Sun 5 Feb 2006
See, I have this thing with Wal-mart. We don’t get along. I hate it. Sure, hate is a strong word. But, when it comes to Wal-mart, it flows so easily whether I’m walking down one of their God-forsaken aisles or if I hear about their latest crime against society in the media. I hate the bottom-of-the-barrel product quality. I hate the raping of American businesses, the three of them that are left and are still able to supply Wal-mart, anyway. I hate the absence of that one thing…what is it…oh yeah: customer service.
Every single time I go, I regret it. Every time. I’ve given it several chances to redeem itself. I’ve even tried going during that 2-hour window of the week when there is more than one parking space available. But, it doesn’t work. It makes me feel dirty. And it’s of little consolation that I saved 18 cents on that bar of Zest I just bought, since I’m going to wear down half of it scrubbing off the stench of Wal-mart’s immorality. I’m much happier driving literally 5 miles right past the nearest Wal-mart to go to Target, a somewhat lesser evil. At least I can buy something that doesn’t suck there and the majority of my co-shoppers have showered in the past week. To commemorate my avoidance of Wal-mart, I’ve made a button you can use on your sites and blogs to show how many days it’s been since you set foot in a Wal-mart.
March 10th, 2006 at 11:21 am
I may not supposed to be posting to your site while I am at work, but I have to say that I love your article. I have been Wal-Mart clean for the last few months now, and I am pushing to make it a year. I hate the place too. As a bussiness student in college, one could not help but hear of all of the poor business practices of the corporate giant. If you ask me, they have such an opportunity to set a good example of how to treat employees, but NO…they use them up and drop them by the wayside. They have no business ethics. I think that every idiot that gives them money should be asked if they know what evil they are supporting. Consumers vote with their dollars, and I refuse to vote for a corporation that exhibits no moral scruples. Call me old fashioned, but I will not contribute to the downfall of America, one stinking dollar at a time.
March 18th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
I am proud to say it has been 1 day since stepping foot in wal-mart,because it is raining,otherwise I would be there.Wal-Mart is the best thing to happen for retailing.Poor customer service? I have never had anything but great customer service,sure it may be a little slower than that of Target or some other store,but that should be expected when they (target)only have three customers.And all other stores and all other companys do the same and pay the same as Wal-Mart for products the only difference is other companys mark up products to put money in their greedy little pockets Wal-mart passes it on to the customer.
March 23rd, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Carl,
Do your research. Most companies that mark up more than Wal-mart pay their employees a living wage. Wal-Mart pays their employees under poverty level wages. Guess what that means? It means your tax dollars go towards their welfare checks and helps pay for their hospital bills. As a result, you really aren’t saving much by shopping there. Sorry to break it to you, pal.
March 31st, 2006 at 7:20 pm
I agree with Joshua. I have a friend that is a very small vendor to Walmart, and they really put the screws to him every time his product is re-ordered. They attempt to bleed him dry every time by threatening him with doing business with another vendor that has a significantly lower quality product. I hope he never gives in to them.
March 31st, 2006 at 7:25 pm
I am happy to say I have *never* purchased anything at Wal*mart. I probably have stepped inside one at some point during my life, but I cannot remember doing so. Oh, and carl sounds like a corporate shill.
March 31st, 2006 at 7:50 pm
I don’t know if I’ll end up going to Wal-Mart again or when… but that button looks so slick, I think I’ll have to make use of it just for sport.
March 31st, 2006 at 7:55 pm
I don’t have any problems shopping at wal mart. It’s just where capitalism has led to these days. But I’m glad some of you disagree with it, and want to do something about it, and applaud you for it.
April 4th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
For all of you who love to spend hours pi$$ing away their hard earned $$$ at Walmart, while at the same time, bitch and complain about the high price of gasoline, get a life!! The Chinese, all 50 billion of them each want a Lexus in there laneways, even if they don’t have laneways. These billions of Cinese (no offence to the Chinese)need gasoline to fill the tankls of their new cars, which limits the availability of this natrual resource, which BTW, is non-renewable. And now, the cost of gasoline at the pumps skyrocket. Save $0.20 for Dial soap at Walmart, great deal, and then turn around and spend $3.00/gallon of gas.
Walmart lovers= IDIOTS
April 12th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
Josh, hate to break it to you, pal. But we still live in a country with lots of freedoms. Wal-Mart does not have some huge electromagnet that drags people in to work for them. People fill out applications just like anywhere else. They are perfectly free to find out what their wages and benefit package will be. And, they are perfectly free to say “no thanks, I’ll go work at Targer or McDonalds”. I left my last job because I wanted a better benefit package and they can do the same. Sorry but your argument is not an intelligent one. If enough people hate Wal-Mart and don’t shop there, they will have to change things or go out of business. If they can’t get people to work there because they treat their employees so bad, then they will have to change things or go out of business. It’s really simple people. We live in a free market economy. We send the strongest message with our dollars. I don’t mean to insult Wal-Mart employees, but many of them are minimally educated and these types of jobs are all the can qualify for. However, they are less of a burden on the welfare system/taxpayer by earning what income they can at Wal-Mart and in turn paying income tax on that income. Hey Paul, your friend must benefit from continuing to be a Wal-Mart vendor because he is still selling to them. You seem to have forgotten about a wonderful 6 letter word c-h-o-i-c-e. If your friend will suffer financially if he chooses to cease doing business with Wal-Mart, then he should market his product to other buyers. He must be benefitting from his business with them, even when they “turn the screws”, otherwise he would tell them where to get off and find someone else to sell to. Let’s use a little logic and thought when we formulate an argument. Sometimes we get upset and emotional about things and react without thinking things through.
Lovers of freedom= Good Americans
April 14th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Garry,
There’s a reason that governments raise the minimum wage, as a capitalistic model tends to like shitting on the lower class. Wal*Mart is an invasive business, killing local economies and caring more on business profit as opposed to taking care of their workers.
Yeah, I bet if someone could set up a sweatshop only paying $3 and hour, and if the statistics say that enough people are desperate enough for a job to fill the requisite positions, I’m sure it’d happen if it wasn’t against the law. That’s Wal*Mart for you: The “How much can I get away with not paying my employees and still have the business run” model, and it’s sick.
You pretend as-if people at Wal*Mart have the option to find a better-paying job… Either that or they’re unqualified scum who don’t deserve any better and are better working for practically free than being on welfare. That’s even more sick.
Wal*Mart, in order to save money, buys low-grade products (in bulk) and sells them for a high profit margin as if they were medium-grade products, except for slightly less. This gives the illusion of “lower price,” when in reality, Wally is making hand-over-fist with their barge-loads of chinese manufactured goods that Wally buys for practically nothing.
They have power through penetration. Because they’re so big, so consolidated and so convienient, people flock to them blindly (and eventually, they really don’t have any other options as all the other competition somehow went out of business).
So, a business that crushes local economies, puts local stores out of business, drives the average pay-rate down, and preys on those who can’t find a job because of our poor economy… You have yourself a real winner there.
April 18th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Poor economy? Are you sure were talking about same country? Give me a break! The minimum wage is an artificial socialistic attempt to regulate wages. Why doesn’t every business pay the minimum since that’s all that’s required? Because their just big-hearted? Baloni! Our economic system is great in that it tends to distribute wages according to the quality of the product that a business wants to produce. Businesses do not only compete for customers, they also compete for the quality and skill level of the pool of workers they need to produce the level of quality they are seeking.
You give people no credit for using their brains to make choices. If they buy something at Wal-Mart and the value sucks for what they pay for that item, they will choose to do their shopping elsewhere. Choice is a good thing. The american consumers, with their dollars, made Wal-Mart the powerful giant that it is today.
I did not say (nor would I ever) that minimally qualified workers are scum, those were your words. It is inevitable that our society will have these people in the workforce. It is a good thing that there are companies that can provide alot of these type jobs for folks that can’t qualify for higher paying employment.
The more the government stays out of the way of private business, the better. We have a system where the freedom and choice of the consumer and workforce would do a better job of regulating the marketplace than BIG BRO.
April 24th, 2006 at 9:18 am
I think i have to agree with the comments made about C.H.O.I.C.E! That is what is so lovely about being an American… we have a choice and we all seem to forget that at times. Although I am not a fan of Wal-Mart, because of their inexpensive items, they are open and thriving. So good luck to those of you staying out of Wal-Mart. I bet it doesn’t last very long.
May 11th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
I agree with people on both sides of the issue.
People should certainly have the agency to shop where they want. But the more I read up on the issues, the more uneasy I feel supporting national chains when I can purchase something similar… even if I must pay more for it.
I have noticed a small quiet trend that seems to be growing nationally. Consumer groups and local business owners are starting to create educational coops in cities and towns across the US. They promote “shop Local” campaigns to educate consumers about several of the problems with national chains, including how national chains suck the revenue out of local economies.
Some studies indicate that for every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 goes back into the community and its tax base. For every $100 spent at a national chain store, only $14 comes back into our local communities.
A study commissioned by the Andersonville Development Corporation, found that locally owned businesses generate 70 percent more local economic impact per square foot than chain stores
Think long term, think local
http://www.specialoffersbulletinboard.org/shoplocal.htm
May 16th, 2006 at 11:03 pm
It has been seven years since I shopped at Mal-Mart, I prefer to shop at local stores,or the internet and want or need for nothing, so it is possible, most don’t have the willpower or economic ability to not shop there.
October 8th, 2006 at 11:23 pm
The way Wal-mart treats its employees is not my only reason for disliking Wal-Mart. They have been known to have negative effects on the environment and economy as well. “How far can I push the bill” is pretty much their policy on business.
Also, while working at Wal-Mart IS, in fact, a choice, some people don’t have any other choice. You mention that most of the time this could be because of poor education and the inability to meet qualifications elsewhere. This is true to an extent. The economy of the state I live in isn’t so good, especially that of the town where I live. Why do we need two super Wal-Marts with in 10 minutes driving distance of each other? I can tell you that the economy here hasn’t improved much since they’ve been built. And yes, it provides jobs initially, but there have been several small business that have gone out of business or moved since the first grand opening. Not only does this take away our ability to buy from alternate vendors, but also jobs at these businesses. And guarantee if they try applying somewhere else, wherever they apply aren’t hiring, because that’s just the way it is here.
This is a great discussion and I do see points on both sides of the fence, but I still stand by my opinion that Wal-Mart needs to re-think their policies on many issues.
PS. Thanks Mr. Walton(comment7).