Xmas Lights - Seriously Unimpressed

[John Larkin]

John,

What makes you think they can't just decide to pay a substandard wage?

Because nobody would work for them if they could get a better deal
somewhere else. No different from IBM or NASA.

That is
exactly what Walmart does to their suppliers by setting arbitrarily low prices
they are willing to pay for goods. When suppliers couldn't go that low on goods
manufactured in the US, Walmart was very quick to suggest moving the
manufacturing offshore. As far as Walmart is concerned, labor costs are just
another cost to be minimized.

Of course! That's what business does.

All businesses effectively go out for bids for materials and labor,
and pick the low bidder at the desired quality level. Tiffany's does
this for diamonds as much as Wal-mart does this for balloons. That's
the way a market economy works. Nobody is forced to work for Wal-mart,
and they won't if they can find a better-paying or more convenient job
somewhere else.

Sears was famous for squeezing their suppliers almost to death; I
doubt that Saks or Gucci give contracts to the high bidders, or have
"buy America" policies.

John

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

John,

What makes you think they can't just decide to pay a substandard wage? That is
exactly what Walmart does to their suppliers by setting arbitrarily low prices
they are willing to pay for goods. When suppliers couldn't go that low on goods
manufactured in the US, Walmart was very quick to suggest moving the
manufacturing offshore. As far as Walmart is concerned, labor costs are just
another cost to be minimized.

Exactly. Read this article, and look past the political diatribe, to
the stats.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2104988/

I quote:
"The average wage at Wal-Mart, which has no unions and bitterly opposes
raising the minimum wage, is lower than Costco's lowest wage. Turnover
at Wal-Mart, according to the Economist, is 44 percent, meaning it "has
to hire an astonishing 600,000 people every year simply to stay at its
current size.""

Speak of the devil! I'm watching the local news, and they are showing a
piece about the Wal-mart heiress scandal and they say the stadium named
after her will have its name changed. See
http://www.wane.com/Global/story.asp?S=2617213

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

wage?

Because nobody would work for them if they could get a better deal
somewhere else. No different from IBM or NASA.

That's exactly what's happening!! They have more than a half million
workers quitting every year! http://slate.msn.com/id/2104988/

[snip]

At least with Wal-mart they're up front about it from the beginning.
There are other companies that are not, such as this one.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/savecampaign/message/186

 

[John Larkin]

Exactly. Read this article, and look past the political diatribe, to
the stats.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2104988/

I quote:
"The average wage at Wal-Mart, which has no unions and bitterly opposes
raising the minimum wage, is lower than Costco's lowest wage. Turnover
at Wal-Mart, according to the Economist, is 44 percent, meaning it "has
to hire an astonishing 600,000 people every year simply to stay at its
current size.""

McDonalds has an even larger turnover, something incredible like 300%
per year. That makes WalMart and McDonalds, in effect, into
entry-level job-training organizations. So a kid can get a low-paying
job there, learn some work skills, get some references, and move on to
a better job. Doesn't sound all that anti-social to me.

Really, the market works pretty well, or at least a lot better than
anything else. If there weren't willing customers and willing
employees, WalMart wouldn't have grown from nothing. The customers and
employees created WalMart, not the other way around.

John

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

McDonalds has an even larger turnover, something incredible like 300%
per year. That makes WalMart and McDonalds, in effect, into
entry-level job-training organizations. So a kid can get a low-paying
job there, learn some work skills, get some references, and move on to
a better job. Doesn't sound all that anti-social to me.

Really, the market works pretty well, or at least a lot better than
anything else. If there weren't willing customers and willing
employees, WalMart wouldn't have grown from nothing. The customers and
employees created WalMart, not the other way around.

Did you read the part about Costco in the Slate article? I'd rather do
business with them.

 

[rabid squirrel]

Did you read the part about Costco in the Slate article? I'd rather do
business with them.

I'm in Canada and we've got a Wal Mart up here . (Just what we needed). I
try to avoid it, but alot of ppl shop there and its taking away from the
Canadian retailers. Goes to show you how loyal the assholes in my town are..

jason

 

[DAW]

Jason don't be a dense. People ARE loyal to local business, but when they
can save substantial amounts of money by going to Wal-Mart, they will. You
shop there too, so quit acting like you don't.

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

Jason don't be a dense. People ARE loyal to local business, but when they
can save substantial amounts of money by going to Wal-Mart, they will. You
shop there too, so quit acting like you don't.

Wal-mart is like welfare. You patronize it not because you can, but
because you have to, after they put the small businesses in your town
out of business, so no one, including yourself, has a decent job
anymore. You don't want to buy cheapo chinese junk, it's just that you
can't afford to buy decent quality anymore because you're squeezed
between a rock and a Wal-mart.

Wal-Mart is just one symptom of an America that, as the late Steve Allen
once put it, "The country is going to hell in a handbasket, but nowadays
you can't even find a decent handbasket!"

[snip]

 

[Rich Grise]

Wal-mart is like welfare. You patronize it not because you can, but
because you have to, after they put the small businesses in your town
out of business, so no one, including yourself, has a decent job
anymore.

Do you have any idea how abysmally stupid this sounds? I don't "patronize"
stores - I use them when I need to buy something. And I generally attempt
to live in the present day, not my dire future nightmare fantasies.

Did you lose your job when they built the Walmart in your town?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

Do you have any idea how abysmally stupid this sounds? I don't "patronize"
stores - I use them when I need to buy something. And I generally attempt
to live in the present day, not my dire future nightmare fantasies.

Did you lose your job when they built the Walmart in your town?

Hey, Rich. Sounds like I rubbed a raw nerve. I'm not the one that came
up with this "abysmally stupid" concept, Wal-mart did. And they
implemented it, and the consequences have already been documented, not
by me but by journalists, in the media. I'm just relaying the sad
story, so please don't shoot the messenger.

As for patronize, see definitions 1 and 3 here:
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/patronize

As for my job, no, it's not directly in jeopardy from Wal-mart. Not
directly, anyway, but possibly indirectly. Next week I have to bust my
butt to get our new 90,000 sq. ft. facility ready, for its grand opening
in January. At least we bought the huge bldg before Wal-mart had a
chance to! ;-)

 

[Rich Grise]

Hey, Rich. Sounds like I rubbed a raw nerve. I'm not the one that came
up with this "abysmally stupid" concept, Wal-mart did.

No, no. What Walmart came up with is a big store that sells stuff cheap,
and hires cheap labor. What's abysmally stupid is taking this fact and
projecting it into some kind of doomsday scenario where we're all out
begging for potato skins while the Walmart fat cats eat our children.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

No, no. What Walmart came up with is a big store that sells stuff cheap,
and hires cheap labor. What's abysmally stupid is taking this fact and
projecting it into some kind of doomsday scenario where we're all out
begging for potato skins while the Walmart fat cats eat our children.

What's unfortunate is that the "doomsday scenario" has already happened.
I suggest you read this. http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/walmart.html

 

[Sylvan Butler]

What's unfortunate is that the "doomsday scenario" has already happened.
I suggest you read this. http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/walmart.html

Do you believe everything you see in a television documentary? Or just
the documentaries on PBS?

sdb

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/walmart.html

Do you believe everything you see in a television documentary? Or just
the documentaries on PBS?

If you had read the article, you would have found that they are
referencing articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, among several
others. Read it.

 

[Clarence]

If you had read the article, you would have found that they are
referencing articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, among several
others. Read it.

I did. Very positive! Seems they are a success, and therefore are being
attacked by those jealous of that which they can not achieve.

Interesting!

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

message news:[email protected]...

I did. Very positive! Seems they are a success, and therefore are being
attacked by those jealous of that which they can not achieve.

Interesting!

Positive? Attacked? My, my, your prejudices are showing.

 

[Clarence]

Positive? Attacked? My, my, your prejudices are showing.

You DO mean 'preference's don't you?

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

I did. Very positive! Seems they are a success, and therefore are being
attacked by those jealous of that which they can not achieve.

Interesting!

Their shares are probably an excellent China play- perhaps better than
investing directly, except for the US dollar risk.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Sylvan Butler]

If you had read the article, you would have found that they are
referencing articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, among several
others. Read it.

I have. I read it and several of the other articles shortly after I
watched the documentary.

So I guess the implied answer to my original question, is that you
believe every documentary, not just PBS.

sdb

 

[Rich Grise]

What's unfortunate is that the "doomsday scenario" has already happened.
I suggest you read this. http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/walmart.html

Oh, poor little victim employees are forced to work for mimimum wage, and
mom-and-pop stores that can't compete get an object lesson in efficiency.
Or maybe customer service. You have to provide _something_ of value if you
want people to pay you.

But I see nothing there that indicates that Walmart executives actually
eat human babies, so you, Mr. Name, are full of crud.

Thanks,
Rich