say that Wal-mart is cheaper than Publix. And Publix is cleaner, neater, and the food quality and choice is much better.

to get people in the door, especially their "Sam's Choice" line of products. Beyond= that their prices are often equal to or higher than comparable items most everywhere else.
Some item such as a microwave or TV they may have a low end product that no one else will handle because of the poor quality, but again watch prices on everything else.

That's assuming they have what you're looking for in the first place

Unless you're into buying empty shelves...

Last edited Tue Mar 25, 2014, 03:40 PM - Edit history (1)

is almost directly dependent upon taxpayer funding - through government subsidies helping its employees and its customers. So the Waltons are net tax takers - they take tax monies from almost every direction - and pay little back.

Based on superficial observation, the business model used by Walmart enriches corporate owners and officers while keeping front line employees and customers near poverty. This perpetuates a cycle that ensures a customer base and a source of labor.

...that could only be redeemed at Walmart. A bit illegal right now, I think, but a few well-targeted campaign contributions could fix that.

"...St. Peter don't you call me 'cause I cain't goooooo..."

Kick, kick, kick.

Benghazi!!!

importation of slave-wage made goods, crushing US industries and unions in the process.

Karma.

struggling financially.

They are also extremely unhealthy with a large portion of them suffering from obesity.

Giant jugs of high fructose corn syrup, processed food with little nutritional content, alcohol and tobacco.

Get yourself big mac and fries on the way out the door.

Wal-mart is slowly killing off it's customer base, with their super sizes and super junk "food".

what do we have to do? Start burning them out of communities where they've locked in their leech-teeth?

And they know it.

"Kill us and there go all those jobs!"

They're like the Frankenstein that's gotten completely out of control and the only way to deal with it is to SHOOT IT (which leads back to what I said before....)

from burning a Walmart (or a few dozen) to the ground as I would about the carbon footprint from all of that burning plastic and the sentence that I'm sure would come with such action.

I guess it's my hope that long term the jobs would return or be compensated for in the community some way, I can't see any recovery with the big box lifeSUCK in the middle of town.

Last month, I was in the market for a new computer desk. After having exhausted all better options, I ended up going ot not one but TWO Wal Marts - one in Tacoma, the other insome tacoma spin-off i can't remember.

I think i counted eight employees between the two of them. I spent twenty minutes looking for a "partner" in housewares in Tacoma, and that poor guy was covering housewares, electronics, and sports goods, and there was a damned list of people waiting for him. I thanked him for the time he took out of that to inform me of the situation, and opted to not burden the poor guy further - I ended up finding what i was looking for at Office Depot, instead. And the one office depot had as many people working the floor as both wal-marts combined.

Wal-Marts don't "create jobs," they exploit and vampirize communities and a small handful of workers.

...in Yakima Washington on Christmas eve. By the time we left, we had come to the conclusion that if there ever was a Zombie Apocalypse, the nations Walmart's would be ground zero. The only people more ghoulish than the customers were the employees. Never seen so many sunken eyeballs, dark circles and mullets in my entirety. Everyone in that place looked like a meth head, employees included.

Similar experience in Aberdeen Wa. One customer there looked like a googly eyed Charles Manson on a hover-round scooter. It was surreal.

They have the weirdest business model I have ever seen.

Walmart's fourth quarter ends (according to the article) January 31st, 2014, which meant it covers November, December 2013 AND January 2014. Bad Weather did NOT kick in till after Christmas, so that is more an excuse then the reason for the drop in sales.

This explains Walmart recent support for increases in the minimum wage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/02/21/wal-mart-says-its-neutral-on-a-minimum-wage-hike-lobbying-disclosures-suggest-otherwise/

Overall Christmas sales was up 2.3% from last year, but only after MASSIVE discounting:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-26/2013-holiday-sales-numbers-are-weaker-than-they-appear

In the week before Christmas, retail traffic was off 21% i.e. people stayed home for they did not have money to spend (Through sales were only down 3.1% from 2012):

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-24/retail-traffic-plunges-staggering-21-week-christmas

These are NOT good numbers, it implies the economic situation is hitting the poorest part of America the worse while the economy as a whole goes down hill.

The above tells me the drop in sales in Walmart is NOT something to gloat about for it indicates an overall bad situation that is only going to get worse.

They killed extended unemployment AND our Christmas!

Complete annihilation.

Beat down your customers for long enough, profit is no longer easy to extract from them.

I'm sure that contributed to poor little Mall-Wart's drop in sales.

I don't.

Any retailer can become what Wal-Mart has become.
Wal-Mart has just been the most successful at it.
But don't think the other retailers are any better.
If they were able to get to the level Wal-Mart is, they would be exactly the same.

When people demonize Wal-Mart, I wonder if they have really thought that through.
The whole supermarket/general retailer business produces the same fruit.
Produces the same mentalities. Produces the same outcomes.

If you put down McDonald's, you have to put down Burger King, Wendy's, & any other food chain—fast food or otherwise.

If Wal-Mart wasn't Wal-Mart then Target would be.

When the family farms became reduced in number, it was inevitable that places like these would exist.
The reason there's so much artificial stuff in foods nowadays is because non-artificial foods COST.
With the population expanding so rapidly after the Industrial Revolution, there's not really enough full-fledged food to go around at a low price.
Nothing in the supermarkets is 100% authentic. And I'm not just talking about the packaged foods.
Even fruits & meats are padded or augmented.
If they didn't put in artificial filler, most people would not be able to afford the foods.

Because of the style of our current civilization we're stuck with the supermarkets & retailers.
(How much farming & ranching can you do from your suburb or apartment?)
The best way to check these behemoths is to play them against one another.
You'll never get enough people to stop their shopping habits so the next best bet is to favor a competitor.
When that competitor becomes a behemoth itself, then favor another competitor.
Don't do your shopping all at the same place. Spread your money around if you're going to shop at the retailers.

John Lucas