Wal-Mart will cut prices every week until Christmas

Hey Shocky, I think you and I will just have to agree to disagree on this one.

Of course WM is in business to make money. That is their sole purpose in life, just like any other business. And particularly now, with the economy the way it is, they are going to be one of the few retailers who may well see an INCREASE in their sales, because of their pricing.

Oh, and WM has not put K-mart out of business. Yes KM did a reorganization and either merged with or bought out Sears. Yes, there have been some KM stores that have closed. But this was not the doing of WM, this was because of piss poor management at the very top of the KM Corp.

I've lived in small towns that fought tooth and toenail to keep out WM, KM or any other "big box" store. They do this by telling folks that there is no way they can compete with the big boxes.

That is pure bull hockey. What they mean is, they have no desire to try to compete. They don't have enough intelligence to take on the competition by giving good service. The businesses that have survived the box stores coming in, have done so by innovative thinking. Realizing that the customer is not just an interruption of their work, but the entire reason for them having a job.

The big box stores only compete on a price level. They do not give service and they don't give a #### if you come back or not. Because of this type of attitude, a home grown store that gives good service, has friendly personnel and is willing to go the extra mile is not going to be put out of business by a big box.

 

We only had KMart in the town we lived in along with a few other small stores. I remember Gibson's and Howards. KMart got to where they were snotty to customers here. Then WalMart came in and at first it was great. Now they have the attitude and I'm starting to shop elsewhere. We don't live in a town now, out in the country. The small town we are closest to finally got in a Dollar General store and I've been shopping there more, for canned goods mostly.

They have some off brand stuff that is very good and the 10 for $10 stuff I stock up on big time. Now that it's just me and hubby we can buy more foods that we couldn't afford in the past. One year I went to the DG store and sat outside because they had a toy that my grandson wanted for Christmas. I got it $40 (you read that right!!) cheaper than Walmart!

My son lives close to Walmart, KMart and some dollar stores and he will shop at the dollar stores before he heads over to WalMart any day. Only thing he'll buy at WalMart is baby formula that my grandson has to have.

 

That's okay, Big D --- as long as we're still good amigos.
I don't expect or require folks to agree with me --- even when
I'm correct.

I crave stimulating conversation, and my ULTIMATE goal is knowing the
TRUTH.

As for competition, I'm ALL for it, ---- UNTIL it becomes the
destruction of others through shady practices, which is something
I've recently become aware of that Wal*Mart is doing.

With that, I ask you, have YOU seen the documentary
The High Cost of Low Price?
It really opened MY eyes to what Wal*Mart is REALLY doing.
Not only here, but in China, as well as other third world countries.

If you haven't watched the documentary, I HIGHLY encourage you
to do so.
Do some research.
Then, tell me if you think I'm wrong.

I personally know present and former Wal*Mart employees, including
managers, who say that documentary is accurate.

 

I live in the community where MEIJER stores were started, for 10 years that I know of it was very well known around here that Meijer had a deal with the city that Wal-Mart would not be allowed to open a store inside the city limits.......it was a huge deal in our community.

Anyways 4 years ago wal-mart got property outside of town and FINALLY we had a choice! THere were no other places to shop other than Meijers unless of course you wanted to go spend your money at the local family owned grocery store that had 6 stores in the county, that was all that was here.

I would drive 30 miles to the closest wal mart once I did my comparison price check, because it was a better deal. I still go to the local walmart, I am sick of giving these local mom and pop stores our hard earned money for products that are way over priced, and are the SAME as offered at walmart.

IF the mom and pop places offered products that were USA made I would go there but they get their stuff from the same places as kmart, meijer and walmart....they just price it higher due to their low customer base....the big stores cut prices cuz they make money on volume....

Yes we need to protect AMERICAN jobs, so tell me where to purchase AMERICAN made products and I will shop there. It is very SELDOM that you will find a sticker that says "made in the USA" anywhere these days.

 

Oh you betcha!

Yep. After all, as they say it is a difference of opinion that makes horse races!

OK, I have not seen the documentary. You may be right. OTOH, the documentary may be just propaganda. As I said, I haven't seen it, at least as of now. As to the employees/managers saying that it is accurate, I don't doubt that at all. But having not seen it, I really can't judge. IS it accurate, or are you hearing "sour grapes" from dissatisfied employees.

Of course I personally don't understand how anyone could work ANY retailing job and not be a "dissatisfied employee."

What I DO know, is what WM does to my monthly budget. And after spending many (actually waaaaay too many) years where WM was not available without a drive of over a hundred miles (one way) I'm just glad to have them a few miles away. :smt040

 

And I don't think you can blame this on Wal Mart. I DO think you can blame it on the boards of directors of manufacturing companies that take their jobs over seas to save on labor costs. And I think you can blame it on unions who jack up wages artificially. And I think you can blame it on government regulations that are forcing companies out.

 

I have another reason for my appreciation of Wal Mart. We have a distribution center here in my area. It is one of the largest employers in Southern Utah. It is also one of the better paying, and has benefits. Even the retail stores pay what is for here an (almost) decent wage. That coupled with benefits really does make them one of the better employers in this area.

While times in Utah are slowly changing, Utah is a "at will" state when it comes to employment. In other words, the employer has very few guidelines they must go by as far as employment laws. If they don't like the way you comb your hair, they are perfectly free to fire you. Unless, of course you are female, or a minority.

But the wages are much lower here than in most of the country. Benefits are hard to find. Many companies do not even offer health insurance benefits, or if they do, they are substandard at ultra high rates to the employee.

No, I'm not in love with WM. In fact, I would rather shop somewhere else. But everything considered, I will continue to shop there.

 

Those tactics are NO different than Wal*Mart.
Yet you support Wal*Mart when that corporation does the same thing on a larger scale?

Try this on for size:
Wal*Mart makes a sweet deal with a city where the city foots the bill for installing ALL the infrastructure for the Wal*Mart store to come to their town with the promise by Wal*Mart of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue for that city ----- AFTER five years of tax-free operation ---- and with a clause preventing any other competing stores to open in that area that could take some of Wal*Mart's business away (limiting the choices of where those residents have to shop).

The city leases Wal*Mart the land dirt cheap (literally pennies a year) and finances the construction of the Wal*Mart building, and agrees to lease that building to Wal*Mart for a few pennies a year, in hopes of raking in the BIG bucks within 5 years.
But, after about 4 1/2 years, Wal*Mart RElocates to just OUTside that city's limits, into a newer building, depriving that city from collecting ANY of those, PROMISED, millions of dollars in sales tax revenues, --- and leaves a large, EMPTY building not suitable for any other business to rent or lease. It just sits there collecting dust rather than property and sales taxes. And that city eats the loss, not to mention payments on the additional fire equipment (trucks) that the city purchased to protect that Wal*Mart building (mandated by the insurance company) when it was in use by Wal*Mart, and now comes out of the resident's property taxes, --- meaning those residents either have a tax INcrease, or go without some tax supported services.

Deal
or
No deal.
Doesn't really matter to Wally.
He makes out like a bandit.
That's the Wally way --- when it suits him.
Sound fair, to you?
I sure don't hear Wally complaining.
Cha-Ching $$$
Talk about SAVING monies --- Seems Wally IS the expert there.
Dare I say king?

And when you shop OUTside your city, the sales tax revenues go to another city, and not the city in which you live.
By the way, when Wal*Mart locates "just outside" another city, it discourages other stores from locating in, or near, the city where you live, and again, not only deprives y'all of shopping choices, but sales tax revenues generated by other stores that might have been interested in opening a store there, if not for good neighbor, Wally.

Yet Wal*Mart tells us how much they 'help' the communities where they're located. Bully tactics?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Check out ALL the things sales tax revenues go toward supporting in YOUR city, that you're doing without, or paying more for, thanks to the influence of Wal*Mart.
How much are y'all REALLY saving?

There's a good reason why many towns and cities petition to prevent Wal*Mart from getting a foothold in their communities.

Define "better deal".
And a 60 mile, round trip at today's gas prices?
What's that take? About an hour driving time?
Are you adding those costs to your "savings"?
(Don't forget to include wear & tear on your vehicle.)

Will you feel "sick" when Wal*Mart is your ONLY choice?
How about your neighbor's choices?
Maybe there should be NO other stores. Just Wal*Mart.
Of course, if that happens, how long do y'all reckon those low prices will remain low --- when Wal*Mart has a totally captive audience?
There'll be the VERY high-priced stores where the wealthier folks shop, and Wal*Mart.
Just curious, where will Y'ALL be shoppin' then?
Can't say y'all DON'T have a choice.

Be careful what'cha ask for.
Y'all just might get it.

YeAH!
MoM & PoP price it higher because they PAY higher prices for that same stuff, wholesale.
And how do you propose a MoM & PoP store compete with the HUGE volume buying power of a powerful, NATIONAL, or rather INTERNATIONAL corporation?
Wal*Mart has thousands of stores worldwide.
How many stores do MoM & PoP have?
Screw the small business owner.
Long live the giants.

BTW, do y'all ever eat at The Golden Arches?
If so, do y'all REALLY think it costs that clown 5 dollars to throw together a 'VALUE MEAL'?
HaiL!
The CUP that the soda comes in costs MORE than the soda in said cup.
Fact!
And they offer 'FREE' refills.
YuP!
Which helps them buy more soda in VOLUME, saving them money, and helping THEM make more money.
Do they pass the savings on to y'all.
Or maker bigger profits?

Free refills?
I bet the dentists love that freebie.
(A soda a day
keeps the dentists in pay)
Meanwhile, please pull forward to the PAY HERE window.
Save now --- pay (much more) later.
And, as an added bonus, whichever Golden Armpit y'all go to,
their food tastes exactly the same.
Originality?
Seems that's only available at the MoM & PoPs places.
IF y'all can find one still in business.

OH!
And another bonus I almost forgot about, ----
you can often find Ronald under the same roof as Wally.
Clowns of a feather.
Ya reckon.

Wal*Mart sells their wares for less than MoM & PoP pay for it wholesale. Are MoM & PoP expected to just GIVE their merchandise away at a loss?

Is ANYbody even remotely interested in QUALITY anymore?
I'll have the same ol'--same ol'.
And SUPER-Size it, ......... please.
(As we reminisce about the good ol' daze and the selections we USED to have.)

Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
Long Time Passing.
~~~~~~~~ The Kingston Trio

It seems you'd be the only one.
Everyone else shops at Wal*Mart.

And who's fault is that?
HaiL!
I've been hearing BUY AMERICAN for at least 30 years.
Am I the only one who has heard that?
And who's been doing that? (Buying American)

Then, factor in that the cheap, imported junk has to be replaced more often, and tell me about the "savings".

But, instead, Americans seem to prefer the cheaper imported merchandise, and what we were told, and warned about, now seems to have come home to roost.
American companies, including MoM & PoPs, went outta business for lack of support.
Or they moved to another country, taking American jobs with them.
It takes cheap labor to compete with giants like Wally, who sells a toy that costs less than a dollar to produce, and sells for around $20.
BIGGER profits, ---- seems to be the new American way.
Wal*Mart passing on the savings to their customers?
Get real.
Real greed.

But, you're right, NOW we DON'T have much of a choice.
Or at least not as many choices as we've had in the past.
Welcome to the future.
Now-a-daze, if a product is priced fairly, it's considered a rip-off.
Seems we're more interested in saving a few bucks than saving (keeping) American jobs here in the U.S. of A.

So I ask y'all, how much money have we REALLY "saved"?
And at what expense?

The High Cost of Low Price.
Pretty catchy title.
And oh so true.

Have y'all ever seen those huge container ships coming into American ports --- loaded to the max?
Are y'all aware that when they set sail OUT of port, that they're
EMPTY? They fill up with seawater for needed ballast.
We've become a Nation of IMports, and not many EXports.
Who do we thank for that?
Or, who do we blame?

 

Would that "area" contain the name of a tree, followed by "City"?
If so, that's where I was informed that Wal*Mart planned to put K-Mart out of business.

I wonder if DuPont employees thought the same thing during WWII?

No matter WHAT y'all are, just mention "union", and y'all are outta there P.D.Q.

I'm helping you out there, Big D.
By keeping the check-out line shorter.