Wal-Mart: the Scourge of the Retail Industry

[PAT.P]

Frankly, the fact that we can sit around here discussing $1000-$10,000 speaker systems leads me to believe that none of us fall into WM's target demographic anyway. Another cause for gratitude.

Cheers to y'all

Are you saying that only the lower income person shop at WalMart?You be surprise! Look in their parking lot and look at the cars some people drive .I'm sure glad there is one just a few blocks from where I live.

[Feanor]

Are you saying that only the lower income person shop at WalMart?You be surprise! Look in their parking lot and look at the cars some people drive .I'm sure glad there is one just a few blocks from where I live.

My closest is the one at Whiteoaks Mall. We shop there all the time, for certain things at least. Not that we're rich.


We used to live in Leaside in Toronto. One time, quite a few years ago, I saw Lord Kenneth Thompson in the Loblaws that was at Bayview and Moore Ave. At the time I guess he was only worth $5 billion or so. Guess the servants had the day off.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/0ZB0.html

[bobsticks]

[QUOTE=PAT.P]Are you saying that only the lower income person shop at WalMart? QUOTE]

No guys, that wasn't what I meant but I do concede that I phrased it rather clumsily. My intentions were to convey two things.
The first post was a bit of sarcastic over-exaggeration. It was really designed to be alarmist in that people love to believe and rail against the monoliths of the world--be they governments, bureaucracies, or corporations. It's easier to lay a blanket of blame on a nameless, faceless leviathan than it is to look at individuals and the reprocussions of individuals' decisions. I can't help but notice that nowhere in this thread has anyone mentioned the variety of good things Wal-Mart does, not the least of which was the millions of dollars of relief aid donated during Hurricane Katrina ( and few and far between were the mentions of this in the press since positivity doesn't sell papers ).
The part in the second post to which you which you refer was ineptly truncated for purposes of brevity. Looking back on the specific words, I can see why many might take exception so let me give you a little background. A few days,out of curiosity, ago I went to a Wal-Mart at 7:00 PM (see what I do for you guys). It has been my infrequent practice to shop at WM only during the early AM hours as I dislike long waits in line--and I really despise them when there are 35 registers and only 7 of them are open. Also, it's important to note that WM is one of the only "big-box" stores in Indiana that accepts food stamps. Here those come in the the form of "dbt" or "ebt" cards, or something like that. They are essentially debit cards for the unemployed. Out of the 8 people in line in front of me 2 had cards that either wouldn't work or had already been run to the maximum. This of course was not discovered until completion of the lengthy "ringing-out" process. Now this being an inner-city store it's probable that this type of problem is more prevalent here than in suburban areas, but it was bothersome nonetheless to watch food sit wasting in carts as there were no employees around to deal with it.
Earlier I had stopped in the electronics department, and on the video-side of things was impressed. A variety of smart looking plasmas and lcds lined the walls. On the downside, it appeared as if they were splicing one sat line for roughly 35 tvs, and so, it was impossible to get even a remote idea of the true capabilities of any of the units.On the plus side there was, for every set, a detailed information card. This was even more valuable because upon questioning, neither of the two employees had any knowledge about HD signals, connectivity,etc. Evidently, according to the signage, one can purchase an extended warranty through the store and I would love to list the terms of that but neither of said employees knew anything about that either.
From the looks of the product here and around the store, I have to partially contradict myself. It would appear that WMHQ or its buyers may be targeting exactly a middle-class and above demographic. From an operational standpoint, this doesn't seem to be making it to the store level.
Presumably, WM reports its numbers to "The Street" just like everyone else. Inclusive in this would be not only overall dollars earned, but profit margins as well. When looking at controllable expenses, the historically frugal WM may not have a lot of other options but to look at wages as an opportunity. In defense of the two employees that night, I doubt that with 30-40 people all needing attention these kids had a lot of freetime to read up on product literature.
And that's the point. With its wage control practices this company may be, at least in some stores, alienating the very clientele to which it's aiming with its product mix. They seemingly fail to realize that as income goes up time becomes a consideration of utility. The same loss of knowledgable advice that has been lamented in other threads on this forum is never so present as in these stores. The average customer doesn't need to ask questions about $2.00 shampoo, but that same average customer invariably will need a bit of guidance with a major tech purchase.
I am not a WM hater and I think I've made that clear. I think for all its faults and attributes WM is a most appropriate symbol of American capitalism. However, just as I wouldn't speak in favor of governmental practices with which I disagreed, I wont spend my days off standing in line to save a few pennies because I support Wal-Mart "in theory". There's too many tunes to be spinnin'. I believe that WM helps a lot of people, and probably the folks that need it the most, but at the same time I'm grateful that WM is not my only option. Great prices are fine, but after a while I felt like I was standing in the Russian bread lines.
I hopes this clarifies my position. I was not sitting in judgement of anyone's buying practices. Just IMO and personal experience...

Cheers to all

[shokhead]

I save more then a few pennys but its at Target and i'm with you about lines so i'm there when needed at 8am on sunday to get in and out.

[dean_martin]

I have only a general idea of the direction of this thread. I certainly haven't read every post. I resist Wal-Mart most of the time, but when I need toiletries, dog food (for my dog), paper products, batteries, air conditioning filters, light bulbs, etc. I often find myself there because of the prices. I don't particularly like going there mainly because if I go there with the wife we always get seperated and it takes forever to get out of that damn place. Anyhoo...here's an article reporting a study on Wal-Mart's effect on poverty levels. From the very nature of the study it looks like they were looking for a particular outcome...but I have no opinion on possible biases, etc. - just acknowledging the potential.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/s...5/daily29.html