walmart will soon control your SOUL

[chibiphonebooth]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090909/us_time/08599192069800

Thus, the company is in the beginning stages of a massive store and strategy remodeling effort, which it has dubbed Project Impact. One goal of Project Impact is cleaner, less cluttered stores that will improve the shopping experience. Another is friendlier customer service. A third: home in on categories where the competition can be killed. "They've got Kmart ready to take a standing eight-count next year," says retail consultant Burt Flickinger III, managing director for Strategic Resources Group and a veteran Walmart watcher. "Same with Rite Aid. They've knocked out four of the top five toy retailers, and are now going after the last one standing, Toys "R" Us. Project Impact will be the catalyst to wipe out a second round of national and regional retailers."

MMM i can't wait till walmart controls EVERYTHINGG. e_e

now, i might be overreacting a little bit, but i watched this movie called The church of Stop-Shopping, and in it they talk about walmart. The pastor of the church goes to small family owned businesses, and the owners of the store talk about how much walmart has killed everything- and they can hardly keep their store afloat/provide for their families.

here's the clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZZT6YV4Mb8&feature=related



(keep in mind, if you look around for more clips, the church of stop shopping is more satirical and they are kinda exaggerating things to prove a point.)

(also, mods, if this is too much, just tell me and i'll take it down. corrie wasn't online so i couldn't ask her ;_; CORRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?)

[LadyRushia]

I saw a commercial for Wal-Mart saying that you can cash checks there now. Seriously, I will go to a bank to cash checks, kthx. Although, I do go to Wal-Mart sometimes to buy food and other things for my dorm room, but that's about it.

[Jingo Jaden]

I don't think that there is any doubt that the competition that is caused by a giant corporation such as Walmart will squeeze out some of the competitors less they turn into one dollar stores. Big corporations in the end has one objective, that is to keep their monopoly running or gain a monopoly. Small business owners will of course have a hard time competing with giant contractors that got access to very cheap products which they sell to make a profit and in terms of general stores, walmart will pretty much overcome any opponent. Anything that gets swept under the carpet would be collateral in their eyes.

Competition is of course a wonderful thing, but a competition between a mice and a lion is pretty much decided before it starts. In the states the top corporations are extremely powerful and I doubt there will be any leniency that supports small business owners in those kind of situations. Advertisement is likely to be another major con for them, as the span of attention will of course center around the new giant mall that just did open.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Welcome to the wonderful world of capitalism.

[ShiroiHikari]

The objective of a business is to stay in business. If other big retailers want to stay in business then they have to compete. The economy just doesn't really support small businesses anymore and I don't think that's Walmart's fault. If you want to blame anything, blame internet retailers like Amazon.

Also you can't be a small business and just sell the same stuff everyone else does and expect to make a profit. You have to fill a niche. Also, location is a major factor as well as advertising. Not everyone can pull off being a small business owner.

I'd like to be able to support local businesses more, but it's increasingly difficult because I have to make our dollars stretch as far as possible.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I'd like to be able to support local businesses more, but it's increasingly difficult because I have to make our dollars stretch as far as possible.

Well of course. And Wal-Mart recognizes that. That's why YOU are a part of their target demographic.

[minakichan]

Sure, everyone likes to hate on Wal-Mart, but let's face it-- are we as shoppers willing to pay much more and drive out much farther to much more places to buy the same products just to help out those Mom and Pop shops and smaller retailers?

If you're willing to fork over a big wad of cash, several hours of your time, and your convenience so that I can go donate it to some tiny wannabe grocery 20 miles away that charges $5.84 for a pack of gum and doesn't even stock that comfortable, airy brand of underwear that you like so you have to get the ones with the really inelastic waistband and that rides up a little whenever you walk too fast, go ahead and complain.

In the meantime, I will say "Long live Wal-Mart." Capitalism rocks!.

[Roy Mustang]

I will worry about Wal-Mart, when they start building Gundams at low cost prices, before I think they are trying to take over the world.

In the meantime, I will say "Long live Wal-Mart." Capitalism rocks!

Lines that will be said after Wal-Mart takes over the world and what would be said between someone and minakichan

Person: The Big Box War is over!

minakichan: Finally those capitalist pigs will pay for their crimes, eh?

Person:Wal-Mart Won!

minakichan: Yay capitalism!




[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Bobtheduck]

Welcome to the wonderful world of capitalism.

Which is why the US had (keyword) Antitrust laws... Oi, what a decade has done...

1999: "Monopolies, Duopolies, and trusts are evil! Fair Competition FTW"
2009: "I don't want to have to have to shop at 3 different types of stores to get my shopping done! Consolidate! Standardize!"

It may be capitalism, but it's not the good kind. It's not the brand of Capitalism that creates a healthy economy.

[ashfire]

I have choice of where I shop. I can go to Target or Wal-Mart. If you go in Target there is not much of a crowd. Go Wal-Mart and you can get run over by the crowd.
Target has its ways of operating that is different than Wal-Mart plus I find things easier at Target but Wal-Mart tends to really stock a lot of items.

[Roy Mustang]

I saw a commercial for Wal-Mart saying that you can cash checks there now. Seriously, I will go to a bank to cash checks.

New Wal Mart ad: Cashing checks for rednecks and old people since 2009!

[font="Book Antiqua"]
[color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang
[/color][/font]

[blkmage]

Which is why the US had (keyword) Antitrust laws... Oi, what a decade has done...

1999: "Monopolies, Duopolies, and trusts are evil! Fair Competition FTW"
2009: "I don't want to have to have to shop at 3 different types of stores to get my shopping done! Consolidate! Standardize!"

It may be capitalism, but it's not the good kind. It's not the brand of Capitalism that creates a healthy economy.

Monopolies and one-stop shopping are two entirely different things. Wal-Mart is far from a monopoly. They have lots of competition. It turns out their competitors are of comparable size.

The only big antitrust case that anyone is probably familiar with is Microsoft. That was a near monopoly and they used that advantage to propagate their browser and media player. Today, the situation is not so dire anymore.

There's nothing wrong or unnatural about larger competitors outlasting smaller ones. That's the market working as intended. The only way to do well is to specialize or innovate. The only thing that's changed in the past while is increasing globalization, opening up the pool of your competitors to the entire world.

[Tsukuyomi]

I saw a commercial for Wal-Mart saying that you can cash checks there now.

We were there last weekend ^^ My nephew found a whole bunch of coins around the house (inside and out), he was able to cash them in at Wal-Mart ^^

I know some people really hate Wal-Mart saying that it is taking over every other store, but if that is so it's only because they really do have good to great prices (imo)

Last weekend I got 5 or 6 pieces of clothing for under $20 ^___^

I will be a warm panda this winter ~__~

[Doubleshadow]

What bothers is me people talking trash about Wal-Mart, and then going there themselves. I don't like Wal-Mart for numerous reasons, mostly working and environmental exploitation on every level. I also don't shop there. I try to buy local and/or ethically and am lucky enough to be in a city where that is possible, but I sometimes get stuck if I don't know where to buy something or am in a time crunch (like Starbucks or the gas station if I'm really hungry).

The problem isn't captalism, it's complacency. Cheap stuff isn't magically cheap, something paid the pride somewhere. Chinese or Filipino factory worker? Illegal immigrant hired illegally in the US? Refusal to pay out worker's comp (such as firing them instead)? Lead tainted toys? Soil erosion from mass producing farm practices? Antibiotic resistant bacteria from abuse of antibiotics to mass produce cheap beef?

Obviously to totally avoid these things I'd be in a commune somewhere in rural middle-o'-nowhere, but I can dodge the easy ones. (I also believe that everyone is a hypocrite anyway because nobody is that innocent).

I don't blame Wal-Mart for being good at what they do, or people who shop there because they honestly have no other option, just those who know Wal-Mart is like this, and are appalled at the stories they hear, and yet can't be bothered to take the time to support other businesses.

[Bobtheduck]

Monopolies and one-stop shopping are two entirely different things. Wal-Mart is far from a monopoly. They have lots of competition. It turns out their competitors are of comparable size.

K-mart is about gone
Target will be their next... um... well, you know.

Outside of those 3, what else is there? My point about the one stop shopping is that stores that survived by specializing in a type of goods are STILL getting beaten out by the ever growing Walmart. This closes the door for many new businesses, and gives a sort of control to the two remaining "superstores" (in the US, being Walmart and Target) It is a duopoly, or at least VERY quickly approaching one.

@Doubleshadow Oh, I understand that. I actually do shop at walmart, or rather my parents do and a lot of my stuff gets bought there. I also have a Microsoft based OS and an iPod Nano... I'm glad that the phone market is still pretty broad ATM... No iPhone takeover yet.

Sometimes it's just difficult to go for an alternative when it comes down to money you may not have (this isn't referring to iPhone but to walmart... Just to make that clear, iPhone is the weird case where it's the MORE expensive one that would be poised to take over...)

[uc pseudonym]

EDIT: Well, this seems redundant after Doubleshadow's post. Shouldn't have left the room before submitting.

Sure, everyone likes to hate on Wal-Mart, but let's face it-- are we as shoppers willing to pay much more and drive out much farther to much more places to buy the same products just to help out those Mom and Pop shops and smaller retailers?

No, I'm pretty heartless when it comes to Mom and Pop stores.

However, I do care that Walmart isn't completely ethical toward it's employees, and I'm definitely concerned that a lot of their products come from places that exploit the poorest parts of the world. A lot of products are cheap because they don't pay the people who create them fairly.

That's par for the course, naturally. But I try to support marginally better retailers, as well as efforts to make Walmart use more ethical products (and they've actually done a lot better in recent years). I have a pretty limited budget, but I think it's worthwhile to spend more in some cases, such as when money goes directly through fair trade organizations to people in impoverished nations who can't otherwise support their families. Sure, it hurts me, but there are others hurting a lot more.

[Kaligraphic]

Wal-Mart sells souls for cheap because they steal them from hobos and use the hobos' corpses for reanimated zombie sweatshop labor. It's true! The Internet says so!

[Roy Mustang]

What bothers is me people talking trash about Wal-Mart, and then going there themselves. I don't like Wal-Mart for numerous reasons, mostly working and environmental exploitation on every level. I also don't shop there. I try to buy local and/or ethically and am lucky enough to be in a city where that is possible, but I sometimes get stuck if I don't know where to buy something or am in a time crunch (like Starbucks or the gas station if I'm really hungry).

I have always wonder if Sam Walton is not spinning in his grave right now. When Wal Mart started, just about most of the stuff was made in the USA, but then as time went on, people want things cheap and you know what happen after that.

I guess the biggest problem is if you live in a small town and you have a Wal Mart, there is not much to do, but shop there.

Ones that have a choice as picking other businesses to shop then say I hate Wal Mart and then go to Wal Mart, because they don't have the time or effort to shop at other places.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Mr. SmartyPants]

It may be capitalism, but it's not the good kind. It's not the brand of Capitalism that creates a healthy economy.

There's such thing as good capitalism?

[Tsukuyomi]

EDIT:

What? I'm supposed to dress a certain way when shopping at Wal-Mart o_o?

I just pretty much go in whatever I throw on in the beginning of the day

I have a pretty limited budget, but I think it's worthwhile to spend more in some cases, such as when money goes directly through fair trade organizations to people in impoverished nations who can't otherwise support their families. Sure, it hurts me, but there are others hurting a lot more.

Will there ever be a balance u_u? Where we can buy for cheap, but no one suffers for it D:<

The world may never know and this makes me cry ;____;

I buy my shampoo/conditioner and toothpaste at Wal-Mart 8D It's about the same price at other places.. Not sure what that has to do with anything, but why not 8D

[blkmage]

K-mart is about gone
Target will be their next... um... well, you know.

Outside of those 3, what else is there? My point about the one stop shopping is that stores that survived by specializing in a type of goods are STILL getting beaten out by the ever growing Walmart. This closes the door for many new businesses, and gives a sort of control to the two remaining "superstores" (in the US, being Walmart and Target) It is a duopoly, or at least VERY quickly approaching one.

I'm not from the States, so I don't know the history of those stores.

However, Wal-Mart might not be getting competition from that particular space, but they're not the only place to buy things. They still get competition from department stores, supermarkets, electronics retailers, etc. Maybe Wal-Mart has a monopoly on the service of selling everything in one convenient place, but it isn't a real monopoly when there are tons of other large corporations selling large subsets of what you sell. Monopolies are dangerous because a corporation controls the market for certain goods and can charge whatever they want for those goods. Wal-Mart is not in that position.

[RobinSena]

I'd like to be able to support local businesses more, but it's increasingly difficult because I have to make our dollars stretch as far as possible.

Yeah, same here. I was in a Super Wal-mart checkout earlier today, and I'm pretty sure I stood there for 30 minutes, if not more. Not fun. And on top of that, most of the employees seem rather unfriendly.

[Debitt]

The problem isn't captalism, it's complacency. Cheap stuff isn't magically cheap, something paid the pride somewhere. Chinese or Filipino factory worker? Illegal immigrant hired illegally in the US? Refusal to pay out worker's comp (such as firing them instead)? Lead tainted toys? Soil erosion from mass producing farm practices? Antibiotic resistant bacteria from abuse of antibiotics to mass produce cheap beef?

This pretty much sums up the reason that the entire WalMart thing bothers me. I understand that, especially in low-income areas, low-cost shopping most definitely becomes a necessity despite all the problems inherit that Doubleshadow mentioned. I just wish that people who are aware of the issues and have reasonable means to go somewhere else would do so. Because ultimately I don't think there's any way WalMart dominance can foster a healthy economy and population, at home or abroad.

EDIT: Also, WalMart better leave Rite Aid alone because no one can touch that ice cream.

[Technomancer]

I saw a commercial for Wal-Mart saying that you can cash checks there now. Seriously, I will go to a bank to cash checks, kthx.

Funny how I was just reading about this:
http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2009/09/same-to-you-buddy.html

The problem isn't captalism, it's complacency. Cheap stuff isn't magically cheap, something paid the pride somewhere. Chinese or Filipino factory worker? Illegal immigrant hired illegally in the US? Refusal to pay out worker's comp (such as firing them instead)? Lead tainted toys? Soil erosion from mass producing farm practices? Antibiotic resistant bacteria from abuse of antibiotics to mass produce cheap beef?

All true, and like you said hard to avoid if you're an average consumer. And it also takes time and effort to learn where is "good" to shop. Which is why good laws regarding consumer and employee protection are necessary (and must be enforced!).

[Bobtheduck]

There's such thing as good capitalism?

Yes there is. Capitalism capped by fair trade laws that are properly enforced and based on investment. That's good capitalism. Anything more than this would be breaking rules about Political arguments.

[Nate]

I shop at Wal-Mart because they're more or less the only option around here.

The other day I got a Cube of Mountain Dew (24 cans) for 4 bucks at Wal-Mart. Usually I shop at Food Lion but 4 bucks for 24 cans of Dew is a darn good deal. Especially since the best I usually get at Food Lion is 5 bucks.

[everdred12a]

I shop at Wal-Mart because they're more or less the only option around here.

The other day I got a Cube of Mountain Dew (24 cans) for 4 bucks at Wal-Mart. Usually I shop at Food Lion but 4 bucks for 24 cans of Dew is a darn good deal. Especially since the best I usually get at Food Lion is 5 bucks.

Just know that someone somewhere had to pay for what you saved on that cube of Moutain Dew, even if that someone wasn't you.

[Shao Feng-Li]

There's such thing as good capitalism?

I think that might be Christian capitalism. The right to make money and have employees and sell cheaper than others, but one must be fair.

At any rate, I work for Walmart*, so I suppose it already owns my soul.

Really though, it is too bad that Sam Walton died. Folks said that's when the company truly changed. Quality and kindness truly depends on the individual store, but the Home Office thing is kind of creepy.

Any hey, I put in for lots of places for higher. Walmart* is the only one that wanted me and they don't care at all that Mom and I don't work Sundays.

Plus, it's kind of cool working in the 3rd largest store in America, and it's even a prototype store and I got to help set it all up

Though, like 90% of everyone there is Mormon (including the store manager). Kinda weird.

[blkmage]

Just know that someone somewhere had to pay for what you saved on that cube of Moutain Dew, even if that someone wasn't you.

That doesn't necessarily have to be a negative thing. Since they're so large, things like shipping or inventory turnover and other processes could be more efficient to the degree that they can afford to sell a product at a lower price.

[Nate]

I just think it's funny that when Target has a sale nobody demonizes them. If Target's prices are lower than Wal-Mart's and their selection is better then wouldn't that make them MORE evil?

Oh wait, I guess hating on Target isn't hip.

Now I'm not saying Wal-Mart is innocent and their business is totally honest and good. They do a lot of bad stuff, but how many companies really do the same kind of things and we just don't know it? I remember a few years back when Electronic Arts was working its programmers like 80 hours a week without paying them overtime. Where was the outrage there? To be fair a lot of people hate EA, but it isn't because of how they treated their employees, is it? They complain about how EA ruins games and DRM and sequel after sequel, but nobody says "EA sucks because they treat their employees poorly."

But to say "Oh, Wal-Mart is selling something for less than a competitor! EVIL!" Isn't that what companies try to do? Nobody tries to sell their product for the HIGHEST price. :|