. Ever see Wal-Mart's health insurance plans for employees? I thought they were good at negotiating lower prices from vendors!!! I guess that's not always true!

Walmart's wages and benefits have always been seen as very poor for the worker.

If you want to support America's race to the bottom, then by all means, shop at Walmart, exclusively.

And that's my point really. Walmart is a marvel of an operation from top to bottom. Capitalism at nearly its most efficient. Get the most for what you can sell, and pay the least for what you buy, and knock anyone you can out of business.

Or eye ointment.

Quote: boymimbo

Walmart's wages and benefits have always been seen as very poor for the worker.

If mom-and-pop shops also pay the same as Walmart, what does that tell you?

I don't know what it tells me. What does it tell you?