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July 27, 2004
Wal-Mart Sucks
By QBlog in
Just so you know, Wal-Mart sucks. The more I learn about Wal-Mart the more I'm convinced that something has gone really, really wrong with what was once a wonderful business. I see them devastate small town grocers with their SuperCenters, leaving behind the decaying, unoccupied buildings of their old, non-grocery Wal-Marts (excessive comma usage alert). I see how they treat their employees and am disgusted. I see a company that once prided itself on its "Made In America" products now scrambling to find items on their shelves not made in China.
I now refuse to shop in a Wal-Mart unless that's my only option. You know what Wal-Mart really needs? A "Roger And Me" style documentary looking into how their corporate practices have negatively impacted small town U.S.A.
What does this have to do with Quixtar? Well, more than you might realize.
Comments
A few weeks ago this article was published in the Toronto Sun. Interesting you are talking about WalMart,
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Marianne_Meed_Ward/2004/06/27/515874.html
I feel that Wal-Mart is a greater evil than MLM. Sure, MLM harms people (especially when people buy fully into the hype), but Wal-Mart has had a greater effect on people and communities. They're the ones who gut the downtowns of smaller towns, and are aiming at the big cities. Their definition of full-time is 28 hours a week -- this at a time when once-progressive Germany is doing away with the 35-hour week for 40+ -- and their idea of benefits is food-stamps and welfare (that's right, we're paying for their exploitations). And it's them that makes MLM look attractive by comparison.
I live in the heart of Walmart Country (I can't hide my Arkansas roots any longer)! It is truly a double edged sword. Walmart is responsible for much of the money in Arkansas and you can truly stretch your money further shopping there. There's no doubt that Mr. Walton, Sr. kept the place on the straight and narrow. While he was alive, he would dress plain clothes and drop in on the stores. I met him in a tiny Walmart in a tiny community as a child. He was a very warm open individual.
Walmart is ruthless to the suppliers and cold spirited to MOST of the service employees, but the fact remains that they have such a stronghold on our state that we would probably wither without them economically.
Walmart is enemy number one to the Quixtar set in our area, so I've heard all the negative about them, but I can't deny that they provide many people in our state jobs, as well as goods and services. They treat their computer service employees and staff lawyers like royalty, but for the common cashieer life is not fun. It's all a part of the food chain and in some areas, it's better to work for Walmart than Tyson.
I'm just adding my perspective to the mix.
I'm glad you brought that up, and it is likely a discussion that could branch off into just as many topics as AmQuix.
I personally have a problem with an organization where the primary income earner's job is at Wal-Mart full time, and his kid still qualifies for the lunch program at school.
When a person is working full time, he should be able to provide his kid's lunch without assistance , damn it.
I hate employers who exploit their employees. Not sure what the answer is, but I know that Wal-Mart is spending a lot of money to keep the union out of their Thompson, Manitoba store. Why would they? Because they know they'll lose control over the people that they can lord it over now.
Kinda like a diamond.
But that's just me:)
There is a group which recently traveled across Canada promoting the some of the same concerns and criticisms you have about Wal-Mart. They also had a documentary film maker with them, who is now working on putting a documentary together.
You can find more information on both their trip and updates on the status of the documentary, etc. at:
http://www.wal-town.com
Also of interest looking at some of these types of subjects and issues, check out the film "The Corporation" by Mark Achbar. You can find information at:
http://www.thecorporation.tv/
I agree... It's hard as a broke college student to make the choice tho shop at a store where cahsiers can work 40 hours a week and get benefits, as oppossed to shopping at WalMart, where my dollar goes a little further, but where my conscience won't let me. I think people should be informed about labor practices where we spend our money. If more people complain/stop shopping at WalMart, maybe we'll see some change for the better.
Wow- This is a complicated issue. Here are some random thoughts...
-Everything is disposable these days. TV's, VCR's, Plastic Toys. If it costs more to fix it than to buy a new one, something is wrong.
-I don't believe Wal-Mart created the demand, they simply recognized it and provided the supply.
-There are dozens of alternatives to Wal-Mart.
-Plastic toys molded in China are almost all made from reclaimed plastic resin, mainly from the US. Once these plastics are molded a second time there is a Phenomenon called "off-gassing". The plastic produces a variety of toxic gasses in low levels for an extended period of time. You can draw your own conclusion on the affects. I'm betting that it will be the next asbestos for the trial lawyers.
-We are creating consumers in China at a high rate that will use American goods and services. The trick is to create a sufficient number of them that will reject the communist’s attempts to invade Taiwan.
-Do some reading on Greenspan's policy on free trade. The trade deficit = low inflation. You can't have it both ways.
-Lastly, sell your housing related stocks. If there is another terror attack the fed cannot lower rates to spur growth. The enormous housing bubble will burst 100 times worse than the tech bubble. The difference will be that investors will not be the losers. The massive number of people who build the houses will be out of work.
After being gone from "Wally World" for over a year now I can tell you bigger is not always better.Just like A/Q.All it is at WM is the same hype as A/Q.As a member of management for 3 years all I did was go from store to store managing all departments on the food side of the "Supercenters" for squat.I left were I worked to better myself by hoping to get more pay and benefits.With 29 years experience in the grocery business I couldn't get to $34000.00 in 3 years so when my old boss asked me to be store manager at the chain I used to work for I couldn't turn it down.Alot more money closer to Home and not wearing my car out going store to store.A/Q was no different,meetings,leading cheers,trying to motivate people not making much money,gee it does have a lot in common with WM.News for people in Uplines and Management at WM people don't care how much your making only how much we are making as you make yours.
I love your site, but here is where you and I part ways. I think Wal-Mart if fantastic. Wal-Mart is very good at driving the prices down so we as consumers can get more for our dollar. You cannot simply stick your head in the sand and wish all the global competition away. Technology is making products easier to get from all over the world and Wal-Mart is ONE company that is taking advantage of it.
In my business, I service some of those companies who import much of what they sell. I have one customer who ships out dental ceramics for production in Taiwan when they have more business than capacity to produce it themselves. The cost and quality is about the same as producing it locally, but it allows them to stay in business when business gets slow. You will not stop the ever growing number of products produced overseas. The people in those foreign countries are trying to better their lives just as we are. The important thing for us to do here is find out how to take advantage of it. You can create products that cannot yet be produced over seas or create services that those companies will use who import the stuff.
With technology, business and jobs will change rapidly. It is just a fact of life. You can sit and complain about it or do something about it. Quixtar chose to do things as Amway always did, and the result was decreased value for their customers and a lot of empty wallets for their IBO's (including me). I've never understood why the rest of the population should suffer so a few business owners can charge over inflated prices.
Personaly, I like "Big Lots" better.
I never have been much of a Wal-Mart shopper other than we go there because K-Mart left. Today however I re-discovered Big Lots...They had what I needed...Wal-Mart didn't.
Live large,
JBNET
Why pick on Wal-Mart? Low prices, convenient hours and locations, employ a lot of people, etc. Oh, I get it. You don’t like that in order to deliver the level of pricing and service that they do, they need to be an aggressive competitor. You don’t like free enterprise. Am I right?
Oh, I see Sam. So all "Free Enterprise" businesses are beyond criticisms right? Cool. That's fine. If we allowed them to operate unregulated and without criticism then we'd still have child labor, unsafe working conditions in many factories, polluted skies and streams, etc.
There must be a balance. You know this, right? I sure hope so. And when that balance is disrupted it's the job of the people (and the government is the people) to step in and try to put things right.
Wait – you never said they were breaking the law – violating child labor laws, etc. You said something has gone really wrong. They sometimes put their competition out of business, sometimes purchase inventory from non-US manufacturers. Why does the government need to step in? A free enterprise system doesn’t require government participation, as long as no one is breaking the rules of the game, for example, violating the child labor laws. So the government does have a role, but we don’t need to government to be our moral conscience.
Look what we get when the government “protects” us. When the government stopped micro-managing the banking and transportation industries what happened? Deregulation in these industries delivered better pricing and greater service levels to the consumer.
Just because you open your own business doesn’t mean you have some guarantee that you will remain in business. If you can’t compete against Wal-Mart, of that is your competition, you may not stay in business long.
Sam, I think the jist of the issue would be the way in which Wal-Mart chooses to treat their employees.
They may very well be not doing anything criminal, BUT whenever anyone speaks of Wal-Mart in the negative, it's usually because of what they do that is morally questionable. ie. what they pay the people that they employ.
It's not a question of whether or not someone likes free enterprise, it's simply a question of what is right and wrong in certain people's minds.
I respect what you're saying, and where would we be without free enterprise? But my personal opinion is that there is something wrong when a company such as Wal-Mart spends enough money to feed a 3rd world country for a year to keep a union out.
If they're such a nice company who treat tehir employees fairly, why would people be so unhappy that they want a union to represent them?
The way Wal-Mart runs is just wrong to some people.
That's just me though:)
Child labor laws? Read your history books Sam then get back with me.
Sam:
I don't like the way they define "full-time" as 28 hours, then depends on the welfare system to cover for them.
I don't like how, for every two low-paying part-time jobs they bring in, the economies that allow them in end up losing THREE better paying jobs -- usually full-time, or business owner jobs. (and this ain't MY cant, this is a fully-studied phenomenon)
I don't like how they've changed from a company that insured everything they bought was made in the USA to a company putting chinese factories against each other to cut prices for the pure benefit of international shippers and Bentonville, Arkansas.
I don't like how every company that touches them becomes mean, vicious and profit-fixated, ready (and if they've learned their lessons, gleefully overeager) to beat up on their employees. AND I dislike how every company now feels they have to become that way just for a word from Wal-Mart.
I don't like their part in the desertification of popular music (espeically their country music bias and their power to affect what people sing and hear).
I don't like their destructions of downtowns all over the United States -- especially the smaller towns, which had been thankfully left alone by the malls that destroyed the larger towns' downtowns.
And I dislike sycophants like you who only see a few cents off some item they may like and are willing to overlook the damage it does to the people around them.
I think “big” business like Wal-Mart should be watched and scrutinized for acting improperly. “Big” Labor unions should be scrutinized the same way. They have just as many skeletons in their closets.
I don’t accept that a person must get paid whatever they want to get paid. If your skills match that of any current high school student, you will most likely get paid what a high school student makes. If you spend your free time bettering yourself and improving your skill set, you most likely, with a little hard work, will make more. If you take a leap and risk time and money, you again most likely will benefit even greater- maybe not the first time, but with persistence comes success. You cannot reap what you do not sow. It will catch up to you. In the case of Wal-Mart employees, if you don’t like the wage, don’t work there. If you can’t find another job, move. If no one will work for Wal-Mart, they will be forced to raise their wages. The realities of life can be harsh and very uncomfortable.
I left the security of my job last year and for seven months didn’t receive a pay check. A year later, I’m now finally turning the corner and should triple what I used to make by the end of the year. However, at any time, things could change, and I could lose everything. I am confident if that does happen, I have spent enough time at improving my own skill set at night (finishing my degree, getting certifications, growing an Amway/Quixtar business [that was expensive but as much as I hate to admit it educational!!!] and working part-time jobs ) that I could go work for someone else and still make it. Most others have the opportunity to do the same. The results surely will be varied, but will always be better than if they had done nothing.
Don –
I like freedom. I like the way it allows me to ACT FOR MYSELF. I like the how I can go to the stores I like and buy things at prices that are attractive to me. I like how I can work wherever I want.
I like it when companies are profitable. I like it when they stay in business because they are profitable.
I like it when companies who don’t run their businesses well suffer. Whether it is because of selling poor products, marketing themselves badly, or treating their employees badly. I like it when they change their practices because they were suffering.
I like that people use their freedom to move out of bad, downtown areas into safer sub-urban neighborhoods more friendly to children. I like that my immigrant neighbor from Mexico, who speaks limited English, works his tail off to provide his children an opportunity (and to be honest, a nicer home than I have).
I like the wonderful tool called THE INTERNET, that allows me to buy any music I want. I like the ability I have to not buy country music because I don’t like it. Ok, that’s too nice. I really hate country music.
Who is the sycophant? The one who would demand I pay an artificially high price to support a very few so they don’t have better themselves or accept their own responsibility, or the one who fights for everyone to have the freedom to decide for themselves?
I want organizations who abuse power and act improperly to be accountable, if not by the people, then by government, if that is the only option.
You use your freedoms how you wish, and I will use mine how I wish.
Kendall:
Did i accuse you as a country-swilling, city-hating, wal-mart worshipping heathan who wants to use that corporation as yet another bat to destroy anything that smacks of liberalism?
Fact is, I've seen corporations that have expanded by adding to the American way of life. Even some of the most hated corporations in history -- Microsoft, McDonald's, even the old monopolistic Standard Trust -- added to the American way of life. Wal-Mart just takes and leaves a gaping hole where there used to be life.
You infer that cities are evil. I say cities are centers of culture and signs of a nation's life. I have found all suburbs to be deserts of culture, monochromatic in their likes and habits, and boring to the extreme. And while the larger cities (you know, those evil entities that want to rape the children?) are finding ways to come back in some fashion, it's the smaller downtowns that were still the centers for life in their communities that are being decimated -- and with a lesser source of funds for recovery, it's likely that those downtowns will stay deadened.
And yes, the Internet can deliver almost everything. It's still not the same as going into the record store and browsing through the stacks, finding something you might never have found otherwise. Plus, it's nice meeting with people with other ideas on what's good. That's what's missing from a megacorporation like Wal-Mart, with the power to dictate what gets made and sold to the masses (who may reject anything outside what they like, but it should be THEIR choice, not Wal-Mart's)
And the fact is, Wal-Mart has yet to suffer for its sins. Indeed, it has ensconced itself as an absolute necessity in many areas of the nation by removing everything that survived independently of it beforehand. I don't expect to see Wal-Mart suffer, indeed it wouldn't surprise me to find them becoming a multi-state private government getting multiple sources of funding just to insure thier profit margins. You thought Detroit was a stern taskmaster, I'd hate to see my life run by cost-cutters in Bentonville, AK.
I don't care what Don says, all this site ever does is criticize whoever is winning. What's next are you going to criticize our armed forces? Get a life and this Marks novel sucks.
It's not criticizing the winning, it's about the way that the win is achieved that people take exception to.
But that's just me:)
It sound to me that this is a very liberal democratic blog that attacks all companies that donate to republican cause. Eric please keep your silly politics off this discussion board. Learn some self control.
Alex,
I would be considered conservative by most. I am not democratic or republican driven, I am Canadian.
I, and many others read this Blog because Amway/Quixtar is not what it is proclaimed to be.
Eric please keep your silly politics on this discussion board, because being able to speak your mind and question anyone's thoughts is what makes democracy so great
At least QBlog can think for himself. Et Tu Alex?
But that's just me:)
I was surprised and glad at the lawsuit female employees of Wal-Mart filed for not getting equal pay and management opportunities. I haven't been to Wal-Mart in a long while. The Supercenter takes forever to shop in and get out of. I live close to Target and Dollar General and 2 good grocery stores.
Yeah, Walmart does suck, indeed. That's why I won't shop at Wal-Mart anymore. And it's why I made WalBtn, which let's you show the world how long it's been since you set foot in Walmart. Here's the URL:
Interesting observation, Q. WalMart has changed since the passing of Sam Walton, you're right w/respect to the stocking of "non-Made-In-USA" merchandise. That changed immediately after his death. I once worked for a company that sold calculators to WalMart, they had to certify that they were made in the US.
But the stores (Sam's Club, for example) are forcing competition within small town USA. Sure, the local IGA is feeling the effect of a WalMart (especially if it's a super one) but that's still good for the consumer. And the consumer has no loyalty to US companies these days: look at the high % of foreign built cars on the road. Another "Roger and Me" would be interesting, but redundant...
Posted by: Doug | July 28, 2004 4:08 AM