I hate Wal-Mart. I refuse to shop there. And, I hope they go out of business, and the sooner the better.

That's pretty nasty stuff, but I have a sound basis for my seemingly narrow-minded opinion of this retail giant. Please read through the following scenario, and then realize, as I will explain at the end, that it's not as far-fetched as it seems.

Let's assume that I've done a great deal of research, and have designed a radically-new automatic coffee maker that I call, "Ed's Coffee Pot." Ed's Coffee Pot has a series of unique, patented designs that allow it, at a retail price of $99.95, to outperform all others at, or above that price point, and as such is a "value" at that price.

I print out a price sheet and the dealer cost for my coffee pot is $75. Most retailers aren't satisfied with only a $25 profit, so I structure a series of different programs and promotions, and offer prompt-payment discounts, all of which results in a bottom-line price (to the dealer who pays me on time, and takes advantage of my "specials") of $50.

Now that dealers can double their money, Ed's Coffee Pot is an attractive purchase, and it goes on to be a huge success. As I can't possibly sell my coffee pot to all the thousands of independent retailers across the country by myself, I hire a series of manufacturer's representatives (reps) to sell it for me, and pay them a 5% commission to do so. And, all of this was planned for from the start so that I could afford to have dealers pay me $50 and to pay 5% commission on top of that. I'm hugely successful with this item, and sell 15,000 of them a month, generating significant, profitable volume for me.

The success of my coffee pot doesn't go unnoticed, and Wal-Mart calls me up and "invites" me to their facitilty to discuss a "unique business opportunity." As Wal-mart's no dummy, they've done their homework, and know what dealers are paying for this coffee pot, and that I also pay rep firms a 5% commission. Wal-mart flatly refuses to do business with manufacturer's reps (this is a known fact) and wants that commission deducted from the purchase price. Ultimately, they tell me that they will pay me $35 for my coffee pot, and not a penny more.

But they save the best for last: they'll buy 15,000 of them a week. Now, I have quite a decision to make: do I walk away from the opportunity to quadruple my buiness by selling Wal-Mart, or do I say, "No."

Ultimately, I agree to Wal-Mart's proposal, and in order to meet the increased production needs, expand my manufacturing facility and staff to keep up with the demand. In the meantime, Wal-Mart sells my coffee pot for $69.95 - $30 less than anyone has sold it before. Consequently, my existing dealer base all tell me to essentially, "go take a hike," since they can't afford to match Wal-Mart's price, and I'm stuck with only one customer: Wal-Mart.

Then the worst happens: my cost of goods goes up as a result of factors entirely out of my control (rising petroleum prices, which affect the cost of plastics), and a variety of other possibilties. I have no choice but to advise Wal-Mart that I can no longer afford to sell them my coffee pot for $35, and have to raise its price to them to $45, or I'll have to go out of business. Wal-Mart flatly refuses to pay the price increase, and I'm stuck with no one to sell my coffee pot to, as my original dealer base of independent retailers has walked away from me for doing busines with "the devil," and doesn't trust me any more.

As a result, I'm forced to declare bankruptcy, shut down my manufacturing facility, and put hundreds of workers out of work. If you think this is a ridiculous scenario, think again: this is precisely what happened to an Ohio-based manufacturing plant for Rubbermaid!

Add to that the fact that Wal-Mart employees are paid poorly, forced to work overtime again and again, and given truly lousy health benefits, while the top management of the organization wallows in money, and lots of it. Then there's Wal-Mart's deliberate intention of putting competing retailers out of busines, putting the employees of those retailers out of work, and then offering employment to those people at significantly reduced wages.

What a wonderul place Wal-Mart is.