nootka
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I have not shopped in a Wal-Mart in well over a year, and even when I have in the past, my stays were very limited, and very specific. I don't like the overall feeling in the local ones.
I know they are catering to a demographic of people that like to get great volumes of things at low cost.
They are running long-standing American companies out of being able to stay in business, and forcing them to move overseas or advising them to do so.For example:
"Ruining Rubbermaid. In 1994, Rubbermaid won accolades as the most admired company in the United States -- but five years later, its fortunes fell so hard that the company sold itself to a competitor. When the price of a key component of its products went up, Rubbermaid asked Wal-Mart for a modest price increase -- but Wal-Mart said no, and stopped sales of Rubbermaid products. At a Rubbermaid factory in Wooster, Ohio, that meant the loss of 1,000 jobs. [PBS Frontline, 11/23/04]
Advises Supplier: 'Open a Factory in China.' To land a supply contract with Wal-Mart, the Lakewood Engineering and Manufacturing Company -- a Chicago fan manufacturer -- had to locate manufacturing operations in Shenzhen, China. Workers there make $.25 an hour -- while the company's Chicago workforce earned an average hourly $13. [Los Angeles Times, 11/23/03]
Advises Mr. Coffee to Move Overseas. Mr. Coffee -- which won awards for moving manufacturing operations back to the United States -- faced pressure to shift production to China even at the height of Wal-Mart's 'Buy American' program. After Wal-Mart demanded a $1 reduction in the wholesale price of a brisk-selling four-cup coffeemaker in 1985, Mr. Coffee executives scouted for factory sites in China -- and executives say Wal-Mart encouraged offshore production even as it promoted its 'Made in the USA' campaign." [The Commercial Appeal, 6/8/01; Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/14/04]
Forces Huffy Bikes to Brake US Production. Despite decades of making bicycles in the United States, Huffy was forced by Wal-Mart price pressures to close three factories and lay off thousands of workers. The mayor of Celina, Ohio -- where Huffy closed a large factory -- said Wal-Mart's "demand for cheaper bicycles drove Huffy out of Celina." [Mansfield News Journal, 12/8/03]
Minimal Social "
They are China's 8th largest trading partner. China is no friend to the United States, and you can imagine what the money spent at Wal-Mart most likely is funding (our own doom).
The food that they sell from China is likely to be contaminated (google stories of China food poisonings to hear, or perhaps you remember the pet food poisonings), as there is no way to regulate their environmental or food handling procedures. They are putting American farmers out of business even further when they buy cheap produce from overseas.
Wal-Mart is nothing like the company that their founder envisioned, from what I can see from here.
I really hope we never get a Wal-Mart in this county.
It's a vicious cycle, and I don't see those minimum wage no benefit jobs helping this region recover from our unemployment problems.
There's a good website with lots of great reading on it, for those that aren't sure:
Walmart Watch
Personally, I will do my best to not spend another dollar at a Wal-Mart.
Other companies are offering lower prescription rates, but if it were down to that, I would use only that service, as I think the drug companies are gouging people, too.
Just say no to Wal-Mart!
Thanks for listening (though I'm curious why other people would choose to frequent this awful place).
Liz
I know they are catering to a demographic of people that like to get great volumes of things at low cost.
They are running long-standing American companies out of being able to stay in business, and forcing them to move overseas or advising them to do so.For example:
"Ruining Rubbermaid. In 1994, Rubbermaid won accolades as the most admired company in the United States -- but five years later, its fortunes fell so hard that the company sold itself to a competitor. When the price of a key component of its products went up, Rubbermaid asked Wal-Mart for a modest price increase -- but Wal-Mart said no, and stopped sales of Rubbermaid products. At a Rubbermaid factory in Wooster, Ohio, that meant the loss of 1,000 jobs. [PBS Frontline, 11/23/04]
Advises Supplier: 'Open a Factory in China.' To land a supply contract with Wal-Mart, the Lakewood Engineering and Manufacturing Company -- a Chicago fan manufacturer -- had to locate manufacturing operations in Shenzhen, China. Workers there make $.25 an hour -- while the company's Chicago workforce earned an average hourly $13. [Los Angeles Times, 11/23/03]
Advises Mr. Coffee to Move Overseas. Mr. Coffee -- which won awards for moving manufacturing operations back to the United States -- faced pressure to shift production to China even at the height of Wal-Mart's 'Buy American' program. After Wal-Mart demanded a $1 reduction in the wholesale price of a brisk-selling four-cup coffeemaker in 1985, Mr. Coffee executives scouted for factory sites in China -- and executives say Wal-Mart encouraged offshore production even as it promoted its 'Made in the USA' campaign." [The Commercial Appeal, 6/8/01; Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/14/04]
Forces Huffy Bikes to Brake US Production. Despite decades of making bicycles in the United States, Huffy was forced by Wal-Mart price pressures to close three factories and lay off thousands of workers. The mayor of Celina, Ohio -- where Huffy closed a large factory -- said Wal-Mart's "demand for cheaper bicycles drove Huffy out of Celina." [Mansfield News Journal, 12/8/03]
Minimal Social "
They are China's 8th largest trading partner. China is no friend to the United States, and you can imagine what the money spent at Wal-Mart most likely is funding (our own doom).
The food that they sell from China is likely to be contaminated (google stories of China food poisonings to hear, or perhaps you remember the pet food poisonings), as there is no way to regulate their environmental or food handling procedures. They are putting American farmers out of business even further when they buy cheap produce from overseas.
Wal-Mart is nothing like the company that their founder envisioned, from what I can see from here.
I really hope we never get a Wal-Mart in this county.
It's a vicious cycle, and I don't see those minimum wage no benefit jobs helping this region recover from our unemployment problems.
There's a good website with lots of great reading on it, for those that aren't sure:
Walmart Watch
Personally, I will do my best to not spend another dollar at a Wal-Mart.
Other companies are offering lower prescription rates, but if it were down to that, I would use only that service, as I think the drug companies are gouging people, too.
Just say no to Wal-Mart!
Thanks for listening (though I'm curious why other people would choose to frequent this awful place).
Liz