What has Walmart actually done to our economy?

Actually the opposite is true there too.

 

hopefully your small town is an exception, I wish your towns folk the best of luck

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I'm really irritated because I have been to Wal-Mart to find some sort of screw or dremmel, or particular drill bit that my husband has tasked me to find and.....they have nothing. People friggen hate Wal-Mart so much they lie through their teeth And state wslmart is putting hardware stores out of business. Liars. They deserve the name.

 

It's entirely the affluent and the merchants in the town who don't want the WalMart. I get sick of rich (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) jerks who want to make me drive 40-60 miles in order to buy something I can afford. If Mom and Pop want to stay in business they should run it more efficiently and charge lower prices, not go screaming for government help while meanwhile running down "moochers" who are sick or laid off. (*)(*)(*)(*) these (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)s, none of them ever cut me or anyone else a break, they shouldn't get any at my expense.

I tell you the difference between a MP hardware store and WalMart. True story, big time snowstorm. MP raised the price on salt and ran out anyway. WalMart ran a sale and brought in tons more

 

Well, the eeeevil Wal Mart wrecking machine came here 20 years ago and so far has failed in its goal of destroying our community.

 

When all of walmart's things are made in China, and they barely pay enough for a single person to survive on, let alone a family, yes. Companies like walmart are the reason the economy is in the shape it's in.

 

Whole shopping districts develop around WalMart stores. Local businesses and national chains clamor to open retail stores when WalMart announces the opening of a location.

 

No hourly employee at the majority of businesses in the United States are expected to be able to support a family.

Hell, recruits in the U.S. military often have to have public assistance if they happen to have to support a family.

The era where you could get a 40,000 dollar a year job right out of high school at an auto plant, steel mill, or textile mile ended nearly 50 years ago.

 

Exactly. Some people haven't evolved with the times.

 

Another valid poit! I think some of the negative posters are past owners who have sour grapes. Walmart sales sour grapes for cheap.

 

Unions killed manufacturing in the US.

 

The deflated wages is coming from importing millions of new workers as the number of jobs decreases. It's economics 101. The supply of labor goes up as the supply of jobs goes down, the amount of money folks are willing to work for goes DOWN.

Wal-Mart stock investors depend on the profits for retirement funds, that includes private and Union retirement trust funds. Ask the retired union workers who's retirement trusts invested in Wal-Mart stock if they mind a cut in their monthly check so Wal-Mart workers can get a raise? Will you?

 

With an extra $10,000 a year, they could invest in their own retirement funds and those wouldn't be subject to seizure if the company one day decides to vote on stealing every pension like Kodak did.

 

You seriously think most workers with an extra 10,000 are going to be putting it back for retirement?

 

And that's part of the problem. These people would spend it all each year then (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) and moan that the company didn't take care of them after they retired, even though they gave them the chance.

 

What about the Union Pension trusts will they be willing to take less per month because their funds contract due to the reduced stock dividends. Myself I'd like to see all employee pensions public and private converted to 401(k)'s. Would you be willing to take less per month because your union pension trust fund invested in a company that decided to breach their fiduciary legal duty and give the money to employees instead of the stockholders. Please tell us all how much less per month you will be willing to take?

 

Manufacturing of what? Corn flakes?

 

How do you propose MP stores run their business more efficiently? One of the reasons that their prices are as high as they are is because they have to charge that to be profitable. They do not have the economy of scale that Walmart enjoys. Walmart is so large, they can dictate the price they will pay to manufacturers of the goods they sell. Walmart also has a very large and sophisticated supply chain which gives a huge advantage over MP stores.

That and the globalization of the market opening the availability of workers who are extremely happy to work for a few bucks per day.

 

In general,the model of big box stores is good for Wall St and the wealthy, and bad for the average American.

The basic big box model is to purchase items in bulk overseas and sell them into the American market at a discount.
This provides the benefit of offering imported goods to Americans at lower prices, but it comes at a very costly hidden cost.
First it facilitates the closing of American factories and the off-shoring of high wage manufacturing jobs. Second it devastates the ability of the common man to become a small retailer which used to be a very practical way for average Americans to achieve upward mobility.

In the not too distant past, the retail spaces of most towns were populated with mom and pop retailers such as shoe stores, sporting goods, furniture, appliances, clothing, jewelry, drug stores, and several others. This provided a path for people to earn better money than wages and provided the additional benefit of creating a segment of local people who had a stake in the well being of the town. These people were usually active in local government and involved in community improvements.

Today that has mostly been replaced by low wage jobs in big box stores and large profits for the wealthy. As with all things, some people benefit, and some loose.
The inequality we see today in wages and wealth is a direct result of the changes we have made in our economy. Big box stores and globalization has been good for some, and bad for others. The question you need to ask, is has it been better for the country at large.

 

Steel, Autos and countless more.

 

Almost no one long term. Certainly nothing like a million. If you run the local butcher shop cater to hunters who need their kills butchered Wall mart doesn't do that. If you are into modeling cater to the RC crowd and walmart, which offers only the introductory stuff at best, becomes your best friend. If you want to start a business in a small town find the niche markets that Walmart doesn't serve and assuming basic competence on your part you'll do just fine.

 

Autos that stopped being manufactured were hard to compete with european and asian ones. Steel? Do you need much steel? It's cheaper to make it abroad and import it than to make it here. Lump it, you live in post-industrial society.

 

eggg-zactly.


the vocal minority can say "noone wants a WM in town", yet their success proves otherwise.

 

We have a local hardware store that's located 3 miles from a Wal-Mart. They have no problem competing, because they aren't going head to head. They specialize in customer service and in, for example, precision paint matching and having specialty items that Wal-Mart simply doesn't stock (and things like lumber). I had relatives that lived in small towns. Wal-Mart actually gives them a chance to buy something at reasonable prices. The local sharks were just fleecing them at high prices with even lower quality than Wal-Mart.

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Wal-Mart generally comes first......

 

I am, and he's right. Stores can live in the shadow of Wal-Mart if they aren't competing head to head. In fact, businesses usually end up locating close to Wal-Mart so that they can benefit from the rural customers that Wal-mart attracts from miles around. It's the local shark businesses that have been ripping people off that die. The local businesses that treated customers right can adjust to Wal-Mart.