walmart will soon control your SOUL

[minakichan]

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.

I'll give you the point on ethical treatment of employees, but in terms of products, that depends solely on what you actually purchase. If you're buying the same products you would at a Target or K-Mart (and really, most people are still buying Coca-Cola products, Fruit of the Loom underwear and crappy Kodak cameras), the fact that you're paying less for the same products does not necessarily hurt some poor Chinese sweatshop laborer any more.

There's such thing as good capitalism?

Criticizing capitalism is such a cliche. It's the reason you have choices in what products you can buy. It fosters innovation and creativity in individuals and companies. It allows Farm Boy Joe to dream about starting a high-tech startup company and becoming a multimillionaire-- and if he doesn't suck, it might actually happen. Yes, it does hurt some people more than others, and greed and indifference make it a flawed system (more flawed than alternatives? you'd have to prove it to me) but overall, it improves the quality of life and may lower the cost of living for those who are affected by it.

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.

Wait, what? Wal-Mart buys things in large quantities (and other stuff), allowing them to price things lower. They drop prices significantly such that even though the individual profit on the items they sell might be smaller (possibly even negative, in some cases), they encourage more people to come in and buy more to make it up. Who loses the amount that Nate saved in this case? The only parties I could see losing out are a) other retailers who lost a sale (shame on you, Nate, why did you just buy a cube of Mountain Dew from Wal-Mart instead of buying from every store in the universe as well?!), and b) Walmart, because they could have sold the cube for higher and gotten a higher profit. But I'm pretty sure that's not that you're thinking about.

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.

Yeah, you know, if we're going to boycott companies and products for being unethical to their employees, why on EARTH are we all anime fans?

[Shao Feng-Li]

Kinda the funny thing is, these companies only exist because of customers.

Places like Walmart get such deals because we can order in such high volume. Buying in bulk. Saves on shipping and other such things. And, we sell food nearly at cost, especially things like bread and milk. (Which means no 10% discount...)

[Technomancer]

Kinda the funny thing is, these companies only exist because of customers.

Places like Walmart get such deals because we can order in such high volume. Buying in bulk. Saves on shipping and other such things.

In part yes. But when you get to be a certain size, and command a large segment of the market, a seller such as WalMart can also be in the postition to dictate terms to its suppliers. Driving a good bargain is one thing, but forcing your suppliers (and their employees) into a race to the bottom is another.

And, we sell food nearly at cost, especially things like bread and milk.

Profit margins in any grocery store are very thin.

[Shao Feng-Li]

In part yes. But when you get to be a certain size, and command a large segment of the market, a seller such as WalMart can also be in the postition to dictate terms to its suppliers. Driving a good bargain is one thing, but forcing your suppliers (and their employees) into a race to the bottom is another.

True, true.

[everdred12a]

Wait, what? Wal-Mart buys things in large quantities (and other stuff), allowing them to price things lower. They drop prices significantly such that even though the individual profit on the items they sell might be smaller (possibly even negative, in some cases), they encourage more people to come in and buy more to make it up. Who loses the amount that Nate saved in this case? The only parties I could see losing out are a) other retailers who lost a sale (shame on you, Nate, why did you just buy a cube of Mountain Dew from Wal-Mart instead of buying from every store in the universe as well?!), and b) Walmart, because they could have sold the cube for higher and gotten a higher profit. But I'm pretty sure that's not that you're thinking about.

No, that's not what I'm talking about. Wal-Mart does just get their prices lower by purchasing products for resale in bulk. Wal-Mart gets most of their price drops through coercion - by essentially telling producers "You WILL lower the price on your products or we'll stop carrying them." There are many producers that have been brute-forced into lowering their prices for Wally World (through outsourcing, layoffs, and closing of plants) facing the alternative of losing business with the world's largest retail chain.

tl;dr - There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone somewhere is paying for what you save - be it Pepsi employees or Wal-Mart employees in this case.

[Nate]

Considering Pepsi sells cans of soda for 75 cents in vending machines I'm pretty sure that Wal-Mart telling them to lower prices on Cubes isn't hurting their profit margins any, considering that I would almost guarantee that they get most of their profit from vending machine sales in the first place.

[CrimsonRyu17]

Walmart's alright if ya ask me.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Though, I have heard of companies such as Coca Cola telling grocery stores they'll pull out of they don't get the shelf position they want...

But, then again, doesn't a person have the right to not buy a product if they don't like the price? The same would be true on a larger scale.

[Nate]

Though, I have heard of companies such as Coca Cola telling grocery stores they'll pull out of they don't get the shelf position they want...

Actually that's a very good point, and given most people's blind devotion to a brand name, that kind of thing could hurt stores a LOT.

When Pepsi did its blind taste test between itself and Coca-Cola, when they went to places where Coke brand loyalty was high, the people that picked Pepsi in the blind taste test ACTUALLY GOT ANGRY. They had been raised on Coke, loved Coke, and the fact that they picked Pepsi got them riled, some even accused Pepsi of lying or switching the cups.

If Wal-Mart tried to muscle Coke around and said "You WILL sell Coke at this price or else," and Coke pulled their products from Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart could potentially suffer a huge loss of business because people would go elsewhere to buy Coke. Wal-Mart certainly would not want that.

So while I'm sure that they do at times dictate terms to their product carriers, it goes two ways. Coke can pull out at any time if they don't think the deal is good enough, and pulling a huge, HUGE brand name product like that would hurt Wal-Mart more than help them, so they definitely would want to keep the companies happy.

So I really doubt that Pepsi or Coke employees are suffering because of mean ol' Wal-Mart bullying them around. They're big enough to bully back.

[Shao Feng-Li]

I admit, I would probably be angry at myself if I chose Pepsi... XD

But, yeah, Coke and Pepsi are big boys, about as big as Walmart. Vendors and retailers really can't live without each other, right?

[minakichan]

No, that's not what I'm talking about. Wal-Mart does just get their prices lower by purchasing products for resale in bulk. Wal-Mart gets most of their price drops through coercion - by essentially telling producers "You WILL lower the price on your products or we'll stop carrying them." There are many producers that have been brute-forced into lowering their prices for Wally World (through outsourcing, layoffs, and closing of plants) facing the alternative of losing business with the world's largest retail chain.

Sort of like a price ceiling of sorts, but with the quantity of supply adjusted to match pre-ceiling levels, right? In which case, yeah, there's certainly permanent deadweight loss to the suppliers, but consumers actually reap additional surplus, which is what Wal-Mart's going for. Wal-Mart being cheap allows low-income individuals to afford to live more for their small cash flow. In the end, someone's going to lose and someone's going to gain; the question is, do you hurt the suppliers or the consumers?

I'm not trying to say that everyone should support Wal-Mart, but that the blind criticism of CORPORATE AMERICA and the EXPLOITATION OF WORKERS is both lame and hypocritical. But seriously, if your heart bleeds for the underpaid, overworked, and exploited, rebut me AFTER you give up on anime. At least my stance is consistent.

[ShiroiHikari]

Minakichan pretty much said everything I would have said.

If you're going to bash Walmart, might as well bash Target and all the other big chain retailers, too. Oh, and don't forget McDonald's. People aren't necessarily forced to work at places like this. It's unskilled labor, and unskilled labor doesn't mean great benefits and high pay. It never has.

[Zyborg22]

But seriously, if your heart bleeds for the underpaid, overworked, and exploited, rebut me AFTER you give up on anime. At least my stance is consistent.

It might help get your point across (or something) if you say what the producers of anime do that's comparable to what Wal-Mart does. Then again, it might be something that anyone who knows more about anime than I do would know.

[everdred12a]

[quote="minakichan (post: 1344848)"]Sort of like a price ceiling of sorts, but with the quantity of supply adjusted to match pre-ceiling levels, right? In which case, yeah, there's certainly permanent deadweight loss to the suppliers, but consumers actually reap additional surplus, which is what Wal-Mart's going for. Wal-Mart being cheap allows low-income individuals to afford to live more for their small cash flow. In the end, someone's going to lose and someone's going to gain]

Dude, I gave up on anime a looong time ago. The last anime I purchased was over uh... 5 years ago? Not to mention that my consumption (or lack thereof) of anime is practically irrelevant to this discussion.

You do realize, however, that by perpetuating a system like Wal-Mart, which you say creates a better way for low-income families/individuals to live, you are, essentially, creating more individuals that are now on low-income budgets? Essentially, when a plant is forced to outsource or close, people lose their jobs, thus removing their spending power from the economy. When there is less consumption (said lost spending power), less money goes back into the businesses, forcing businesses to raise prices and cut costs, which just creates this vicious cycle of never ending economic turmoil.

[shooraijin]

It's very heartening this has remained civil and has not veered political. I trust it will be kept that way.

[Cognitive Gear]

I'm not trying to say that everyone should support Wal-Mart, but that the blind criticism of CORPORATE AMERICA and the EXPLOITATION OF WORKERS is both lame and hypocritical. But seriously, if your heart bleeds for the underpaid, overworked, and exploited, rebut me AFTER you give up on anime. At least my stance is consistent.

There are definitely non-blind, real criticisms of capitalism.

The problem with this topic coming up on CAA is that unfortunately, I can't even give you a real, solid response containing those criticisms, or present the merits of other systems without someone coming along and destroying the thread.

For now, I will just say that if you are interested in good, Christian criticisms of capitalism, you can read these books. Neither is actually written with the intention of criticizing capitalism, as they are more theological and life impacting in nature than truly political. The criticisms are more tangental in nature, but are present.

The Irresistible Revolution



Jesus for President



Both by Shane Claiborne.

[MasterDias]

It might help get your point across (or something) if you say what the producers of anime do that's comparable to what Wal-Mart does. Then again, it might be something that anyone who knows more about anime than I do would know.

Quite a few employees in the anime industry in Japan are barely paid enough to live off of. I don't have the numbers on me, but it was pretty bad. I think there was an article somewhere about this awhile back. I'm assuming this is what minakichan is referring to?

[Debitt]

I'm not trying to say that everyone should support Wal-Mart, but that the blind criticism of CORPORATE AMERICA and the EXPLOITATION OF WORKERS is both lame and hypocritical. But seriously, if your heart bleeds for the underpaid, overworked, and exploited, rebut me AFTER you give up on anime. At least my stance is consistent.

The problem with this argument is that while the labor practices in the anime industry (and many, many other industries for that matter) can be rife with overworked, underpaid laborers, as far as I'm aware, they're not driving entire American towns into cycles of poverty in the manner that everdred described. To me, on a visceral level, there is something inherently wrong about the notion of entire towns in middle America working at and buying almost exclusively from a WalMart.

For the record, I do not buy anime and am aware that this argument may, on at least one level, make me a hypocrite.

[minakichan]

You do realize, however, that by perpetuating a system like Wal-Mart, which you say creates a better way for low-income families/individuals to live, you are, essentially, creating more individuals that are now on low-income budgets? Essentially, when a plant is forced to outsource or close, people lose their jobs, thus removing their spending power from the economy. When there is less consumption (said lost spending power), less money goes back into the businesses, forcing businesses to raise prices and cut costs, which just creates this vicious cycle of never ending economic turmoil.

# people who lose their jobs from plants closing < # shoppers at Wal-Mart

Also, Wal-Mart's high demand from these plants essentially gives them the jobs in the first place. If Wal-Mart did not exist, they'd lose a lot more.

It might help get your point across (or something) if you say what the producers of anime do that's comparable to what Wal-Mart does. Then again, it might be something that anyone who knows more about anime than I do would know.

Japanese animators in their twenties make, on average, ¥1,100,000 (currently $11,412 USD). This about doubles in their thirties. Some report wages as low as $700USD a month. Consider that animators are also highly overworked, some clocking 60-80 hour weeks, in cramped spaces and poor working environments. Some animation companies even require that newbies works as unpaid "interns," doing the same tasks under the same conditions, for free, for a year or more in order to get their foot in the door. Certainly, internships aren't inherently immoral, but it's impossible to say that they aren't exploiting young people in a highly competitive field. Also consider that Japan is a post-affluent society with a very high cost of living, possibly higher than in the States. Honestly, this is different from an illegal immigrant or a factory worker in China making the same wages.

Compare: "The average salary for a Japanese worker is approximately ¥4,500,000, with the average for those in their twenties being some ¥3,500,000, and for those in their thirties it is ¥4,800,000."

[blkmage]

You do realize, however, that by perpetuating a system like Wal-Mart, which you say creates a better way for low-income families/individuals to live, you are, essentially, creating more individuals that are now on low-income budgets? Essentially, when a plant is forced to outsource or close, people lose their jobs, thus removing their spending power from the economy. When there is less consumption (said lost spending power), less money goes back into the businesses, forcing businesses to raise prices and cut costs, which just creates this vicious cycle of never ending economic turmoil.

The same argument could be made against the automation of factories, but I doubt most people would argue it would lead to economic turmoil.

[minakichan]

The same argument could be made against the automation of factories, but I doubt most people would argue it would lead to economic turmoil.

EXCEPT THEY USED TO!

History, repeating itself? Nowai!

[everdred12a]

# people who lose their jobs from plants closing < # shoppers at Wal-Mart

Also, Wal-Mart's high demand from these plants essentially gives them the jobs in the first place. If Wal-Mart did not exist, they'd lose a lot more.

Not true. Wal-Mart doesn't need a plant in America to get what it wants. That's what outsourcing is, and outsourcing is one of the worst things that a business can do to our domestic economy. A lot of our companies are already outsourced, and Wal-Mart's "high demand" is what's encouraging them to outsource, not stay domestic and thus stay open. When the high demand gets high enough, the producer is forced to find some other way to meet Wal-Mart's demands or lose their profits, and that's why they outsource.

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/popups/exporting.america/content.html

A list of companies that are outsourced. Think of all the jobs that would be created if even a handful of these companies would bring their plants and other such facilities back to America. It'd do wonders to help stimulate the economy because more families would have disposable income, thus adding more money into circulation, and basically doing the opposite of what I described earlier.

And to those who say I'm wrong for not criticizing other businesses - I know there are other businesses who don't have spot-on ethical practices. But I don't see a thread called "Target will steal your soul" or some other such title. This thread is about Wally World. I don't know how McDonald's treats their employees. I don't know how Target does, either. I do know, however, about the racial inequalities Wal-Mart practices, I know about the gender discrimination, I know about the unethical ways they hold out on offering health care to employees, and I know about the hundreds and thousands of unpaid overtime hours they force on their employees (did I mention all of this was before the economic crisis was in full swing?).

Japanese animators in their twenties make, on average, ¥]
Also totally irrelevant to this discussion. I DO feel for the Japanese animators who work on anime and manga and have very little to live off of. But the economy of Japan isn't any more relevant to this discussion than my anime consumption habits are.

The same argument could be made against the automation of factories, but I doubt most people would argue it would lead to economic turmoil.

True, you've touched on something interesting here. The best argument I can offer against this is that even a fully automated plant isn't really "fully" automated. You would still need people there to make sure the machines are working properly. I don't think we're quite at a level of technology where everything can be completely run by machines.

[minakichan]

Not true. Wal-Mart doesn't need a plant in America to get what it wants. That's what outsourcing is, and outsourcing is one of the worst things that a business can do to our domestic economy. A lot of our companies are already outsourced, and Wal-Mart's "high demand" is what's encouraging them to outsource, not stay domestic and thus stay open. When the high demand gets high enough, the producer is forced to find some other way to meet Wal-Mart's demands or lose their profits, and that's why they outsource.

Would you call me heartless if I said that I don't care about outsourcing all that much? People in China and India need jobs too, and frankly, we live in an ever-globalizing economy where what happens in China doesn't always stay in China. Also, being jobless in America, where at least stuff is cheap enough and unemployment benefits exist to SOME extent, is a lot better than being jobless in a lot of other countries.

Also totally irrelevant to this discussion. I DO feel for the Japanese animators who work on anime and manga and have very little to live off of. But the economy of Japan isn't any more relevant to this discussion than my anime consumption habits are.

The reason I brought this up is because this is an anime community and I assumed the people on the board liked anime, which would be pretty darn two-faced since saying "LET'S ALL BOYCOTT WAL-MART" while not doing the same for anime is quite a bit of a double standard. Sorry for assuming you were a fan.

True, you've touched on something interesting here. The best argument I can offer against this is that even a fully automated plant isn't really "fully" automated. You would still need people there to make sure the machines are working properly. I don't think we're quite at a level of technology where everything can be completely run by machines.

Ah, but factories and heightened technology caused a large number of workers to lose their jobs. The fact that they spare a couple isn't enough to say that it's okay, just as, if you say outsourcing is bad, laying off all the workers except some management to oversee the laborers in China doesn't put an outsourcing company out of the shamelight.

I have to say that this whole discussion reminds me of a scene in Impulse where the titular character gains power over reality and uses it to try to improve the world. One of his "improvements" involves allowing cars to run on water, thus making them cheaper to use and better for the environment. The writer suggests that this is terribly irresponsible thing because as a result, thousands of employees at oil companies are laid off. Well, what are you going to do? If progress must be impeded by concern for the laborers, then why bother becoming engineers and scientists or investing in R&D, why bother trying to find a way to make products cheaper? If you invent a better mousetrap, the other mousetrap sellers are going to lose their job as a result (unless they resort to marketing).

[blkmage]

A list of companies that are outsourced. Think of all the jobs that would be created if even a handful of these companies would bring their plants and other such facilities back to America. It'd do wonders to help stimulate the economy because more families would have disposable income, thus adding more money into circulation, and basically doing the opposite of what I described earlier.

Except that your country doesn't exist in a bubble. Unless the States suddenly decides to adopt mercantilism, your companies are competing with everyone else in the world. Case in point: the automotive industry. If you're not going to use the resources that are available, then others will.

Also, remember that because of this, America isn't the sole market for your companies. They also have everyone else in the world buying their stuff, sending money back into your economy.

True, you've touched on something interesting here. The best argument I can offer against this is that even a fully automated plant isn't really "fully" automated. You would still need people there to make sure the machines are working properly. I don't think we're quite at a level of technology where everything can be completely run by machines.

Besides the fact that there will still be a significant number of people who lose their jobs, the people in shiny, new factory are going to be need to be trained in new technology. As a result, the workers in the new factory aren't even guaranteed to be workers from the old factory. In fact, this is sort of analogous to your economy as a whole, in that it's shifting/shifted from manufacturing and industry to services. The reality is that being a worker just isn't going to cut it anymore and I consider plants and factories shutting down to be a part of that shift.

[Doubleshadow]

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.

I don't shop at Target either, and for the same reasons I don't shop at Wal-Mart.

Oh, and don't forget McDonald's.

I also don't eat at McDonald's.

[Quote=Minakichan]I'm not trying to say that everyone should support Wal-Mart, but that the blind criticism of CORPORATE AMERICA and the EXPLOITATION OF WORKERS is both lame and hypocritical. But seriously, if your heart bleeds for the underpaid, overworked, and exploited, rebut me AFTER you give up on anime. At least my stance is consistent. [/quote]

Do you realize this can be read as deliberately insulting to people trying to be compassionate, even when they stumble in doing so? Please don't look down on me and try to discourage me because my attempt to do good isn't good enough for your standards.

As I said, I know I cannot live up to my standards of fairness without forfeiting modern life, but I will try to meet them, botching it the whole way. It's better than doing nothing at all. I also believe everyone is a hypocrite anyway somehow, so that accusation doesn't sting me.

I don't believe that consistency is what's important here. Not at all. I don't see how being consistently hard hearted, dismissive, or downright mean is somehow more ethically or morally correct. You are essentially saying, "I can't be fair to everyone, so I'll be fair to no one, and that makes me the better person." 100%]http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13508[/url]

[everdred12a]

Would you call me heartless if I said that I don't care about outsourcing all that much? People in China and India need jobs too, and frankly, we live in an ever-globalizing economy where what happens in China doesn't always stay in China. Also, being jobless in America, where at least stuff is cheap enough and unemployment benefits exist to SOME extent, is a lot better than being jobless in a lot of other countries.

Right now, America's economy is the primary economy in the whole world. I really do think we need to worry about fixing things here before we start worrying about what's happening in China. Beyond that, some such trillions of American dollars actually belong to China. China might be suffering, but we're suffering as well.

The reason I brought this up is because this is an anime community and I assumed the people on the board liked anime, which would be pretty darn two-faced since saying "LET'S ALL BOYCOTT WAL-MART" while not doing the same for anime is quite a bit of a double standard. Sorry for assuming you were a fan.

I am an anime fan. If you walked up to me on the street and asked me if I liked it, I'd say yes. If you asked if I've followed a series in the past year, I'd say no. If you asked me if I bought anime on DVD in the past year, I'd say no. But I think there's a difference.

Ah, but factories and heightened technology caused a large number of workers to lose their jobs. The fact that they spare a couple isn't enough to say that it's okay, just as, if you say outsourcing is bad, laying off all the workers except some management to oversee the laborers in China doesn't put an outsourcing company out of the shamelight.

Yes, it did cause a large number of workers to lose their jobs. But at least if we automated the plants in America, the plants would stay in America. You may not care about the outsourcing, but that's the major issue here.

[minakichan]

Right now, America's economy is the primary economy in the whole world. I really do think we need to worry about fixing things here before we start worrying about what's happening in China. Beyond that, some such trillions of American dollars actually belong to China. China might be suffering, but we're suffering as well.

China's the world's fastest growing economy, the weaknesses with the American economy are heavily in the middle class, many companies both large and small are certainly going global, American companies sell to customers all around the world (so does Wal-Mart!), and this board is not made up of only Americans.

[Nate]

Not true. Wal-Mart doesn't need a plant in America to get what it wants.

However, there IS one thing Wal-Mart DOES need in America to get what it wants.

That's called a warehouse.

I worked in a warehouse for a company called Dollar General. Wal-Mart may be able to outsource PRODUCTION to other countries, but they cannot outsource distribution to other countries.

Everything Wal-Mart gets needs to be shipped to a warehouse, where it can then be shipped to the stores. These warehouses need:

Unloaders to unload the merchandise, drivers to put the merchandise in the warehouse, other drivers to take the merchandise to shippers, shippers to pack the merchandise, merge operators to ensure the lines run smoothly, receivers to receive the merchandise, loaders to load them on the trucks, truck drivers to drive the merchandise to the stores...

And that's not even getting into the countless maintenance people needed to keep everything running smoothly or repair broken equipment, as well as supervisors, desk workers, and the like.

I worked at a distribution center for Dollar General, a small company compared to Wal-Mart, and the warehouse was situated in a small town. There are I believe 8 other warehouses for the company.

My warehouse employed about 500 people.

Imagine how many warehouses Wal-Mart, a national store chain, with probably ten times as many stores, must have, and how many people those warehouses must employ to ship their goods to the stores.

Just sayin'.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Dang, too much tl;dr going on in here this late at night... XD

The other night a customer grumbled about how everything we sell is made in China... or Indonesia. He said he never shops here, except his kids had bought a few things and needed to exchange sizes.

I wanted to ask, where the heck can you find things not made in China? Go ahead and spend $20-$50 on a t-shirt from Macy's. It came from the same place. And the quality is near the same. Levi jeans from Walmart are the same jeans of JCPenny's. (Pro-Tip: I've heard the Faded Glory is made by Gloria Vanderbilt[sp?])

It doesn't do much good hating or boycotting the big stores. They all do about the same thing :\ Size doesn't matter when it comes to character.

[Dante]

Walmart

It's still more expensive then the internetz.

Seriously though, is Walmart the end all these days? I don't think so. I actually buy my shirts at Target. Why? I ride my bike and it's closer by several miles and I don't like the more formal styles I find at Walmart (I prefer the styles I find at Target... go figure).

Ultimately though, after reading that article earlier today, my opinion was.

Wha?! You think you're going to change where consumers shop by rearranging the order of the store?

They fail to get one thing, anyone who has shopped at Walmart or any other local store in the area will already have the store mapped out in their head. For any product they feel they'd buy at such a store, they already KNOW where that product is. Thus, if they re-arrange the store to "make it easier" they're just pulling a windows ribbon like in Word 2009. It's FTF.

I'm actually going to be more annoyed that I'm going to have to relearn a new layout for our locale Walmart because they decided to spin things up. Even more reason for me to stay with Target .