Damn, ClearChannel scrap. Have anything about Wal-Mart? I hear they suck. Not that any company is after profit or anything. Just a question.

Walmart sucks

Es ist sehr lustig, haben wir ein Walmart. Ich gehe zum Walmart nicht, weil es gibt viel viel besser platze. Viellicht, ich soll zu Walmart gehen, so ich eine Europa Walmart koennen sehe. Ich hoere auch Air America ueber dem internet.
Viel Spass!

Wow. There's a lot of wal-mart sucks sites. interesting.

I just read that Air America is coming to Columbus as well. 1230 AM. I'm a little intrigued. I'm sure I'll listen a little bit. I spend a ton of time in my car.

JT- I wouldn't waste your time with Air America. Rush Limbaugh (who is clearly a fierce partisan) is fair and balanced compared to them. Further, it's more vitriol based than fact-based. The core principle is Bush sucks, and everything else is based on that.

Far as Wal-mart goes...liberals hate it because it represents everything that CAN be good about corporate and retail America. Low prices, friendly service, decent employer (especially for people in transition). I love the little towns that have anti-Walmart campaigns and put the signs in their yards. Then you look around the town and see nothing and you're like 'what the hell' The might as well be like 'We don't want any jobs here in OUR town, stay out'! LOL. That's the best I can do to explain the unexplainable.

Hahah "supposedly conservative Fox News" and "fiercely partisan Rush Limbaugh".

And Wal-Mart... I guess there's no need to even go there after that.

Hanzel, I don't know exactly what you're saying but I guess something along "Walmart sucks, Air America good!"

Dude, du bist sehr lustig. Denkst du, dass ohne Walmart eins kleines Dorf keine Arbeiten haben koennen? Eine grosse Stadt koennen ohne Walmart viel viel Arbeiten haben! Wenn du versteht nicht was ich haben gesagt, deiner vollidiot Arnold fragen!

"Dude, you are very merry. Do you think that without Walmart no can have work in a
small village? A large city can without Walmart much working
have much! If you does not understand which I have said, your complete
idiot Arnold to ask."

Relax Hugh.

Someone (whom I consider intelligent and liberal) told me that there was a study that showed that Wal-Mart actually decreased the inflation rate by a non-negligible about (I wanna say 3% over the past 20 years?).

I think Wal-Mart is kind of an example of what free international trade will give us. Cheaper goods manufactured abroad but at the expense of lower paying American jobs.

Maybe someday everyone in the world everyone will be working for Wal-Mart, but hey, at least no one would be starving.

Too bad there's no way to fix your comments ;)

I can fix comments. Muaaaaaahahahahahaha! With the power I wield I can change the face of... this site.

If you're going to address me directly using my "handle", do it in fucking English, the language we obviously all speak.

I was talking about communities that are struggling blindly opposing Wal-Mart, and never said anything about small communitites not being able to creat jobs without a Wal-Mart. So again, if you're going to put words in my mouth, do it in fucking English. Thanks for the translation, JT.

Have a great day. :o)

babelfish.altavista.com

If you have enough money to not shop at Walmart it is much easier to point the finger and say, "hey these guys muscle people out with their low prices. how unfair!" But the millions of people who are buying diapers, books, etc for 15% less than they would anywhere else are not complaining. They are saving some money and using it do things like feed their kids.

You don't have to be rich to have very legitimate issues with Walmart. No doubt they have the monopsony power to extract concessions from suppliers and that they in turn offer low prices on special items, e.g. a gallon jar of Vlasic dill pickles for under $3... which gets thrown out before half eaten. Like any store, they use specials to get customers to come in and then do all the rest of their shopping. Therefore, the smart shopper would buy at Walmart the things that are cheaper at Walmart but then go elsewhere to do comparison shopping. But what happens when there is nowhere to compare against? Small communities aren't blindly struggling against Walmarts. They realize what damage it causes to their communities... the locally-owned businesses that have to shut down, not only reducing or removing competition in some markets, but removing the nicer jobs, and instead of keeping store profits close to the community for more likely reinvestment within the community, those profits are shipped off to Walmart corporate headquarters.. only to leave a complete void when the big box closes and reopens in another town which has been muscled into offering some greater tax incentives and looser zoning...

Sure, Walmart brings some benefits but there are also many hidden costs... wait why are we talking about Walmart?!

I don't get the whole "drives mom & pop stores out of business" argument. Typically, the types of goods sold at Wal-mart are not the things that most mom & pop stores would rely on for coire business. Furthermore, the things that Wal-mart tries to produce that do compete (hardware-machinery, textiles etc.) are cheaper because they are lower quality. Therefore the consumer has a choice to make. Conventional wisdom would say most consumers would turn back to the slightly more expensive, higher quality product, even if they have to get burned once to do it. That leaves Wal-mart providing food and certain types of clothing and shoes at lower prices...things that people NEED. Plus, when times are harder, the mom and pop businesses are going to be struggling anyway, whether Wal-Mart is there or not. Might as well give people a cheaper alternative.

"I love the little towns that have anti-Walmart campaigns and put the signs in their yards. Then you look around the town and see nothing and you're like 'what the hell' The might as well be like 'We don't want any jobs here in OUR town, stay out'! LOL."

"never said anything about small communitites not being able to creat jobs without a Wal-Mart."
------------------------------------------------

Hmm, vielliecht du soll erste Englisch lernin!

Schoenes Tag! ;)

I think I've already clarified those statements already...thanks for helping to emphasize my point.

I'm not responding to your German bullshit anymore, especially since your reading comprehension in English appears to be seriously flawed.

Yes, you're pissing me off. If that makes me the asshole, so be it.

Of course...I'm in a pissy mood today anyway, so that doesn't help. Is this guy Microman?

It's gotta be. :) what up mm!

I think we are far from the point where there is nowhere to compare against, and honestly, I don't think we will ever get to that point because all the power is in the consumer's hands.

Walmart is powerful because we make it powerful. If Walmart was so damaging and the issues against Walmart were that severe, then people would stop going and Walmart would suffer until they change how they do business or go out of business themselves. Maybe we are starting to see the seeds of this now. That is how capitalism works itself out. You can't bite the hand that feeds you, plain and simple.

Ryan, if by we, you mean you and I, then yes.. we live within close proximity to a large enough market that even if flooded by Walmarts there is still enough room for others to find a niche within which to survive. This is less the case in the small towns out in the middle of nowhere, which are more vulnerable to invasive business, where there is only room for either the existing collection of stores or one giant Walmart but not both.

And people don't always make the best or smartest decision, especially when they aren't aware of information that isn't obvious. That's what marketing is all about. Walmart can be very damaging to a community and the problems with its business practices severe and they can still bring in enough business to continue operating because people generally don't make themselves aware unless some grassroots action makes them aware. And sometimes the way capitalism works itself out in a small community is that after Walmart sucks all the money out of it and leaves, that community no longer exists. This hand isn't necessarily feeding.

So what do you propose as a solution? Certainly I agree with every citizens right to organize and educate others about their concerns, a grassroots solution as you put it. Like I said, that is capitalism working itself out. When you make your customers unhappy, you are going to lose them.

I do not however agree with the government getting it's hands into matters like this, except in the cases of monopoly busting.

If a small town does not want Walmart to come to their community, they can keep it from happening. There are plenty of communities all around the nation that have laws against things like fast food restaurants opening up in their town.

This is like when a car hits a patch of ice on the road. Tomo was going in one direction and I come in and hit the icy Wal-Mart patch. People then proceed to drive their cars right into the pile up. Sorry. My brakes are bad ;)

Haha. Here come the nonsensical late night posts again. ; )

As we came to agreement in secret channels, neither of us wants heavy-handed federal government one-size-fits-all laws against big boxes. I also said that I think small communities have a right to decide what is allowed to go on inside their communities as long as it doesn't infringe upon the human rights of anyone, and that since Walmart isn't a person, that won't happen. Just like you said there are some communities that block fast food chains from opening up in certain areas, other communities have certain laws that limit the size of stores, which prohibits the huge big box stores like Walmart from overbearing. But I think I also mentioned that sometimes the Walmart corporate heads make backroom deals with local politicians to bend the laws that the community had previously agreed on in order to allow in a Walmart... maybe that city council thinks it's doing what it thinks is best for the community (in secret)... but it's probably being hoodwinked.

Here's one thing I would suggest, though, that needs no government involvement: communities should come together to preempt Walmarts with their own cooperatively owned and operated big box-style store. The store can operate not only with the bottom line of profit to send to corporate shareholders but to make decisions that benefit the longer term community. And profits that are made don't have to leave the community. to leave the community.

btw jt.. hahaha..

Nothing to see here.. move along..

Dude:
I am immersed in learning the German language now, and only speak English or type it with parents/close friends (with few exceptions like this) or to say an English word I want to know how to say in German. I'm not being cocky, just learning. No personal offense intended, just asking questions and stirring the pot like before I left!

Jetzt, zuruek zu meine Deutsch!
Shoenes Tag:)

Yeah, sorry Tomo. I didn't intend to hijack your post. I'll try to stay on topic. :)

Did anyone get my ice patch metaphor? I thought I was being coherent that time.

sigh

schneiden Sie den Kopf von walmart ab