Stop Buying from Walmart

[vassil3427]

Its been happening for a long time, but Walmart has become too big. Everywhere I go, I see a Walmart, I also see the stores we used to shop at, closed because walmart put them out of business. I know countless people who have lost their jobs at those stores. Walmart has a building monopoly, they are releasing self-brands of everything, including gasoline soon.... So I believe perhaps we all(who have walmarts) should try to spend our money at other stores, and help slow down this destructive giant...I love the convenience of Walmart, but its brought way too much hurt to smaller businesses...So the next time you go to buy something and think "Lets just go to Walmart" Maybe you ought to think of buying from the other store down the road, even if the item costs a buck or two more, because soon enough Walmart will drive that company out of business and that competition will be lost....:dead:

 

[novicegamer]

Believe it or not Ive never been in a walmart.And I totally agree with you soon there will be no compitition and wallmart will decide what it is we get to buy

 

[SNGX1275]

I see what you are saying, but wal mart is a very important store in less urban areas. Let me give you an example:
I went to HS in a town with just over 2000 people in it, there was a local grocery store, a few gas stations and one Family Dollar store. Well I guess I left a couple out, there is an old clothing store thats been around since the town was founded, and its owned by the richest family in town (probably millionares, but not cause of their store). And there were a couple local hardware stores. Nearest town of more than 15,000 is over an hour and a half away. But within a 30 minute drive there are 3 Wal Marts (all in different directions). So if my family needs something that isn't avaiable in town, or of lesser quality than we want, we go to wal mart to pick it up. And we do all of our shopping there, unless wal mart doesn't sell it. We've just driven 30 minutes to get something, so we aren't going to waste time driving to the various other stores in that particular town to pay a few bucks more and taking a longer time to do it. Its simply not realistic.

Another example, the town I go to college in is about 14,000. It has some places that probably offer alternatives to what wal mart sells, but not being from the town, and like the other few thousand students that go there, we don't know where these places are and they are likely more expensive. But we do know where wal mart is, and its good for picking up food, dvds, games, some essential auto parts (air filter, oil, oil filter, maybe even tires), and school supplies. All of that is in one place, its so simple and easy. Also lots of people don't have cars, and I've taken people without a vechile to wal mart to pick some various things up, but I'm sure as hell not driving all over town to take they to 5 or 6 stores just to buy beer, paper, computer game, food, ect.

I know what you are saying, and I understand your point, but when there is that convienence factor, the little local stores are going to be hurt. What those stores need to do is change their buisness strategy, offer some reason to get people into their store that wal mart can't. They have to build something that will give them a sustainable competitive advantage over Wal-Mart.
Until they can do that they are going to have a hard time competing.

 

[vassil3427]

I just think there's not much the little stores can do once walmart comers to town. Like I said, I like walmart. I mean how can a small grocery store compete with a monster Super Walmart? Its not like they can offer lower prices..I just think that people ought to choose to go to other stores, instead of going to walmart.

 

[olefarte]

I live in a small town of about 10,000 people. There are many things that Wal-Mart offers that are not available anywhere else in town, so it just makes sense to go there. So, I pick up things there that might be available elsewhere, but it's so much more convenient. Also, Wal-Mart prices are not the same everywhere. They price according to the community, as far as I can see.

I understand what you are saying vassil, and to an extent, I agree. But as an example of why I buy at Wal-Mart, my dad, used to buy a certain medicine that the local drug store charged $60 for. The exact same brand at Wal-Mart, cost only $30. He lived on a fixed income, where do you think he could afford to buy his drugs from? Granted, this is an extreme example.

On the other side, local stores offer more personalized friendly service, employees that know there product and can tell you information about it, and a main attraction, no long checkout lines, and better parking, you don't have to walk a quarter mile to get to the store. Even if there prices are higher, this is what keeps them in business.

In my town, very few stores have went out of business because of Wal-Mart. I buy a lot of cd's and I have to buy from Wal-Mart, because they sell them for $15-$16, and the only other place in town that sells them is $18 or more, with a very small selection. Or drive for an hour and get them for $11 or $12, at Best Buy.

 

[vassil3427]

I do have two more reasons not to shop at Walmart. Large, hairy woman wearing spandex.....And those same large woman bashing the door of your car as they throw open the door of their old piece of junk. Seriously, you'd think it was a hamburger convention or someting.....

 

[XtR-X]

Why not shop at walmart? Say you see a Sony stereo there for $200 and see it somewhere else for like $220. Now, where are you going to buy it from? Would you still not buy it from walmart, and lose 20 bucks?

Why would you worry about them becoming a monopoly? Monopolies are illegal, they would be taken care of. And also note that walmart is more of a general store, and most of the stuff they sell there is pretty bad quality. There would still be more specific stores out there for your specific needs, and other stores for your more quality needs.

Just like that lady who was almost trampled to death at that one walmart. She was racing for the $39 DVD player that she wanted so bad but little did she know that it was a peice of sh!t. Hahah.

Competition is a good thing for consumers, and if other places cant keep up with them, they should change. Whether they lower their prices or move out of the area its their choice.

 

[Rick]

I used to work at Wal-Mart. I know their trade secrets, although I'll be shot if I mention them here....

Hehe! Just kidding about being shot.. I think.

Here are some random Wal-Mart tid bits that I, as a former employee, had the pleasure of discovering:

1.) A primary goal of Wal-Mart is expand so there is a Walmart within 10 miles of every household.

2.) The busiest days from greatest to least are Saturday, Sunday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday.

3.) The cleaning crews for most Wal-Mart stores are hired through an independant contractor that is usually under paying their employees.

4.) Wal-Mart used to pay time and a half on Sundays, but now only offers $1 extra per hour at select stores. Holidays have always been double time and still are.

5.) The gross annual revenue for Wal-mart is somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000,000,000. The actual net profit is usually about 5% of this.

6.) Assistant managers average about $30,000/yr (salary). Co-Managers average around $50,000/yr. Store owners make a percentage of their store's revenue along with a very nice salary.
Department managers make about $1.50 more than the "average" employee, who typically makes a small cut above minimum wage.


There, I have divulged the comapnies secrets. Enjoy.

 

[Vehementi]

Welcome to US History of Industrialism 101, your instructor today is Vehementi

C'mon guys, this is America. Big business started with the railroads in the 1860's and it hasn't stopped, nor will it, nor do I hope it will! This is a laissez-faire capitalism society, and if you don't like it then move to Canada or some other restricted-trade society! Everyone in every other country is worse off because of economic restrictions on how rich someone can get.

It's actually proven that when tax breaks are given to the rich, it takes about 10 years for their money to trickle down to the poor. When Reagan gave tax breaks to the higher tax bracket, it took about 10 years, then look at the early '90's! It was a huge boom to the economy, all because of the Trickle-Down Theory. Stop complaining about big business, the middle and lower classes directly benefit from them being so filthy rich. Sure, the rich are getting richer, but the poor are not getting poorer, they're moving up!
For example, just LOOK at what Andrew Carnegie did for society. Just google 'carnegie' and see. All those libraries, museums, universities, even NPR, are all brought to you by Carnegie!
Once upon a time, by perfecting the Bessemer-Kelly process and introducing us all to vertical integration, he produced 25% of the nation's booming steel industry, at a time where all the old railroad tracks and the entire US Navy was being replaced with steel variants. He later sold his company for $400 million (think in terms of 1880's money, that is astronomical) to JP Morgan, another economic Captain of Industry (or Robber Barons, depending how you look at it).
Carnegie then used all of his profits, every penny, on trust funds for cultural development. He died essentially a penniless man, because he felt so embarassed and dishonest because he had just this enormous amount of wealth. Now, I'm not saying Bill Gates would do this because he wouldn't, but look! Corporations may have goodies like tax exemption, limited liability, and Eminent Domain, but look at the results!

Communists...

/rant

 

[DaveSylvia]

Re: Welcome to US History of Industrialism 101, your instructor today is Vehementi

Originally posted by Vehementi
It's actually proven that when tax breaks are given to the rich, it takes about 10 years for their money to trickle down to the poor. When Reagan gave tax breaks to the higher tax bracket, it took about 10 years, then look at the early '90's! It was a huge boom to the economy, all because of the Trickle-Down Theory.

Now, I'm not saying Bill Gates would do this because he wouldn't

First, it has not been proven whatsoever. There is no proof either way. This is one of those things where both sides have their little bit of evidence. Its like people thinking Alan Greenspan's changes to federal rates has a significant impact on the market. It does have a little impact but overall it does nothing. If you know of any study that is scientifically sound that proves Reaganomics made a significant impact on the '90s please post it here. I'll definitely change my thoughts on it. In my opinion it was the explosion of technology combined with a great improvement in software quality as well as the accessiblity of the internet that impacted the economy.

Secondly, Bill Gates and his wife both do fantastic things for charity. He gives a lot of money to good causes quite frequently. Though he definitely gives no where near the percentage that Carnegie gave, he still gives a larger portion that many other rich folk.

 

[Vehementi]

Re: Re: Welcome to US History of Industrialism 101, your instructor today is Vehementi

Originally posted by DaveSylvia
First, it has not been proven whatsoever. There is no proof either way. This is one of those things where both sides have their little bit of evidence. Its like people thinking Alan Greenspan's changes to federal rates has a significant impact on the market. It does have a little impact but overall it does nothing. If you know of any study that is scientifically sound that proves Reaganomics made a significant impact on the '90s please post it here. I'll definitely change my thoughts on it. In my opinion it was the explosion of technology combined with a great improvement in software quality as well as the accessiblity of the internet that impacted the economy.

Secondly, Bill Gates and his wife both do fantastic things for charity. He gives a lot of money to good causes quite frequently. Though he definitely gives no where near the percentage that Carnegie gave, he still gives a larger portion that many other rich folk.

Well, I'm not saying it was proven proven, but it is pretty blatant.

Bill Gates gives to charity proportionately with his income what other rich people do. But, I really don't care how much money he gives out, it's his money and he has every right to keep it.

 

[StormBringer]

Originally posted by Rick
I used to work at Wal-Mart. I know their trade secrets, although I'll be shot if I mention them here....

Hehe! Just kidding about being shot.. I think.

Here are some random Wal-Mart tid bits that I, as a former employee, had the pleasure of discovering:

1.) A primary goal of Wal-Mart is expand so there is a Walmart within 10 miles of every household.

2.) The busiest days from greatest to least are Saturday, Sunday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday.

3.) The cleaning crews for most Wal-Mart stores are hired through an independant contractor that is usually under paying their employees.

4.) Wal-Mart used to pay time and a half on Sundays, but now only offers $1 extra per hour at select stores. Holidays have always been double time and still are.

5.) The gross annual revenue for Wal-mart is somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000,000,000. The actual net profit is usually about 5% of this.

6.) Assistant managers average about $30,000/yr (salary). Co-Managers average around $50,000/yr. Store owners make a percentage of their store's revenue along with a very nice salary.
Department managers make about $1.50 more than the "average" employee, who typically makes a small cut above minimum wage.


There, I have divulged the comapnies secrets. Enjoy.

Not accurate for all stores though. My wife used to work at Wal*Mart here, they paid $0.15/hr extra for Sundays, they got time and a half for hours over 40(only if full time, part time employees got none of these extras) they got time and a half on holidays(again, part time people got nothing)
Busiest days were Wednesday and Thursday, still are because the largest employer in the area (Shaw Industries) pays its employees on Wednesday(their night shift gets paid Thursday morning)

Wal*Mart also prices their stuff according to the income level of the majority of the local residents. This is why I can drive to Crestview, FL(~70 miles) and save quite a bit on most items. An example is when I bought my Sony Handycam several years ago. I had been looking at it here, it was $419, I stopped by the walmart in crestview on my way back from the beach and found the same one there for $369. There seem to be some things that are about the same price here and there, but most things I can save enough to justify the trip for a large purchase.

BTW, Veh, you had a good point till you made the "Communist" remark, that completely ruined all credibility of your entire rant.

 

[Vehementi]

Originally posted by StormBringer
BTW, Veh, you had a good point till you made the "Communist" remark, that completely ruined all credibility of your entire rant.

So close too!

 

[jeffbert]

Oddly enough, I know of a shopping center with both a Walmart and a Target. Not only are they both there, but next to each other. The odds are that if an item I seek is not available at the WM because it is out of stock, it is not available at the target either. I am not going to forego WM's lower prices to support the competition, that might not even have what I want.

 

[john arrindell]

It's capitalism at it's best (money talks). if we are gonna boycot every successful businnes just because we think they've become to big or to powerful we are in fact supporting a communist idea.(We should all have the same things, no matter how hard we work). Instead of bitching about what walmart is or what it's becomming, other bussiness should be thinking about "Building a better mouse trap" to become more competitive. that's progress ! ! !

 

[Charles Hammond]

I really do not like going to Walmart that much. It is so full of junk that I only go there when I need to. Usually I purchase toilet paper cleaning supplies, soap, toothpaste, maybe some unerware or some towels, school supplies and just general merchandise. I hardly ever purchase walmart clothes other than underware.

I do not have a wallmart supercenter in my town unless I go to another town 15 miles away. Groceries I purchase at different locations. Usually best buy, shop & Save and for meat I go to a local small grocery store that still sells the more higher quality meat. The closest best buy to me is a good 40 minutes away, but I still like their bulk items when I have the time to go there.

I will never purchase any electronics in Walmart. Maybe a microwave or a toaster but never a stereo or a TV, and definitely never ever a computer.

Mostly I do not like to walk for miles through a large store. Nothing beats a fruit stand where stuff is fresh or the local bread store.

 

[jack]

Wal-Mart

Originally posted by john arrindell
It's capitalism at it's best (money talks). if we are gonna boycot every successful businnes just because we think they've become to big or to powerful we are in fact supporting a communist idea.(We should all have the same things, no matter how hard we work). Instead of bitching about what walmart is or what it's becomming, other bussiness should be thinking about "Building a better mouse trap" to become more competitive. that's progress ! ! !

I agree with the above comment, because basically that's how WalMart started out... competing against the "big guys" of that day. Ever wonder who will be the next "WalMart"?? There are aleady lots of small guys out there that just might do it!

Also, I have learned by my own experience, that it is always easier to "bash" something that's already there, than it is to get out there and create something new.

 

[SNGX1275]

Originally posted by john arrindell
It's capitalism at it's best (money talks). if we are gonna boycot every successful businnes just because we think they've become to big or to powerful we are in fact supporting a communist idea.(We should all have the same things, no matter how hard we work). Instead of bitching about what walmart is or what it's becomming, other bussiness should be thinking about "Building a better mouse trap" to become more competitive. that's progress ! ! !

That is essentially what I said earlier in the thread.

Originally posted by sngx1275
What those stores need to do is change their buisness strategy, offer some reason to get people into their store that wal mart can't. They have to build something that will give them a sustainable competitive advantage over Wal-Mart.
Until they can do that they are going to have a hard time competing.

 

[videobruce]

Anti union,

Anti city,

Anti working poor,


What else needs to be said?

Glorified sweatshop!

 

[Krugger]

I only shop at Walmart like once a year, when i need to find stuff for my dorm room. I don't understand why people do shop there. I don't boycott for the politics of the matter, i just wouldn't shop there b/c of the store itself.