Things to do at Wal-Mart

[jangel]

Wal mart used to brag it was americas store...buy american made
now it is all chinese..some pros & cons
wal-mart is the no 1 importer of chinese goods world wide
wal-mart is a leader in retail technology
Wal-mart sets the price for its vendors to sell to them, no barganing
wal-mart is now introducing smaller wal-marts into communities and will be supplied by the supercenters now established...thus clearing out all small mom&pop stores and other retailers that are running on small margins.
wal-mart will monopolize the retail business in the coming yrs.
move over oil companies.

[bassist_25]

Wal-Mart got as big as it has by slitting its own throat in new towns, running small businesses into the ground, then jacking up its prices when there was no competition left.

Is it legal? Yes
Is it ethical? Well, there's some debate for that.

Since we are in a free-market economy, demand drives supply. I make a value-judgement by trying to avoid shopping at Wal-Mart when possible (and I would never own stock in the company, no matter how good the dividends are). Unfortuantatley, the situation is too much like that Southpark episode: People say they hate Wal-Mart, yet they continue to shop there.

And no, Wal-Mart isn't an monopoloy; it's part of an oligopoly, an oligopoly that use to be a monopolistic market full of thousands of small businesses and people living the American Dream. Now they all work for the mega-corporation.

[f.sciarrillo]

They could use a Wal-mart in Tyrone, not Pinecroft. Also, Wal-Mart started as a small business and built it's way to the top. I don't find anything wrong with that. Obviously they aren't slave drivers, you have a choice to work there. They aren't a monopoly either, they own Wal-Mart and Sams Club. Sams Club is "In business for small business" so apparently they are doing what they can to help the little man. Everything is made in China anymore, so that's nothing new. They know how to run a business and Sam Walton knew what he was doing when he built the franchise. As for the workers, it's up to them to decide if they want to work there for the pay. There are plenty of other jobs out there.

By the way, I'm not arguing for the sake of arguing, I'm just looking at it from another angle- other than the HATE, NAZI, EVIL CORPORATE angle.

There was talk about putting a home store in the old tyrone ames store. It hasn't happen yet. And with another business in there I don't look for it to happen anytime soon.

You say walmart isn't a monopliy ?? O.k -> Dept Store -> Grociery Store -> Car Lot (not in our area, YET) -> Gas station. They are trying to be the one stop place for all your needs. That is a monopoly.

It is true they started from a small store. But the fact still remains that they know they are putting the mom and pop stores out of business and do nothing to stop it. They only make it worst. They claim jobs, jobs, jobs. Yeah, low paying minimum wage jobs. They are the lowest paid company in the world, but yet they are the highest grocing company in the world. They have less employees than the big three auto makers, make 5 times more, but yet pay the workers 5 times less. Example: Wal-mart employee starts out based on where they live top of about 7.50 an hour. Gm Starts there emplyees out at 18.00+ an hour. Plus GM plays 100% halethcare, Wal-Mart pays 20%. Isnt' that nice ???

Something else you have to think about also. They go into a town, put the mom and pops out of business, turn out to be the only place in the town with employement, the people won't have a choice to work there. They will more less be forced to..

Why is that ? Look at the forbes top ten richest people in the world and you will see five of the reasons. They don't care about the people. They only care about themselves.

I am done ranting. Sorry if I got out of hand. Wal-Mart just has a way of doing that ..

[rreihart]

I don't like going to Wal-Mart and I avoid it for long periods of time if I can. One major problem I have with not going there is they are the only drug store chain (around here) that accepts my insurance. Also, for household goods and most food items, you just can't beat their prices. I am not going to spend more money for something if I don't have to. Of course, as with any store I still can't get everything that I like and I still have to go to Martin's for select items.

[moxham123]

Do any of you remember the Gee Bee stores that were owned by Glosser Brothers in Johnstown? They were the first store I know of that used the concept of department store, clothing, store, grocery store, and auto repair store all in a one stop shopping location. They started that back in 1964 in Johnstown. Their problem was they grew too fast and management could not handle it. The Johnstown flodd of 1977 also hit the corporate office and home store hard.

If they would have done it right, we could be talking about Gee Bee stores everywhere instead of Wal-Mart. They were way ahead of their time.

[HIMfag666]

i am ban from walmart for life for dropping my pants during an intense game of dodgeball in the toy section around 3am in the morning. damn allegheny cops.

[ZappasXWife]

I don't like Wal-Mart because
1. They don't have Ben & Jerry's ice cream
2. Their produce section sucks
3. Their lines are WAY too long
4. They drug test their employees which I think is stupid for what they pay and what most of them do. Like smokin a joint the night before work might cause a big catastrophe while stocking shelves.

[Peavey Fool]

www.walmartfacts.com
A lot of people have opinions but don't have all the facts.
Sure it's Wal-Marts own site but these are actual numbers and not guesses.
Unfortunately most of your shopping experience have been associated with the store here in Altoona. I've been with the company for 13 years (logistics) and I don't like shopping there myself.

[RobTheDrummer]

You know what, I was thinkin about Wal-Mart on the way home tonight. I think this area has benefitted from having Wal-Mart around. If you think about it, Altoona didn't have much business around not too long ago. It seems that when Wal-Mart came in, the local economy went up. That whole stretch between plank road and duncansville blew up with a bunch of businesses, the new road was put in, the convention center and all that came about. I mean, I can't say Wal-Mart is the main reason behind all of that, but it probably helped boost the restaurants and other businesses close by. You can't get EVERYTHING at Wal-Mart, specialty shops and eateries are doing just fine. What are some businesses you guys miss that left because of Wal-Mart? Bilo? Seriously, I think Wal-Mart has helped this area grow.

[HurricaneBob]

On a local scale here Sheetz put the mom and pops in the poorhouse.

[bassist4life2004]

You know what, I was thinkin about Wal-Mart on the way home tonight. I think this area has benefitted from having Wal-Mart around. If you think about it, Altoona didn't have much business around not too long ago. It seems that when Wal-Mart came in, the local economy went up. That whole stretch between plank road and duncansville blew up with a bunch of businesses, the new road was put in, the convention center and all that came about. I mean, I can't say Wal-Mart is the main reason behind all of that, but it probably helped boost the restaurants and other businesses close by. You can't get EVERYTHING at Wal-Mart, specialty shops and eateries are doing just fine. What are some businesses you guys miss that left because of Wal-Mart? Bilo? Seriously, I think Wal-Mart has helped this area grow.

And yet rob still gives blow jobs for crack.. go figure.

[RobTheDrummer]

Yea, but only on Wednesdays between 3:34-4:12 pm.

[HurricaneBob]

"ooo ooo' Picture fight !!!

[bassist_25]

Yea, but only on Wednesdays between 3:34-4:12 pm.

Why the strange hours? Is it a government position?

[lonewolf]

So what makes Wal-Mart so bad? I never really thought of it as a bad thing.

Let's put it this way. If "Rain Man" would have been made today instead of 1988, Dustin Hoffman's memorable quote from the movie would have been:

"Wal-Mart sucks"