R.S.LOGAN

From small beginings come great things ?

Walmart: Time lapse map shows how firm conquered the U.S. over the course of 50 years | Mail Online

jwko

It should read Time lapse map shows how Walmart ran the little guy out over the course of 50 years.

If you ever get a chance, watch the documentary "WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price"

CatSkinner

Even though I don't like what Walmart has become (a pipeline to Chinese products) a lot of good came out of it. I remember growing up that, if you worked oddball shifts, you went without sleep to get to the store or you drove for an hour to go grocery shopping where they'd be open to the late hour of 8:00PM. Customer service improved as well, even though customer service in Walmart these days is lackluster at best. That's also the best defense in a small shop, good customer service. Our retail industry has always been slow at changing and I hear the same gripes we heard in the auto industry in the 70's, how the Japanese had an unfair advantage. The auto industry adapted and survived, as will the small shops. Walmart cannot cater to the locals, otherwise I'd still be able to get rock salt in early April rather than seeing fertilizer and grass seed where the rock salt used to be. Upstate NY has been known to get snow in May.
Big box stores can't afford the customer service that the smaller stores can and, honestly, I tend to go to the smaller stores that are more specialized to my needs. The problem is not that Walmrt is killing the small stores, it's that people would rather by a cheap piece of junk and have it die in about a year rather than spend a few more bucks and have it last 5-10 years.

jwko

Watch "WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price". It might be available on Netflix streaming if you have that. I goes way beyond the little guy. I'm talking about the manufacturers who without Wal-Mart would go under. Wal-Mart taking advantage of these manufactures forcing them to sell their products at little or no profit so Wal-Mart can brag about their price rollbacks and everyday low prices. Manufactures being forced to go over seas or Mexico for the cheap labor to meet Wal-Marts wholesale pricing demands. And in the end, if they don't obey Wal-Mart, they'll pull the plug and let them go under and market those products themselves under their very own Great Value brands. Why? Because Wal-Mart is the nations largest retailer.