is walmart evil?

A.Nonymous said:

So what. Any online store is going to offer more variety than any brick and mortar. You simply can't physically put everything in a brick and mortar store.

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By the same token, you can't get something you "need right now" from an online retailer at any price. With brick and mortar retailers you can. If you've ever been in a situation where "the show must go on", anything from a vacation with lost luggage to an actual show that goes live at a certain time no matter what, that's a very big deal!

But alas it's not something that Wal-Mart invented or has a monopoly on...

MoodyBlues said:

The reason their prices are so low is because they're paying slave labor wages in third world countries. You know, where people work 14 hour days, 6 days a week and make pennies producing clothing Walmart sells for much less than their competitors can sell similar products.

Also, they've cheated their employees out of things like insurance and other full-time benefits by keeping their hours just below the number that qualifies as full-time.

Scumbags all around. And I stay away.

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You are making the assumption that your local "mom and pop" store does not do many of same things, albeit on a much smaller scale. Do you know for a fact that your local store is not also purchasing cheap gods made in third world companies?

Many things sold at my local stores are not made in this country. And they also go for the lowest prices and (hopefully) pass the savings along to the consumer.

Walmart has made many people lots of money and they provide needed jobs to senors and others.

Much of what I purchase comes vis the Internet and UPS/Fed Ex. the reason is simple: no local suppliers or sources. If we want to ban Walmart because it is putting mom and pop shops out of business, let us ban the Internet, too.

Lots of talk about how chain boo stores are hurting the local book seller. I love books and no local seller stocks what I need. In fact, at least one local book seller refuses to special order books.

Bob Maxey said:

You are making the assumption that your local "mom and pop" store does not do many of same things, albeit on a much smaller scale. Do you know for a fact that your local store is not also purchasing cheap gods made in third world companies?

Many things sold at my local stores are not made in this country. And they also go for the lowest prices and (hopefully) pass the savings along to the consumer.

Walmart has made many people lots of money and they provide needed jobs to senors and others.

Much of what I purchase comes vis the Internet and UPS/Fed Ex. the reason is simple: no local suppliers or sources. If we want to ban Walmart because it is putting mom and pop shops out of business, let us ban the Internet, too.

Lots of talk about how chain boo stores are hurting the local book seller. I love books and no local seller stocks what I need. In fact, at least one local book seller refuses to special order books.

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a simple example would be a Foxconn factories. They make micro chips for Apple, Microsoft, Samsung etc. They treat their employees like crap. That just makes every corporation evil.

No one really wants to ban Walmart. but their one size fits all and other assumptions are getting old. If Wally World chased all the other retailers out of town, I'd go elsewhere rather than shop there.

To keep customers, other retailers are selling pretty much the same stuff at close to the same prices. That means that if Wally World decrees you need a certain color of pot to cook in - all the other stores will only carry that same color of pot. No variety

Walmart simply cannot remove some retailers. You cannot buy a Pfaff, Viking, Bernina, Babylock sewing machine from anyone else but a local dealer, if new. Brother, Janome, Singer make lower end machines for the Wally World type markets. I'm sure there are other goods that fall into this category - maybe high end cell phones and tablets? Some mfg do a special line of goods just for discount stores. Slightly lesser quality in order to sell at the lower price demanded by Walmart.

Some American mfg have been driven out of business since they cannot meet the price that Walmart wants.

I'm also sick of Martha Stewart and her ilk.

unnamedny said:

a simple example would be a Foxconn factories. They make micro chips for Apple, Microsoft, Samsung etc. They treat their employees like crap. That just makes every corporation evil.

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That's because it's China. One can't really compare working conditions here to those in the USA. Foxconn only makes the news because they're so large, plus it's a well known fact they make all the Apple products, and so makes for great sensationalism in the tabloid press and tech blogs. They're an easy target, like Wal*Mart.

Believe it or not Foxconn is one of the better employers in China, there is far worse, e.g. apparel manufacturing.

I worked at Walmart for a few months, they didn't seem any more evil than other retail stores. In fact they actually seemed to care a little more about their employees.

Sorry for going too far. What I meant, some local businesses do not have the best working conditions and abuse the laws far more often than Walmart.

Mt take, because Im board, as the Wife and Dogs ar still asleep:

I have a walmart about 1/2 mile from my house. Wife and I used to shop there all the time. Average time took about 1.5 hours to get all our crap, and get out. People there, Employees, other shoppers, always seemed kinda rude. Now....I dont need someone to throw fluffy bunnys at me, or give free hugs when Im out shopping, but simple common cutousy is nice. We have a Frys grocery store, and a Target about 3 miles away. To fullfill our shopping needs, we must go to both stores, to get the same things as we can at the Walmart. We went to both stores (Frys and Target), got the same, or better quailty products, and were within 5 to 10 bucks of our average Walmart bill. AND.........we were 1/2 hour faster!! People at the frys are friendly, welcoming, and know exactly where their products are. Target has much better product than Walmart, and again, people are friendly, and know their products. We have found that we can hit 3 to 4 stores (We go to a specialty store to get grub for the hounds), and still be home faster than if we had gone to walmart.
So....."Is Walmart Evil"?. I cant say if they are in fact "Evil", as any time I have gone there, I never have seen a guy in a grey outfit building lasers, or seen Kim Jung bla bla shopping there. However, I can say that they are a location that I only frequent to buy oil for my truck when needed.
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My wife is still asleep......

WM prices are not much cheaper then some other places for alot of things anymore. At least in my area. It may depend on what you're looking for and how close are they located to you.

I guess they done the Microsoft thingy, now that we have them hooked!

Walmart doesn't do great business as far as groceries go where I live because this is where Wegmans is headquartered and were firmly entrenched before Walmart even opened it's first superstore here. For those on the east coast lucky enough to live near one often swear by how great it is, and the company seems to always be in Forbes top 5 companies in the nation to work for.

I will use a quote from Romeo and Juliet that perfectly sums up my opinion of Walmart.

"My poverty, but not my will consents."

Yes it is! Its the most evil corporation of all time. Walmart fallow the most unfair monopolistic competition that ever excited! Competition is good for business but not when you have a multi billion(half a trillion in revenue) company forcing you to challenge it. Its a shame that people support it.. You're basically making your home town to be Walmart your life source. Look at NYC community they will never allow such business model in their home. There are few companies operating by practically the same model but most of the are minor. Just burn it to hell.. And let your neighbor or you for that matter make a business. And the quality of food walmart sells yeah.. I would pay a few bucks more to my local farmers so they could make a profit and provide community with organic or at least with less chemical food than walmart. I've seen what average American town is and i have to say it is pretty sad! Downtowns are empty.. Town roads crowded by pizzerias and burger places.

jhawkkw said:

Walmart doesn't do great business as far as groceries go where I live because this is where Wegmans is headquartered and were firmly entrenched before Walmart even opened it's first superstore here. For those on the east coast lucky enough to live near one often swear by how great it is, and the company seems to always be in Forbes top 5 companies in the nation to work for.

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We have a couple out in Northern Virginia we go to if we visit family friends. Love that store. Also, Fairfax has one of, if not THE biggest Whole Foods in the country. Emeril actually used to film his show for the Green Network there.

My first thought when I read this was that it must be an AF member. MoodyBlues??? Gmash??? huh???? Is this one of you???? Inquiring minds want to know.

San Jose man drives car into Walmart, beats customers - U.S. News

^ Saw that on the news this morning. Apparently "Low Low Prices" were just not low enough.

Skyroket said:

Yes it is! Its the most evil corporation of all time. Walmart fallow the most unfair monopolistic competition that ever excited! Competition is good for business but not when you have a multi billion(half a trillion in revenue) company forcing you to challenge it. Its a shame that people support it.. You're basically making your home town to be Walmart your life source. Look at NYC community they will never allow such business model in their home. There are few companies operating by practically the same model but most of the are minor. Just burn it to hell.. And let your neighbor or you for that matter make a business. And the quality of food walmart sells yeah.. I would pay a few bucks more to my local farmers so they could make a profit and provide community with organic or at least with less chemical food than walmart. I've seen what average American town is and i have to say it is pretty sad! Downtowns are empty.. Town roads crowded by pizzerias and burger places.

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Competition is good for business AND consumers. You say you would support the local farmers, but how does that force them to do things more efficiently and reduce their costs? Small mom and pop shops have huge markups on their products because they are the only game in town.

The key in all business is reducing costs by improving efficiency. Wal-Mart is the prime example of this. Other stores ( Target, Shop n Save, Scnhucks) all follow their lead.

Successful small stores will continue. Those who are unfit for business will fail. That's how capitalism works.

Skyroket said:

Yes it is! Its the most evil corporation of all time. Walmart fallow the most unfair monopolistic competition that ever excited! Competition is good for business but not when you have a multi billion(half a trillion in revenue) company forcing you to challenge it. Its a shame that people support it.. You're basically making your home town to be Walmart your life source. Look at NYC community they will never allow such business model in their home. There are few companies operating by practically the same model but most of the are minor. Just burn it to hell.. And let your neighbor or you for that matter make a business. And the quality of food walmart sells yeah.. I would pay a few bucks more to my local farmers so they could make a profit and provide community with organic or at least with less chemical food than walmart. I've seen what average American town is and i have to say it is pretty sad! Downtowns are empty.. Town roads crowded by pizzerias and burger places.

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As ExtremeNerd stated, just because it's a small business doesn't mean it's a good one. There's plenty of small businesses that are far more corrupt and rip customers off more than Walmart does.

Take liquor stores for example. Almost all the small ones are small business "mom and pop" type stores. A majority of small liquor stores markup their prices ridiculously higher than larger liquor chains and Walmart (if you're in a state that allows full liquor sales in grocery stores). You get the same exact product, but WAY more expensive at most small shops. In this case, I would say the small business is the "evil" for ripping people off to get the same exact product.

As others have pointed out, quality is what matters in a lot of items. Walmart is notorious for selling cheap stuff. That's where stores like Whole Foods and farmer's markets come in that sells quality items as a substitute. Many people are willing to pay much more for items of higher quality. But no one is willing to pay more for the same poor quality item for no reason.

ExtremeNerd said:

Competition is good for business AND consumers. You say you would support the local farmers, but how does that force them to do things more efficiently and reduce their costs? Small mom and pop shops have huge markups on their products because they are the only game in town.

The key in all business is reducing costs by improving efficiency. Wal-Mart is the prime example of this. Other stores ( Target, Shop n Save, Scnhucks) all follow their lead.

Successful small stores will continue. Those who are unfit for business will fail. That's how capitalism works.

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now the only game in town is walmart. Mom and Pop now you're being Stereotypical to you own people! The key in all business is reducing costs by improving efficiency at the cost of quality(in other words make more crappy products)

ParishL31 said:

As ExtremeNerd stated, just because it's a small business doesn't mean it's a good one. There's plenty of small businesses that are far more corrupt and rip customers off more than Walmart does.

Take liquor stores for example. Almost all the small ones are small business "mom and pop" type stores. A majority of small liquor stores markup their prices ridiculously higher than larger liquor chains and Walmart (if you're in a state that allows full liquor sales in grocery stores). You get the same exact product, but WAY more expensive at most small shops. In this case, I would say the small business is the "evil" for ripping people off to get the same exact product.

As others have pointed out, quality is what matters in a lot of items. Walmart is notorious for selling cheap stuff. That's where stores like Whole Foods and farmer's markets come in that sells quality items as a substitute. Many people are willing to pay much more for items of higher quality. But no one is willing to pay more for the same poor quality item for no reason.

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I've been in places where they sell liquor at grocery stores( most of them sell local wines yes local wines bottled 5 miles away from your house yes they might cost $15-20 per bottle but the quality of it is 10x more what they sell at the same price at Walmart and god knows from where this wine came from! And don't talk about unbeatable $7 per bottle(that's a pure crap made out of pure alcohol and enhancers) plus if you're really into wine your local wine maker will always put contact info on the label so you could come and see the whole process of the wine making that you've drink last night, which i did(i mean the part of local wine making)

buying Walmart products is a derisive act to a nation! But whatever i guess that's how capitalism works and most of you ok with it!

Skyroket said:

now the only game in town is walmart. Mom and Pop now you're being Stereotypical to you own people! The key in all business is reducing costs by improving efficiency at the cost of quality(in other words make more crappy products)

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I don't want to play "holier than thou" or anything, but I have my BA in Accounting and an MBA in Business administration/Accounting. I have had this debate several times, and when I do, I look at it objectively. Wal-mart has an extremely successful business model. I'm not being stereotypical at all. Successful business is a successful business.

Gross sales - Cost of goods sold - overhead = Net Profit

Take a basic business formula. Wal-mart sells a LOT of product at low prices. However, they also have ridiculously low product costs due to high volume purchasing power. Add in their patented "Just in Time" inventory method, and goods rarely sit on the shelves. They take full advantage of all methods of maximizing profit. Any entrepreneur would be foolish to not do the same.

As to cheap products, Wal-mart carries several of the top name brands including Microsoft, Asus, Samsung, Vizio (eh), Del Monte, Heinz, Sara Lee, Jennie-O....etc. They have the same products any corner store does, but at much lower prices.

If you care for a slightly higher overhead and more pleasant atmosphere, choose Target. Prices are slightly higher and the patrons certainly are more... affluent. At the end of the day, they are no different from the Mart.

I've always shopped at mega stores. I used to prefer Loblaws Superstores but last few years its been all Walmart. Perhaps Target once they open, not sure what the prices are like there though i have never been to one.

Skyroket said:

I've been in places where they sell liquor at grocery stores( most of them sell local wines yes local wines bottled 5 miles away from your house yes they might cost $15-20 per bottle but the quality of it is 10x more what they sell at the same price at Walmart and god knows from where this wine came from! And don't talk about unbeatable $7 per bottle(that's a pure crap made out of pure alcohol and enhancers) plus if you're really into wine your local wine maker will always put contact info on the label so you could come and see the whole process of the wine making that you've drink last night, which i did(i mean the part of local wine making)

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Yeah, but that's high quality items. I totally understand paying more for the good stuff. I will never expect to find a good beer/liquor/wine at Walmart.

Just speaking in general for basic products. Like Coors Lite for example. It's usually like $10-$12 for a 12 pack at Walmart or a larger grocery store. But I've seen the same exact 12 pack sometimes $20+ at a small liquor store when that price is in no way justifiable. Maybe they have to charge that much to stay in business, maybe they simply are rip offs. Either way, I'm not paying that much extra when the product is the same exact one.

Again, if I'm looking for a nice micro beer, I'm heading to my local liquor store. I'll expect to pay more for a superior product. But even then, it seems the large chain liquor warehouses have much better prices than the small family owned places when I'm looking for my specialty beer/liquor.