Author Topic: Everything Walmart *  (Read 21161 times)

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Everything Wal-Mart
« Reply #60 on: September 27, 2006, 01:12 AM »
Not everyone's "standard of living" goes up because someone saves on a can of beans though...  And Wal-Mart has a lot of negative business practices (so do many businesses though of course) going on.  I think that's where people cite a dislike for the store.

Crowds, how they negatively impact a local area they crop up in...  These are factors mostly only pertinent to those who have to live within the bounds of the store.  It's like a prison...  Many people may want more, bigger, better prisons but they don't want it in their town because they'll view it as something of a blight irregardless of jobs it may create. 

I don't look at WM as the salvation of the American family though, and in all my years in business NOBODY has said to me that Wal-Mart is creating a legacy of improving the lives of Americans.  ;D  I'm sorry Dafoo, that's comical to me in many ways...  There are positives, there are negatives.  The store causes big problems and a decrease in quality of life for many, it I'm sure is great for others, but I don't think you'll find anyone who looks at Wal-Mart as being a key to people's lives getting better except people inside Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is just changing the face of retail, or has changed it anyway, and retail is growing above and beyond what Wal-Mart has done already.  So now Wal-Mart too is changing with it and so on and so forth.

Personally I still prefer going to Target for this and that, and my local grocery store for my food, the mall for different things, the local auto parts for things to work on my car, etc., etc...  The reasons why I don't care for Wal-Mart usually vary from the uncleanliness to the crowded nature of the store to even things I disagree with them on in general business practices...  Just not my cup of tea, and I really only look at the store as a necessary evil anymore.
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Offline ruiner

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Re: Everything Wal-Mart
« Reply #61 on: September 27, 2006, 12:02 PM »
Jesse,

Not all Wal-Marts are crowded and dirty.  You'll find that many Wal-Marts (especially in upper scale communities) are quite pleasant.

But I do understand what you're saying - to an extent.

I'm always looking for the "best" deal and with two kids I like to do all of my shopping in one location (if at all possible).  Time and money are always tight.  Granted, fighting large crowds is time consuming but I usually go early Sunday morning when it's less busy.

Do I like supporting a 'faceless' billion dollar corporation with millions of shareholders who only care about their ROI? 

No, not really but in this day and age does it really matter who your money goes to?  Odds are, your money is lining the pockets of some CEO no matter what you're buying.


Offline dafoo

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Re: Everything Wal-Mart
« Reply #62 on: September 27, 2006, 11:04 PM »
The negatives are far outweighed by the positives.  No, I have no connection/vested interest in anything regarding Wal-Mart.

Certainly a single savings on a can of beans won't change the world for everyone. I'm talking volume of goods are lower prices, convenience.  And that $60 bucks you saved over the month can provide someone with some added item or service that makes their life more comfortable.  Any money I can save is money I can direct elsewhere.

I don't buy into this whole ploy that Wal-Mart kills main street.  Main street is simply obselete as a business model.  Well, not for all types of stores.

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Offline BillCable

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Re: Everything Wal-Mart
« Reply #63 on: September 28, 2006, 12:36 AM »
I admire Wal*mart for their brutal efficiency.  That's the main reason they're so successful, and their prices are so competitive.  They've forced the rest of the industry to do the same.  And as a result, prices at Target, Kmart, and your local grocery story are 10 or 20% lower than they would be absent the stiff competition.  This has been a huge benefit to the American way of life.

I'm going to pull some numbers out of my butt here based on something I read years ago.  So the numbers, while generally representative, are probably not 100% accurate.  But here goes...

Back when Welfare began, to decide on the exact income of a family to be labeled the "poverty level," they based it on a percentage of the family income necessary to buy enough food to  avoid hunger.  And the percentage was something like 40% of the total income needed to be spent on food.  Then they calculated that a family would need to earn $10,000 per year or something to survive.

Now, 50 years later, they still use that same percentage to calculate the poverty line.  But now, with the intense competition in the grocery business, your average family only spends like 10 or 15% of their income on food.  So now even people at the poverty level have an additional 25 or 30% of their income to devote to other expenses.

That's how much people have benefitted, in large part, to Wal*mart.
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Offline Tracy

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More Wal-Mart Bashing
« Reply #64 on: May 9, 2008, 11:50 AM »
Yet another reason to hate the Walmart Corporation.  Our new Super Walmart had a fire in the Crafts section a few days ago.  The store has been shut down for 3 days while they clean up.  My parents went in today and the shelves were pretty bare -- across the entire store. The fire apparently wasn't that bad -- but they cleared out the entire store.   My brother is a fire dispatcher in Charlotte and he said the fire was contained to the Craft department.  My father asked them if they were going to sell any of the damaged items and the manager told him no, that they had to throw everything in the store away and start over. ???  Are you kidding me?  Everything?  Thrown away?  What a waste.  Why can't they at least donate canned goods and clothing, diapers and other items that most likely weren't affected.   What about all of the DVD's?  How about iPods and videos games that were behind glass -- you mean to tell me they are just going to toss out XBox's?   I told my dad to go around back and start looking for loot ;)  He said they were hauling everything away on flatbed trailers.  American Corporate Waste at its finest.
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Offline JediJman

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« Reply #65 on: May 9, 2008, 12:20 PM »
I think you should blame the American court system for this, not Wal-Mart.  I'm sure WM would rather make a few dollars on this damaged merchandise or at least nab some positive publicity rather than take it at a complete loss.  Problem is, if WM sold/donated any of the damaged merchandise, they could be liable for any health risk/injury resulting from these damaged products. 

What if part of a package melted and cut someone or chemicals smoldered into a product that could potentially cause health issues if later released and breathed in?  Far better to toss everything and take the loss than risk a single civil suit that could cost them millions and/or additional bad press.

Speaking of bad press - this is another great example of how people are just out to get Wal-Mart.  No offense Tracy, but if they had a fire and sold the damaged goods at a reduced price, people would be complaining that they are too greedy and even if they donate it, they're potentially putting people at risk by handing out damaged stuff.  If they toss it, they are wasteful monsters for polluting the environment with product that may have nothing wrong with it. 

I'm sure the WM Haters will pipe in now with how WM did the wrong thing and they wouldn't have been viewed poorly for taking another action, but I think some peole are just out to bash them no matter what they do.
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Offline Jayson

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More Wal-Mart Bashing
« Reply #66 on: May 9, 2008, 12:22 PM »
Why can't they at least donate canned goods and clothing, diapers and other items that most likely weren't affected.


What if part of a package melted and cut someone or chemicals smoldered into a product that could potentially cause health issues if later released and breathed in?  Far better to toss everything and take the loss than risk a single civil suit that could cost them millions and/or additional bad press.

I think Tracy addressed this scenario. I think common sense would prevail here and if there was obvious damage done to goods, those would/should be disposed of.

« Last Edit: May 9, 2008, 12:26 PM by Jayson »
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Offline Keonobi

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« Reply #67 on: May 9, 2008, 12:54 PM »
I haven't bothered to look, but do big box stores like Wally have those automated sprinklers, like in an office building?  I'm thinking they do and it's probably the kind of thing where they all go off together.  Which means the whole store would get doused.  And that's going to have a negative impact on a lot of what Wally carries (clothes, electronics, paper goods, the liner notes on CDs and DVDs, etc.).
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Offline ruiner

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More Wal-Mart Bashing
« Reply #68 on: May 9, 2008, 01:16 PM »
Wal-mart is happy because everything is covered under their insurance.  But it is too bad they couldn't sell the salvaged goods 'as is.'

You can bet that there are a lot of people (especially today) that would love to get certain household necessities at 'firesale' prices.

Which leads me to my latest pet peeve:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/09/myanmar/index.html

People who won't accept help from folks trying to offer assistance.

Offline JediJman

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« Reply #69 on: May 9, 2008, 04:07 PM »
Why can't they at least donate canned goods and clothing, diapers and other items that most likely weren't affected.
I think Tracy addressed this scenario. I think common sense would prevail here and if there was obvious damage done to goods, those would/should be disposed of.



What constitutes unaffected product?  We don't really have a list of what was or was not tossed, so I'm not sure why we would assume that they would toss EVERYthing.  :-\
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Offline iFett

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« Reply #70 on: May 9, 2008, 04:14 PM »
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Offline Tracy

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« Reply #71 on: May 9, 2008, 05:39 PM »
Why can't they at least donate canned goods and clothing, diapers and other items that most likely weren't affected.
I think Tracy addressed this scenario. I think common sense would prevail here and if there was obvious damage done to goods, those would/should be disposed of.



What constitutes unaffected product?  We don't really have a list of what was or was not tossed, so I'm not sure why we would assume that they would toss EVERYthing.  :-\

My father asked them if they were going to sell any of the damaged items and the manager told him no, that they had to throw everything in the store away and start over.
« Last Edit: May 9, 2008, 05:40 PM by Tracy »
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Offline JediJman

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« Reply #72 on: May 10, 2008, 02:50 PM »
My father asked them if they were going to sell any of the damaged items and the manager told him no, that they had to throw everything in the store away and start over.

I'm guessing that either your dad or the manager he spoke to have a loose definition of "everything."  I find it pretty hard to believe that they had to toss every piece of merchandise in the store, but if they did, then maybe there was potential for safety issues and this was the best way to ensure public health?  Would you donate or sell an item if you were only 80-90% sure that it was safe?

Like I said before - it really doesn't matter what WM does.  The Wal-Mart haters in our midst will bash them regardless of what they do.  Here's another reason for you to "hate" Walmart and corporate America: 

Wal-Mart’s global contributions to charitable organizations totaled more than $470 million last year 

Obviously no one at Wal-Mart thinks about giving back to the community.  ::)

« Last Edit: May 12, 2008, 10:58 AM by Jeff »
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Offline Darth Kenobi

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« Reply #73 on: May 10, 2008, 05:52 PM »
My father asked them if they were going to sell any of the damaged items and the manager told him no, that they had to throw everything in the store away and start over.
I'm guessing that either your dad or the manager he spoke to have a loose definition of "everything."  I find it pretty hard to believe that they had to toss every piece of merchandise in the store, but if they did, then maybe there was potential for safety issues and this was the best way to ensure public health?  Would you donate or sell an item if you were only 80-90% sure that it was safe?

Like I said before - it really doesn't matter what WM does.  The Wal-Mart haters in our midst will bash them regardless of what they do.  Here's another reason for you to "hate" Walmart and corporate America: 

Wal-Mart’s global contributions to charitable organizations totaled more than $470 million last year 

Obviously no one at Wal-Mart thinks about giving back to the community.  ::)

I doubt they threw away all of the merchidise in the store. When I use to work at a grocery store the roof collapse in our bakery/service deli area (causing the fire sprinkler main pipe to break and flooding the store).  I ended up helping with the clean up and we didn't throw away anything away not directly affected by the water.  Most of the stuff that got thrown away were bakery food and ingerdients that got dirty water and leaves all over them.  We also had to remove all of the equipment from the bakery to get cleaned. 
I'm not sure the laws in your area but I doubt they threw away that stuff more then likely it just went back and eventually will ended up be sold at a "damage goods" store somewhere.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2008, 10:58 AM by Jeff »

Offline name

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« Reply #74 on: May 12, 2008, 10:28 AM »
Quote
  Here's another reason for you to "hate" Walmart and corporate America: 

Wal-Mart’s global contributions to charitable organizations totaled more than $470 million last year 

Obviously no one at Wal-Mart thinks about giving back to the community.  ::)



Did you actually read the first paragraph of that article?  Walmart gave $296 million. 

Walmart employees and customers raised or donated the balance of that $470 million.

According to their own website, FY07 earned Walmart an income of 20.5 billion.

How noble of them to give about 1.5% of their income to charitable causes.  We should all live like WalMart.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2008, 10:29 AM by name »
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