Wal-Mart - A Good Idea Or A Bad One?

[Isabel_Knight]

There is a book out called How Wal-Mart Is Destroying America: and What You Can Do About It (Bill Quinn).

So what do you think? Do you just :love the ease, cheapness, and convenience?

Or is Wal-Mart destroying culture and invidualism?

Isabel :pinkfishy

[Anonymous_Member006]

:supergrin :supergrin :supergrin
i :love walmart and publix and wots the other one????

I heard someone on Oprah say once she was lving cross country from her home state and family, and she'd go and stand in Walmart coz she so felt like she was back home when she was in there :supergrin

for me, Disney Stores/Starbucks are like that!!!!


as for the cultural point of view type thang..

i travelled round the :usa and believe me there are still bazillions of tiny ickle *hick* towns that haven't been invaded by rampant commercialism yet

God Bless :usa
God Bless :uk
God Bless New Zealand!!!
God Bless the :world

[QofC]

:cheesy
:cute What big teeth you have Mr. Walmart Smilie :winky

:ummm I'm not sure about this one. :ohboy
I live in a town where we have nothing besides Walmart, cows, and corn for ninety miles in any direction (gotta :love the Missouri/Iowa :usa border)
Before Walmart was here, there were many more mom and pop shops and family owned businesses but it was also difficult to find things.
I really appreciate Walmart and its convenience, but it has shut down so many family businesses.
So, I see it from both sides.
The same argument goes for Target, Kmart, and all other corporate businesses though...

[pageling]

Well, I'm not proud to say that I :love the ease of Wal-Mart and that you just have to make one trip for everything. BUT I do hate that it kills the smaller local businesses and I'm now trying to support them around my area more than I have been.

:love
paige

[Little Fishy]

I :love Walmart. They have a great selection and they have cheap prices. If I need something, chances are Walmart has it AND cheaper.

Give me a Walmart any day!

Little Fishy
:notes :singing

[Chimera]

I love WalMart. Right now all we have is Kroger for groceries, and they really gouge you when you shop there. It makes me mad, but there really isn't anywhere else to shop for food. I think that many of the smaller chains have terrible markup for sub-standard stock, and as a consumer, that frustrates me. I really do think that stores like Walmart and Meijer and the other Supercenters have better selection, better quality, and more competitive pricing. In every town that I have lived in that had a Walmart, the downtowns were dead long before Walmart came in.

I enjoy shopping at many of the local businesses for gifts and things for myself that I can't and won't buy at Walmart. Our town has quite a few lovely gift and uniquely themed shops that aren't bothered by the Walmart down the street. When I'm looking for something special, there's no substitute for a charming little shop with an owner who will show you all of their handmade treasures. I am glad that I have both a Walmart and lots of local businesses in my little town. :happy

[Shauna]

WalMart rocks!

:bullet You can do all of your shopping under one roof. Heck, at one of our WalMarts, you can even get your hair cut and grocery shop.

:bullet It's cheaper at WalMart than most other stores. Why would I go to Coles and spend ten bucks on a book that I can probably find at WalMart for eight?

Of course, there are some negative things about WalMart. Mainly that after our WalMart opened, Zellers remodeled their store. Then Zellers bought all of the K-Mart stores (or something like that) and since our Zellers was just remodeled, they closed K-Mart.

I still miss K-Mart.

Another "bad" thing that I dislike about WalMart, they don't have any type of rewards program. I mean, Zellers has the Club Z points (or did), and so on and so forth, but nothing at WalMart.

Also, both of our WalMarts no longer have cafeterias. No, they have McDonalds. :ugh

Overall, I'd take WalMart over almost any store.

[infinitepiphany]

i live in a small east texas town. round here, it seems we are KNOWN for walmart. we still have a plethora of mom and pop stores. many downtown, and on the two major thouroughfares. in fact, i worked at one. customers would come in and be like - hey, did you know you can get this book/cd/bible at walmart/hastings (books, music, video) for x% less? and we'd say yes. it didn't matter. people came to us because we have short lines, good service, and because we will order you anything we can if we can get it through our distributer! i dont think walmart closed anything down, except a possibly legend target.

and...walmart is the ONLY thing open here at **** am...even the clubs and bars close at **** (or so i hear...)

michelle

[SingingAngel]

I :love WALMART :muhaha

Since I was rasied by a single mom-- Walmart was a cheap place to get clothes shoes and sometimes food. We are from
Vancouver :canada but now living in Washington :usa. I don't think that its a bad thing I like to go there its cheap... I bought alot my bedroom and bathroom shit there :muhaha

I am proud to say!!

I :love WALMART :muhaha

[thinking]

:love Isabel and others,

I beg to differ... after reading 'No Logo' by Naomi Klein ( who made references to the book you mentioned).

I encourage you all to read it - it was a painful but necessary eye-opener.

keep thinking!!!

:love,
Sara

[SavingSelf]

I've been reluctant to post, but my politically active voice has finally decided to speak.

As one who does patronize Wal Mart I can't say that I'm completely opposed to it, but I do think it's destroying much of our cultural identity.

The way I look at it is that while Main Street started to die long ago, what continues to happen is those people that could make a good living running the mom and pops are working for Wal Mart now for a fraction of what they expected to earn because they aren't qualified to do anything else. Wal Mart crowds out and destroys the "American Dream", just likes all the other corporate monsters -- even corporate farms now are crowding out the farmer. All while the rest of us run up our credit card bills to keep shopping at Wal Mart.

Just my opinion, and I'm as guilty as anybody for patronizing Wal Mart too. Karley

[lilsweetie]

walmart is the SHIT!
I get all my cosmetics there b/c they're cheap.
Also, it's a neat little place to go and look for junk for your room, etc.

Its nice how they hire older people who would be otherwise sitting at home.
it's so nice to see a company that does that.

[Anonymous_Member009]

i rarely go into Wal-mart. It is so big and the parking lot is always an absolute zoo. (maybe its just ours here). Prices are great for what they have, but i don't think that Walmart can replace the ma'n'pa stores. A specialty store carries so much more. The only thing Wal-mart has for me are basics.

i used to work for a company called Mangelson's which was a wholesale art and craft distributor that supplied ma'n'pa stores and larger chain stores. A lot of them would cringe when Walmart's would open in their towns, but i think eventually people found out that nothing replaces them. The product knowledge of the staff in these small stores far outweighs asking a Wal-mart shelf stocker what they know about an item.

/btw - my mother in law works for Wal-mart as a cashier. For the most part, they treat her very well in providing benefits, flexibleness, an income, incentives.....and a place where she can be social with people of all ages instead of sitting in her home being lonely. that's something really valuable!

[pageling]

:hugon jeanette :hugoff

Thanks for sharing that about your mother in law. That is something positive about W-M and I appreciate it.

:love
paige

[cremina]

Hi fishies :bowl
I do not shop at walmart for many reasons....my most current and valid reason is because in a child welfare class we watched a video on major industrail corporations in the US and how they are able to provide such cheap products....does anyone know....well they can do so through engaging in Child Labor...The video we watched show children in thrid world countries workingin poor condtions for less than **** cents a day. The people in the video were clearly children and clearly were working in poor conditoins producing merchandise to support walmarts made in Amererica slogan....When the investigators interviewd walmart (cause every story has two sides right) the CEO claimed that the people shown in the video were not children they were just small unhealthy looking adults!!!!! Do they really think that the american society is that ignorant!!!!! So as far as Walmart goes my belief is JUST SAY NO!
:love cremina

[Anonymous_Member004]

i shop at walmart because they are cheapest but i detest that place. it is loud, crowded,and the parking lot is a nightmare. and currently, i have to use their motorized chair (torn foot tendon) and they gave me one once that had a dead battery and it stranded me in the middle of the isle and nobody would help me. i wanted to crawl under a shelf. i really dislike that noisy place,,,,but i do shop there for the prices. where i live, it wasn't walmart that closed the downtown shopping area, it was the awful mall,,,even worse nightmare place! did i mention i fear public places,,,,

[Broni]

Walmart Rocks!!!!!!!!! I am not from the US, am from England, but worked at a summer camp in NY state for the past two years. Walmart was our place of relaxation and fun, trolley races round the isles gave us many hours of fun. All of the councellors used to get so excited when we had a Walmart trip, it was the highlight of the summer!!!!!!!! Moref or the games we played than the shopping!!!!!!!!!!! I have gteat memories of that place!!!!!!

Love Broni xxxxxxxxx

[kb]

I haven't read the book Isabel mentioned that has provoked this discussion. However, a part of me sees Walmart (and other stores similar in type) as very much part of the american consumer tradition - the desire for more 'things'.
I do admit to being guilty to shopping at such stores (mainly target) on occasion, but i personally find them very overwhelming.
As for their hiring practices, it's nice to hear some people offer positive stories. Currently, Walmart IS being sued for not paying its employees over-time and for doing things such as locking their employees IN the store to work for an hour after closing and in general, acting as 'big brother' over every little movement when they are 'on the clock'.
I agree that these stores exploit not only their workers but probably people in other parts of the world. I can't throw stones, however, b/c i do make certain purchases on occasion, so i support these stores.

[shockresist]

i have friends that werk there and hate it, but hey theyre teenagers so what can ya do? my bf sometimes werks in the walmart mcdonalds so i get to visit him when i shop which is a bonus, plus i can get ice cream there! i :love it cuz they have cheap yet cool clothes, i got wicked capris. they have great socks, cheap movies, and hair stuff as well as make up. prices are always great too and its the cheapest place to buy hair dye. now they even have a health food section! AND... wal-mart does not sell diet pills! hooray good step for wal-mart. well the one here doesnt anyways
:love whit

[ShootingSTARS]

WALMART hits the :uk UK

WalMart took over a large supermarket chain in the UK called ASDA. The old stores are still called ASDA.

BUT

Just last week, I was walking around the brand new "ASDA-WALMART" store. HUGE it is! It's in Manchester ( it's a city for you Americans :winky) opposite the brand new Stadium they are using to host the Common Wealth Games two thousand and two!

I went in the other day after a training session and it is massive.... it's in a very diverse part of the city and has sections for so many cultures -- Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Italian etc.... like huge aisles selling everything various cultures need!

I saw aisles selling food, furniture, lighting, ceramics, flowers and horticultural, clothes and a hundred and one other things under the sun.

I might be mistaken but I think the ASDA-WALMART is the first of its kind to hit the UK market!

:love Jo x

[seniorpride]

As a "poor college student" :winky, I have to say I :love Wal-Mart for its low prices and great selection - at least the Super Wal-Mart! I can usually find what I'm looking for there, unless it's clothing. But for groceries, school stuff, makeup, necessities, etc., it's an awesome place! (Plus it's open twenty-four/seven, so we can go at two a.m. if we feel like it! LOL :yay)

I do think, however, that it is sort of destroying our cultural identity... closing out the family-owned stores and all... which is sad. :sad I wish there were a way to balance the two.

[lexy*]

First of all, I must admit that I occassionally shop at Wal Mart when I am at school, because I go to school in the "middle of nowhere", USA, so few subsitututes exists for purchasing cheap groceries, toiletries, and school supplies.

However, I strongly disagree with Wal Mart and other mega stores. The main benefit of Wal Mart for consumers is the low prices. Ironically, cheapness comes at a high price--the exploitation of workers, both store employees and overseas.

My friend worked at Wal Mart, and he told me that their business practices are very questionable. Coercing people into working late by puting fellow co-workers in impossibly difficult positions. Therefore, people feel compelled to help out their team member. Wal Mart would also assign people part time hours but then pressure them into taking extra hours, though of course, anyone who reached beyond forty would be fired, because Wal Mart couldn't spare a dime to pay overtime. They would also strongly encourage people who were paid just seven dollars to work off the clock. Seven dollars may be a relatiely decent wage, but in my mind, no one receiving seven dollars should be working off the clock.

Overseas, Wal Mart has a less than admirable record, though supposedly they have improved their labor practices. To a large degree, anything that is manufactured overseas is likely to have involved abysmal labor conditions. After all, the US has labor laws, such as minimum wage, to protect workers. Many products are manufactured overseas simply because it is cheaper because those same laws do not exist. Therefore, the product can be produced at a lower cost, though the hidden cost is clearly, the exploitation of the desperately poor third world labor force. Honestly, I would gladly pay a few extra dollars for my running shoes if the actual laborers would receive the benefit of this price increase, though most likely, if prices increase, pr increases, not wages.

For those reasons as well as others, I do not support Wal Mart. As soon as I graduate, I do not plan to shop at Wal Mart as long as a reasonable substitute exists. (Though few substitutes exist because wal mart has driven many businesses straight into bankruptcy, because they can easily underprice most local stores.) I implore you all to exercise your purchase power and demonstrate that we as consumers do no support the exploitation of labor.

Alexis

[thinking]

:sun well said, lexy! By the way - did you read 'No Logo' by Naomi Klein?

:greenfish Sara

[lexy*]

:hugonThinking:hugoff

I haven't read that book, and I really haven't studied much on the subject. However, last year, I did a project for an environmental studies class on the life cylce of one of my prized possessions (my running shoes), and I learned a lot about the step by step birth and death of Nike running shoes.

Alexis

[Chele]

I HATE WALMART!!!

I refuse to shop there, EVER. Same with K-Mart. Same with Michael's and Craftmart. They are extremely overwhelming places to me. The merchandise is so cramped and it's impossible to find things. The places just seem messy and crowded to me. Even though I am the biggest penny-pincher around (just ask my husband--he calls me a tightwad), I would much rather spend a few extra bucks than have to navigate one of these mega-stores.