Is Wal Mart good for America?

[gametalman52]

Wal Mart is good! Started their when they were opening up the super centers went from 7.00 an hour to being produce manager in 6 months, was making 36 thousand. That was 15 years ago. All I had to do was pay attention. As for the mom and pops. Living in a small town before Wal Mart I got tired of paying premium prices for everything. If I wanted to save money I had to travel to a larger town . I would support them, but they never lowered their prices. As far as today goes, I am with Jeff also. Money is tight for us. Thanks Wal Mart !

 

[Michigan Badger]

Wal Mart is good! Started their when they were opening up the super centers went from 7.00 an hour to being produce manager in 6 months, was making 36 thousand. That was 15 years ago. All I had to do was pay attention. As for the mom and pops. Living in a small town before Wal Mart I got tired of paying premium prices for everything. If I wanted to save money I had to travel to a larger town . I would support them, but they never lowered their prices. As far as today goes, I am with Jeff also. Money is tight for us. Thanks Wal Mart !

Ya, but the real $64,000 question is, why is it tight? Jobs?

 

[BuckleBoy]

In the long run I gotta go with jeff of pa......... It's my money & I'll spend it how I want! (he didn't say that but I am)

Of course you will.  Hell, we all will.  Nobody on here is trying to tell you what to do.  But that's not the topic of this thread. 



Nice Question, Badger.    The folks that work at WalMart couldn't afford to shop at Kroger even before we were in an economic slump. 

 

[Montana Jim]

They sell Bounty Hunters...





Just saying.

 

[Smee]

Re: Is Wall Mart good for America?

It's the perfect example of some American dude making a ton of money while providing a ton of jobs.

Not for long. Wal Mart is actively pushing the move to RFID, even partnering with the University of Arkansas to "git-r-done".

The result? Fewer workers will be needed in their stores, because they will drastically cut the number of cashiers and others required for operation.

Just look around at the automotive department, if your Wally World still has one. Your only assistant is a cheesy computer to look up air filters or spark plugs.

Lots of their stores are already being wired for the RFID stuff. A former coworker of mine is involved in installing lots of the equipment for them.

 

[Mental Granny]

Really it has been the pits since they did away with lay - away!

 

[Lowbatts]

The town I live in had some fairly standard numbers when I was born, about 97% of the peole who worked did so in their home town. Mom and Pop stores littered the neighborhoods. They complained about the one guy in town who had four large grocery stores and a couple more in nearby towns that were sprouting up.

We had those stores like Golblatts, Sears and Penny's downtown along with the other few big names who, in their time, robbed the local hardware or clothier of their business. We've got Jewle-Osco, Super Target, Meier's, Wal Mart, Woodmans and the wife even does weekends at Caputo's, a very pricey but also very Italian Grocery chain. The old in-town grocer is gone, mostly because his kids did not want to run the business, also because they were slowly limited to one store because they were not aggressive enough in their policies.

Soon enough you may, or your children may, be limited to grocery shopping in person, and that as a matter of choice only. Hardware, real goods and the like will not keep Wal Mart or anyone else afloat in the coming world of e-net shopping and delivery. Maybe a local pick-up center is all that will be left.

That will require technical jobs to service the delivery chain, robotic manufacturing, once thought to eliminate jobs, actually requires job growth. Skills are different than general labor, so get a set of those skills. Trust your children's education to the public schools and they will only be suited to those few labor jobs in the delivery chain. Hope they know how to make themselves look like a million bucks for a few pennies if that's the choice. I wonder, how many telecomm jobs are available now in a million new formats compared to those available in the very limited format of just a few decades ago.

I wonder how many millionaires have beem created by the wave of new technologies, and even how many new job titles there will be in the next ten years? Don't know but I bet they won't all be in my hometown, maybe yours, then you'll notice results. Hate to say it folks, but you may have to chase the jobs in the future, don't think many of us around here are into that, but enough folks are to keep a tech-savvy America going for awhile. A good long while I think.

 

[diggemall]

Maybe, one of these days, the people of this country will see past their own wallets and perceived need for "lots of 'stuff' ". (But I doubt it)

It is exactly the mentality of getting as much as possible for as little as possible that has gotten us where we are, at every level of the socio-economic ladder. From manufacturers' shareholders and boardrooms, to the banking industry, to government. It's an ugly word, but it's called GREED. Screw the guys that work at the ____________ factory, I can get the Made in China version for 1/2 the price. It's not as good, doesn't always fit, has to be returned because its defective 1/2 the time, breaks under less than its rated load, poisons the kids, falls apart in the wash, only lasts half as long as the Milwaukee or Snap-On version and so on, but what the heck ? I could buy it THIS WEEK !!!!

Diggem'

 

[Lowbatts]

Maybe, one of these days, the people of this country will see past their own wallets and perceived need for "lots of 'stuff' ". (But I doubt it)

It is exactly the mentality of getting as much as possible for as little as possible that has gotten us where we are, at every level of the socio-economic ladder. From manufacturers' shareholders and boardrooms, to the banking industry, to government. It's an ugly word, but it's called GREED. Screw the guys that work at the ____________ factory, I can get the Made in China version for 1/2 the price. It's not as good, doesn't always fit, has to be returned because its defective 1/2 the time, breaks under less than its rated load, poisons the kids, falls apart in the wash, only lasts half as long as the Milwaukee or Snap-On version and so on, but what the heck ? I could buy it THIS WEEK !!!!

Diggem'

Where have you been shopping? We shop at WalMart regulalrly and have none of those experiences. I SEE MADE IN THE USA on all manner of things I buy there. Some younger folk I know work there because it fits there school schedule very well. NONE of those kids will end up with UNION jobs decrying WalMart, because they will better educated than so many of their predecessors in this country who got one high school diploma (almost) and never sought anything past the stamp machine or forklift basics. Good for them.

Last time I checked, there was no mandate that you had to shop and/or work at WalMart anywhere. So just where is it written that the ONE AMERICAN company that becomes the BIGGEST and BEST at what it does neesds to be targeted and demonized to it's utter end?

We had a nearby tpwn that had all the local business people on the board. They never let anyone, including big chains into town, not Mickey D, not Burger King, and surely not Wal Mart. It was ridiculous to shop there. By the time they learned that they had no monopoly on the local economy, it was too late, all the locals went belly up long before amy big chains came to town. Eventually, board members were replaced, chains did move in, building and zoning requirements changed, and they have a thriving economy now. Their old staple mfr plants are still in business, but they are not the only business. And they no longer give their people the business, in the negative sense.

It was a classic case of small town xenophobia perhaps. The local labor folks maybe never knew they were in line with the "greedy business people" by their own actions. Now those kids who grow up in that town rarely look at the old plant as their future, but continue through school and get a longer educational outlook. Even if doing so means working at a big chain joint for awhile.

If you look at Wal Mart and see your entire future only there, you need thinner glasses.

 

[olepossum]

what really makes me sick is when people are complanning about wal mart and say that they are tired of paying poeple to lay around living the welfare life on thier tax money when good olw boy sam walton found a way to fix that he made walmart and walmart has fixed quiet a few family problems by providing jobs to towns that were about to md by people that hunt ghost towns and walmart kept them from being a road sign and a gasstation for several miles take a look at the girl at the register at on time she might have been a single mom on welfare public housing and food stamps but now she has a job and yaking care of her family sorry foglks it aint 1945 anymore the hole country has gotten a lillte lazy every one remembers the vcr the threat from japan well it was invented by a american who was told it was to costly to make and it wouldnt go over in america so he sold it to a japanesse fellow now look at it every household had at least 3 ,

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

Re: Is Wall Mart good for America?

It's the perfect example of some American dude making a ton of money while providing a ton of jobs.

Not for long. Wal Mart is actively pushing the move to RFID, even partnering with the University of Arkansas to "git-r-done".

The result? Fewer workers will be needed in their stores, because they will drastically cut the number of cashiers and others required for operation.

Just look around at the automotive department, if your Wally World still has one. Your only assistant is a cheesy computer to look up air filters or spark plugs.

Lots of their stores are already being wired for the RFID stuff. A former coworker of mine is involved in installing lots of the equipment for them.

I think they reduces the numbers by 99.9% aready in the last 5 years

Yeah, you go to Wal Mart, see 65 cash resgisters and 5 cashiers checking people out, then one says, "Oh you can go to the "SELF CHECKOUT", I ask, "DO I GET A DISCOUNT FOR CHECKING MYSELF OUT, AND BAGGING MY OWN GROCERIES?", I was told "NO", "Then I said, I will wait and stay 32nd in line! I have some try and convince me to use the "SELF CHECKOUTS" and when I explain to them, If I have to check myself out I should pay a cheaper price! Then they try and explain to me that the machines have to be paid for. My response was, Lets see, you have 12 machines, they are already paided off for the 24 people Wal Mart put out of work to get the machines, so whatever Wal Mart paid those employees, paid or those machines long before they got to the stores.

I DON'T USE SELF CHECKOUTS AT ANY STORES!

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: Is Wall Mart good for America?

It's the perfect example of some American dude making a ton of money while providing a ton of jobs.

Not for long. Wal Mart is actively pushing the move to RFID, even partnering with the University of Arkansas to "git-r-done".

The result? Fewer workers will be needed in their stores, because they will drastically cut the number of cashiers and others required for operation.

Just look around at the automotive department, if your Wally World still has one. Your only assistant is a cheesy computer to look up air filters or spark plugs.

Lots of their stores are already being wired for the RFID stuff. A former coworker of mine is involved in installing lots of the equipment for them.

I think they reduces the numbers by 99.9% aready in the last 5 years

Yeah, you go to Wal Mart, see 65 cash resgisters and 5 cashiers checking people out, then one says, "Oh you can go to the "SELF CHECKOUT", I ask, "DO I GET A DISCOUNT FOR CHECKING MYSELF OUT, AND BAGGING MY OWN GROCERIES?", I was told "NO", "Then I said, I will wait and stay 32nd in line! I have some try and convince me to use the "SELF CHECKOUTS" and when I explain to them, If I have to check myself out I should pay a cheaper price! Then they try and explain to me that the machines have to be paid for. My response was, Lets see, you have 12 machines, they are already paided off for the 24 people Wal Mart put out of work to get the machines, so whatever Wal Mart paid those employees, paid or those machines long before they got to the stores.

I DON'T USE SELF CHECKOUTS AT ANY STORES!

Yep.

Believe it or not Self checkout is a Conspiracy.

IF They can get away with Everone using self checkout they will
"Need" To ad another & Another.

& Where will they Go ?

Where the others are.

Eventually getting rid of Jobs.

 

[Mental Granny]

SWR Dont buy peanutbutter crackers! There has been at least 7 people die and on the news this AM a guy had given his dog some human PBcrackers violently ill and died next morn.

 

[seger98]

I used the self checkout once, then upon leaving the lady watching the computer screen came over & check everything to see if I had checkout with lifting something. I asked her if you have time to check out what I just did, then why aren't you checking me out? Didn't make sense at all.

So i won't use them anymore either.

 

[Smee]

Re: Is Wall Mart good for America?

Yep.

Believe it or not Self checkout is a Conspiracy.

IF They can get away with Everone using self checkout they will
"Need" To ad another & Another.

& Where will they Go ?

Where the others are.

Eventually getting rid of Jobs.

The word "Conspiracy" seems to put a bad light on people today. It doesn't make me think less of someone, but some in the media --- like Rush Limbaugh --- paint all who use it as part of the "lunatic fringe" so that we can be easily dismissed as being like Chicken Little.

I would rather use the mindset of we are being "softened up" to accept what is inevitably coming.

It's like the old analogy of the frog in the pot. It goes something like: If you drop a live frog in a pot of hot water, he'll jump out. But . . . if you put him in a pot of fresh water and place it over a fire, he'll stay in the water till he cooks because he gradually becomes used to the water as it warms. He'll get comfortable until it's too late.

Too much today is very similar in concept. Once we get used to self checkouts, then its an easy step to RFID checkouts. Once we get used to Wal Mart writing your check after you sign it, its an easy step to hand them a "blank check" and sign on their little credit card pad. Saw the wife do that last night and I hit the roof! Once they have your signature, your bank account number, and your name . . . there is always the possibility of some snot nosed script kiddie or other "hacker" accessing your information directly from the store's computers. They would not have to "break in" from the internet --- just access the computer network at work.

Yep. That's always good for America.

 

[jeff of pa]

Right You Are Smee !

on all points.

 

[Smee]

I used the self checkout once, then upon leaving the lady watching the computer screen came over & check everything to see if I had checkout with lifting something. I asked her if you have time to check out what I just did, then why aren't you checking me out? Didn't make sense at all.

So i won't use them anymore either.

It's quite simple. They are not aware enough to see that they are helping make their jobs obsolete.

Anyone remember the old "Twilight Zone" (or maybe "Outer Limits) where the aliens came and were accepted by the public since they shared technology or something. Then they promised to allow some humans to travel to their utopian planet for a "vacation"?

The folks in the show willingly went along for the "vacation". They were kinda shocked to find out that the aliens actually viewed them as cattle (food), and that the reason they were on the "dinner guest list" (M&M's Commercial) was because it was actually the "menu" . . .

They are destroying their own future. Sure, some will benefit from the technology . . . but not them. They're destroying their own jobs, their own future.

 

[crazyjarhead]

Well, since everything is imported from China and everywhere else.............. NO. You have no choice to shop for groceries anymore. They ran all of the local busninesses out. It's a monopoly. Gas, food, meat and everything else.

 

[Smee]

Well, since everything is imported from China and everywhere else.............. NO. You have no choice to shop for groceries anymore. They ran all of the local busninesses out. It's a monopoly. Gas, food, meat and everything else.

(with tongue planted firmly in cheek, Smee said . . . )

"That can't be! Monopolies are against the law! Besides, Wal Mart ALWAYS obey the rules and play fair. That's why they never hire illegals or engage in arm twisting with their vendors.

"ALL of those Mom & Pop stores were just poorly managed. They could have made the same deals with the same suppliers, they just chose not to. Let's face it. They were just plain unwilling to compete in a global economy!"

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

Well, since everything is imported from China and everywhere else.............. NO. You have no choice to shop for groceries anymore. They ran all of the local busninesses out. It's a monopoly. Gas, food, meat and everything else.

(with tongue planted firmly in cheek, Smee said . . . )

"That can't be! Monopolies are against the law! Besides, Wal Mart ALWAYS obey the rules and play fair. That's why they never hire illegals or engage in arm twisting with their vendors.

"ALL of those Mom & Pop stores were just poorly managed. They could have made the same deals with the same suppliers, they just chose not to. Let's face it. They were just plain unwilling to compete in a global economy!"

Just about ANY corporation or even medium size companies have monopolies, yes, it IS against the law, in my case there are companies that have monopolies for LED's and will not sell to other companies because of a legal contract with said manufacturer. To sue someone for monopolizing will cost a great deal of money. Unless you have an unlimited cash flow and years to fight it, you would be better off manufacturing your own stuff. I know 2 people that had manufactured products and introduced them to Wal Mart, and Wal Mart Execs, pretty much said it was really a good product, but after Wal Mart Execs said they would pay X amount of dollars for X amount of product. Long story short, my 2 friends wouldn't make enough money to make it worth their while having Wal Mart selling it at the cost of what Wal Mart was willing to pay. So 1 went to the local mom and pop hardware stores across his state and is doing really well. The other one is doing internet sales and doing good and is approaching Home Depot and Lowes.