Walmart - Evil Corporation Or The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread?

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sawzalot

sawzalot

Audioholic Samurai
I go to Walmart for my folks prescriptions, not only are the costs significantly lower (when some monies are due) than anywhere, period. The script is usually done in ten minutes or less, none of that drop it off and come back later shite. The ten minutes allows me just enough time to go check out the latest blu ray selections which are usually pretty inexpensive as well. It has been a long time since we had a Mom and Pop blu ray store, well almost like, Never, so no harm no foul there.The store is what it is and really we don't have too many bigger dept. stores down here by the sea.
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
> 2.1 million minimum wage, no benefit employees
Minimum wage is offered for jobs that require minimum education/skill/training/contribution. More of the latter equals more of the former.

> millions of stock holders (future resident in hell)
All I can say here is, Wow.
 
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ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
Says the guy with a boat load of ID gear :p
Ill keep this reply short for Irv...

Are you comparing Walmart to a privately owned internet direct company? I have met Dr HSU, Met Dan at emo a couple times, talked to dave F a bunch of times, and spoke with the designer of my CSB1's when I ordered them, these are all SMALL BUSINESSES that I have supported... Even my wharfedale stuff came from small businesses, my jades were kind of local, Mass. and my wharfedale subs were from RI, and my evo2's were from music direct {no one local sold them}... I have spent a lot of money at my local bm audio shop {my tads expensive, for me anyway} but he doesn't have everything...

NOW if there was NO walmart selling $299 40" TV's, he could sell more items and compete with places like best buy a little better, after a while he would be growing his business to sell cd's, dvd's, tv's, ect and he would have a larger store and larger selection... BUT he can't because walmart takes any item that shows a profit, strong arms the manufacturers to give them lesser products at lesser prices, flexes their buying power and then marks down the items until the local competition is on welfare or applying for a job with them.... Then raises the prices and starts making their inflated profits...

I don't want to offend anyone that shops at walmart, I have been in some places of the country that have nothing else, walmart has wiped out the competition... Target is not much better, but I will go there before walmart, otherwise most times I would rather go with out... Sadly this conversation is too late, there is not much we can do about walmart now...
My wife used to buy her yarn at this nice little shop that sold all kind of craft materials, then wlmart moved in {5-6 years ago, we never had one before that} and now out down town area is empty, no more music shop, no more small grocery store {they shut the doors 9 months ago, gave it a valiant effort}, no more craft shop {I miss that place, the kids used to call me and say they needed something for school like colored pencils or thick board and I could stop in and run rite out}, they also shut down our electronics shop which was on its way out after homedepot moved in, they used to sell appliances, tv's, blenders, ect and walmart was the nail in that one}, the small sandwich shop shut down {walmart has a Subway}, and a few others...
And to make it worse, now our cute little down town area is littered with empty shops, all that lasted was the restaurants, jewelry shops, and antique shops. Now a developer wants to come in and build condos, lol.... So go ahead and think walmart is good for your area, let them in, watch the decay... I have had many conversations with locals about the "new" people that now come through the town, crime has gone up, small businesses our dissapearing, people are loosing their buildings because no one will rent the spots where the other business have left, its just not good.. I don't live in town, my town has no down town area, we are in the woods here so it doesnt hurt me too much but property that was worth more money because of the cute little down town area is now plummeting because the down town area is suffering with empty stores, foreclosed buildings, ect...

ANYWAY, I said this would be short, I guess I lied, there is something clean about a small town with "easy" life. I don't think stores should be open 24 hours a day, I don't think everyone should be allowed to open before 12 on Sundays {liquor stores should be closed every sunday and holiday}, I am not that old and I remember when I was a kid, hardly anything was open on Sunday, we got up, went to church, went to brunch, and went home, spent the day with our families and started the week over on Monday... I don't know I like change but I want it for the better, I don't see anything better about the way things are going, and walmart just happens to be helping them along , imo in the wrong direction... You support what you want to, its a "free" country, there is no walmart super close to me, and their most likely wont be in my lifetime, since my area has very strict regs on building , you need a large lot of land, with a large amount of frontage before you can put a house up, so we will never get population dense enough for someone like walmart to be interested in our actual town, but they are next door now and we have to live with it....

PS- I am cheap, for me to be against something that saves consumer money is rare, walmart is the devil, lol.. What good can come from it? Jobs? The small shops create way more jobs than walmart, figure a grocery store employs about the same amount of people as a walmart alone, they have a deli, a seafood dept, a produce, dept, ect ect ect employees everywhere, walmart has cashiers, and then 8 or so people to run the entire floor.. More jobs would be to had if you had a grocery, clothes store, electronics store, pharmacy, pet store, toy store, deli/butcher shop, liquor store, baby store, automotive store, shoe store, ect.. Now the owners of all them stores would employ a lot of people, and the owners would make a decent living where they would spend money in the community at the other stores as would everyone, so inturn the money stays in your area..

Are you getting it, as it happens now you spend money at walmart and the money leaves, they dont buy local products, they have everything shipped in but not by local truckers, by their own truckers, and everyone working for them is making the minimum so there is no money to spend at the end of the week, they need to save as much as they can so they go to walmart and spend their paycheck as small as it is... Do you see it, its rite there in front of you???????? Local shops will buy local when they can, then they will get the other products shipped in by local private trucking companies, sure things wont be SUPER cheap, you will have to spend $12 on socks vs $8, BUT if you have noticed, nothing is cheap anymore, since walmart has taken over these areas the prices are back up, the only difference is there is no local little guy left.. hes on welfare....

Walmart is bad for us...


Irv, I am sorry for my long posts, I know how you hate them... I do NOT see how ID equipment compares to walmart, I know its not "local" but really it is, you buy ascend speakers, you are supporting dave, his family, and all his workers, who as I see it are very happy not to be working at walmart... Also HSU, he has some awesome guys and gals working there, I am positive he pays more than walmart too.... I will admit I buy on amazon and hate myself for it, but I didn't make this world I just complain about it...

Again sorry I am such an opinionated douche, I was born this way, its hard to change my mind, but I will listen as you talk, you have something to rebut what I believe I am all ears, show me how Walmart is good for us? I know they employ a lot of people but obviously not enough, their 1.2 million employees are doing the work of 6 million and making the wages of .75 million...
 
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crossedover

crossedover

Audioholic Chief
All I'll say is The Internet has done just as much damage to BM stores as walmart and hasn't been around as long. If you don't like walmart great don't shop with them, but preaching against them and being hypocritical at the same regarding ID is hilarious . I have nothing against ID, but I'm not naive enough to think just because I met an owner that they don't pull local money out of communities, which was my point.
 
Adam

Adam

Audioholic Jedi
Wait...I sense an ugly turn here. No one is going to start bad mouthing Amazon, are they? :eek: Oh, it's on.

:p
 
psbfan9

psbfan9

Audioholic Samurai
I'll admit it. I love Walmart. Not for shopping, but more for the cheap entertainment. It's like I walk in to Walmart and say, "WOW! Look the t!ts! Why there must be 57 t!ts!". Something happens to people when they walk into a Walmart. It's as if they have entered a no mans land of sorts.
At my local Walmart I have seen bare breasts, fights, theft, and a few small furry woodland creatures. It's all very entertaining to me.
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
All I'll say is The Internet has done just as much damage to BM stores as walmart and hasn't been around as long. If you don't like walmart great don't shop with them, but preaching against them and being hypocritical at the same regarding ID is hilarious . I have nothing against ID, but I'm not naive enough to think just because I met an owner that they don't pull local money out of communities, which was my point.
Well if that is funny to you than, have a good laugh... If you can not see a difference in an ID company specialising in a specific product that they personally produce and selling it through their own website and walmart than I don't think this conversation has but one way to go.... If you can't see that the reason ID companies can flourish is because companies like Walmart are destroying the small businesses of america then that is the funny part about your post... If you think a company like ascend acoustics is pulling money from a community than I have to think you are indeed naive. Sure my money may not be deposited into my backyard neighborhood BUT it is in someones. Not like walmart, the money is all in the pockets of the a few people, can you get that through your head? If you can NOT understand that having all that money go into the pockets of 4 people vs millions of small business owners than you my friend are VERY NAIVE!!!!

Do yourself a favor, get educated.... Look up the waltons on the richest people list out of the top 10 Billionaires in the US, 4 of them are Waltons, so out of our top 10 wealthiest people with a combined worth of around 400 billion dollars for the top 10 us billionaires the Waltons own 150 billion of it!!! That is instead of that 150 bill being spread out between millions of small business owners...

SO if that makes sense to you and you think ID speaker builders selling their products over the internet is even in the same moral conversation than I feel bad for you, god forbid when the paint on your kids toys causes them to get lead poisoning or they choke on the eye ball from some sub par toy made in a 3rd world country go ahead and give Christy Walton a call and see what she says for you to do...

I don't mind giving you guys my opinions obviously, but at least think before you post...

I will admit I use amazon more than I like, and I admit that they are not good for local business either, but I see it this way- Walmart is now the local business here and not going anywhere, amazon is hurting them more than any other company, SO the enemy of my enemy is not my enemy, YET...


PS- when I say local business I am talking about small privately owned companies.. We should have a separate store for as much as possible, a hardware store, a grocer store, a butcher/deli store, electronics store, clothing store, shoe store, pharmacy, automotive store, pet store, craft store, ect this would spread wealth around, employ more people and give everyone better service... Sure a tv wont be $200, shoes wont be available for $4.50 a pair, but we will make more money and people will have a lot more to spend, instead of the waltons getting billions, millions would get their fare share.. If you bought a pair of shoes and they wore out prematurely, you could go to joe the shoes store owner and say "whats the story here" and he will say, "wow sorry about that, lets try this brand and I will give you a deal on them for your trouble".. go to walmart with a pair of workn out shoes and they will read you their return policy and politely tell you to screw so the next customer behind you can get the same treatment..
 
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crossedover

crossedover

Audioholic Chief
Again I have no issues with either practice. I just understand what's at stake with both;)
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
It seems "flexing your buying power", (economy of scale), is evil. It's evil for a retailer to offer to buy xxx qty of product for $yyy from a manufacturer. Then if the manufacturer accepts the deal, it's evil for the retailer to offer to sell me that product and pass along some of the discount. And I'm evil if I buy it.

Can I assume the ranters here also boycott Heinz ketchup? French's mustard? Del Monte canned veggies? Lay's potato chips? All companies who have become successful, (big), enough to take advantage of economy of scale, and put small farmers/businesses out of business. Any grocery store that is part of a chain is to be avoided too, right? They put the little independent grocers out of business. Sears, J.C. Penny, Belks... bad, bad, bad. And let's not even get started on the big oil companies. So much evil, so little time.

It is hard for me to seriously consider a plea, no matter how emotional, when it is selectively applied only when convenient, and otherwise ignored.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
I'll admit it. I love Walmart. Not for shopping, but more for the cheap entertainment. It's like I walk in to Walmart and say, "WOW! Look the t!ts! Why there must be 57 t!ts!". Something happens to people when they walk into a Walmart. It's as if they have entered a no mans land of sorts.
At my local Walmart I have seen bare breasts, fights, theft, and a few small furry woodland creatures. It's all very entertaining to me.
57 t!ts!?!

I can easily imagine 56 or 58, but 57 puzzles me :confused:. Did you mean 57 Varieties, or did you see a shopper in the Mastectomy Implant section in Isle 8 who wanted only one :eek:?
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
I'll admit it. I love Walmart. Not for shopping, but more for the cheap entertainment. It's like I walk in to Walmart and say, "WOW! Look the t!ts! Why there must be 57 t!ts!". Something happens to people when they walk into a Walmart. It's as if they have entered a no mans land of sorts.
At my local Walmart I have seen bare breasts, fights, theft, and a few small furry woodland creatures. It's all very entertaining to me.
One of your best posts, lol^ how did you get an odd amount of tits, I haven't been in walmart in a while BUT don't they still come in pairs?

about 2 weeks ago there was a stabbing at a RI walmart, I seen it on the news, I guess it was over some confusion because there is no divider between the cash register lines, lol... I remember thinking 2 things, walmart customers don't have the brains to know which line they are in without a brightly colored divider and when they are faced with such confusion the end result is going to be poking something sharp through the arguing parties soft flesh...
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
It seems "flexing your buying power", (economy of scale), is evil. It's evil for a retailer to offer to buy xxx qty of product for $yyy from a manufacturer. Then if the manufacturer accepts the deal, it's evil for the retailer to offer to sell me that product and pass along some of the discount. And I'm evil if I buy it.

Can I assume the ranters here also boycott Heinz ketchup? French's mustard? Del Monte canned veggies? Lay's potato chips? All companies who have become successful, (big), enough to take advantage of economy of scale, and put small farmers/businesses out of business. Any grocery store that is part of a chain is to be avoided too, right? They put the little independent grocers out of business. Sears, J.C. Penny, Belks... bad, bad, bad. And let's not even get started on the big oil companies. So much evil, so little time.

It is hard for me to seriously consider a plea, no matter how emotional, when it is selectively applied only when convenient, and otherwise ignored.

It doesn't just seem that way it is that way... Yes, a company that after they get HUGE, threatens to not sell your product unless they buy it cheaper than their competition is wrong... I am guessing You and me do business different ways, I have customers that come back over and over and over and send their friends family and coworkers to me, over a million dollars in annual sales, I am not looking for ways to give my customers less and pay my employees less, I am looking for ways to give them more and my employees are treated VERY well.. Because I make more than enough for me and my family, I want good people working for me that will never go anywhere else and do a good job for me because I am starting them at $20.50 an hour where the industry standard is $16. If we have a good year, I have my accountant figure the largest bonuses I can hand out before fiscal end, I am holding the mortgage on 3 properties for 3 of my employees that would have had trouble buying their own homes. No one takes the bus to work, my parking lot is full of the new cars of my employees. JJ the 21 year old that greets anyone who pulls in the yard, sweeps up the floors, washes windows, answers phones once and a while, and acts as my on site helper made over $30 k last year {1 wk vaca, 1 wk sick, and single health plan, with an 8% bonus that was over $2500 last year} and I am paying for him to go to pf school at night {hes almost 2 years in} when he is done he will be above 50K before OT. Before I hired him, I spoke to his parents, interviewed him 3 times, temp positioned him for 3 weeks with 6 month probation, and made sure he was someone who would appreciate the opportunities he would get here, I have no problem investing in a person, I am a small business owner that can see the value in people and award it as well as I am able, this insures my clients/customers get treated rite and get good service and products...

A big company like walmart doesnt only not do this but they could care less about it, because it costs money....
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
... I have no problem investing in a person, I am a small business owner that can see the value in people and award it as well as I am able, this insures my clients/customers get treated rite and get good service and products...

A big company like walmart doesnt only not do this but they could care less about it, because it costs money....
You have a heart, they don't. :)
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
According to Forbes, "Wal-Mart Stores paid $7.1 billion (at a rate of 32.4%) in income taxes" in 2010. (Plus all the other corporate taxes.)
Hard the believe it is that high. That seems to be well above the corporate average effective rate of around 15% or so and the 25% that don't pay anything.
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
Oh, please. He hired a 21-year-old to greet people. Walmart helps the elderly.

Irv is just an ageist jerk.





:D
I am embarrassed to say I just googled "Ageist" I read it a-geist instead of age-ist and figured you were just using some fancy word to call me awesome...

But you are rite I hate old people, I was so glad when my grandmother started forgetting things so I could pinch her and give her super hot drinks more often, you think seeing elderly people fall down stairs is funny, put your grandmothers orange juice in the microwave for 16 minutes and wrap a cozy around the cup so she cant feel the heat before it hits her mouth... funn-E stuff, don't even get me started on waxing the bottoms of their prescription shoes and smearing crisco on her walkers tennis balls, good times... I miss having grandma around..


abusing the elderly aside, I paid more than 30% taxes last year and didn't profit 1/100,000th of what walmart did, lol...
 
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