russ300h

I just happened to be in Milan about a month ago. I was struck by all the "For Sale" signs in front of so many houses. It would certainly suggest to me the economy isn't all that great up there. I seroiusly doubt too many Wal Mart employees are in the market for those houses. If everyone has jobs of Wal Mart caliber, who's gonna buy them?

BTW: I think foreigh trade is great, even with China. I just think we are getting dumped on and it is very concerning. They just tried to buy a huge oil company with their excess cash and some actually thought it was a good idea. Where do you think that oil would go when the homeland was in need? If we buy ten billion worth of goods from China, have them buy ten billion from us. We have close parity with Europe, I love buying things from Europe and I think we are much better off for the trade. The same can't be said for China.

The U.S. economy revolves around one thing - Wall Street earnings reports. Be an Exxon, gouge people and you're wonderful. Fall a little short of an earnings projection and you're a bum. The difference can be hundreds of millions of dollars. There's no provision for being ethical, you only have to be (somewhat) legal. The end result has been the demise of the American family. Wal mart is the poster child for the problems in the retail sector and probably the worst offender, but they are certainly not alone.

P.J

Well said Russ.

It'll all come out in the wash. Then again, that will be on the History channel and we all know hind sight is 20/20.

NHDiesel

Most of those signs up here are because the housing market is still strong, and many people from mass. are coming up and buying $75,000 houses for $150,000+, so people are sticking crazy prices on their homes in an effort to take advantage of the trend and make some quick money.

As for those lunch breaks, that happens all the time, not just to WalMart employees. Thursday several guys at our shop had to skip dinner break (by order of one of the owners) because they had to get a job done that night. Happens all the time. State regs? Yea right. Get a lawyer and fight it and you won't have another job in a 50 mile radius. And like I said, the "WalMart" caliber jobs are some of the best paying jobs around here. $12 an hour unloading trucks, $9.50+ to run a cash register. Dealer techs are making $10 an hour and have to buy their own tools. I'm making $12, have no benefits, no vacation time, almost no holiday time, and am strongly considering going to apply at WalMart. The store here in town (only one still open) always has empty shelves because they don't want to put any money into stock, a gallon of milk costs aprox. $4.89, and a small box of cereal costs close to $5. The milk is usually past date and the cereal stale. So I'm supposed to give this kind of store my business??? IGA in Berlin has dusty, dirty shelves, old merchandise, and a very limited selection, all at a much higher price than Walmart. Again, I'm supposed to spend more for lower quality food and far less selection, in the name of being nice to these guys screwing us over? It just doesn't make sense.

To the guy who said he'll buy his clothes at a clothing store, groceries at a grocery store, etc. How much extra fuel are you burning to drive all over town to get what you can get in 1 place? If you can afford to do that, its your choice. But don't drive out a large business that helps people with a very limited budget.

That brings up the "little guy" argument. Around here there is 1 real clothing store, 2 grocery stores, and a couple small shops. Those are the few places that might get "hurt" from WalMart sales. But there are aprox. 30,000+ people who drive from up to an hour away to shop at WalMart to save money, bringing extra money to town, and saving money. These people are on a very limited budget and don't have the $$$ to pay twice as much for a product just to help a couple local shops out. So, get rid of WalMart to help 4 or 5 small shop owners, or keep it and help 30,000 people? Which makes more sense?

People jump on a bandwagon just to make themselves feel better and don't really think about the people who will actually be hurt.

Jim

bama

if al-quida were to open a new retail store here and offer the lowest prices,would you all shop there also?......and i know several people that work at w-m part time for a little extra money,and they all say the pay and benefits are a complete joke............i really think sams great plan was well intentioned but was long ago lost in big corporate business,as was said earlier,his whole -made in america-campaign didnt last long after his death....................bama

FiverBob

Thanks Russ, you reinforce my opinion - - foreign trade is not bad - - it's the imbalance that is bad. Maybe PHDiesel will go back and re-read my post again to see what I "really" said. I am not asking mama to start making shirts unless she likes to sew. I am saying let's level the playing field so cheap imports are no longer so cheap allowing American manufacturing to have a chance. Then, let them step up to the plate and produce a superior product for a decent price - - I will buy it. We just don't seem to understand what this imbalance is doing to us in the long haul. We are ignoring the final outcome for an extra buck today.

PJ - - you didn't hurt my feelings - - I don't think you really understood what I wrote either. I dislike "group reactions". That is exactly what is happening with WM and it is being fanned by labor unions who see this huge labor pool they are softening up to pounce on. Then the attorneys jump into the fray with the smell of big bucks if they can whip up enough people to say they have been dumped on. There may have been some widespread abuse here - - and believe me, even if there were not, most good attorneys can drum it up if they smell some dollars. What amazes me is if the abuse is so bad, why do people stay and work there. Did you see some of the profiles of the "previous" employees active in the suit. Many of them had been fired because they didn't do their job.

If WM can hire someone to sweep the floors for $7.00/hour, power to them. If the person were worth more, they probably would not sweep the floor. You can't pay someone $20 an hour with major bennies just because they show up for work. There has to be some accountability in what they are "worth" to the company. Why sacrifice, go to college, study hard and blow 4 or 5 years of your life if your buddy who drops out of high school can earn about the same amount just because he shows up for his job. Pay a person according to what they can produce and their value to the company. Let's get back to the mentality that made us great - - individual effort. Let's not fall into the way of thinking that everyone is alike, therefore they should all get the same pay. We have lost our individuality when we think thay way - - no reason for me to bust my tail and put out the extra effort. What happened to that drive to excel? No body owes me a living - - I will prepare myself and go earn my living. Just pay me in proportion to what I can produce for the company. I love incentive plans - - I love a challenge. Let me pick a field in something I like, learn it better than anyone else around me, then give me some room - - I will make the company some money. Now, if you don't pay me what I am worth, I won't cry, I won't hire an attorney, I won't go to the union - - I will quit and go work for that company's competitor or I will become their competitor and they will not like what happens. They will regret ever letting me leave. I didn't get ahead worrying about whether I had lunch or not - - I got ahead by being better than the next guy. How? By working at it and making whatever sacrifice it took to get the job done.

My observation of what happens in Wal Mart is quite positive as far as their employees are concerned. They all seem very happy. We have a super WM that opened recently about 3 miles away. I have acquaintences that are working there - - they are quite happy with their jobs. I don't know of one of them that is making minimum wage. They all seem happy with what they are being paid and their pay is commensurate with their duties and background. It is a beautiful store with a huge assortment of goods. I will buy there - - they have a great grocery section. That doesn't change my mind on the imbalance of trade - - I don't like it. We need to address it as a nation.

gwhammy

My wife is very good at comparing prices and alot of stuff can be bought at local grocery store just as cheap as it can at walmart. They tend to target certain products cheap to get people in and know they will shop for other stuff too. I almost refuse to go in a Walmart to get anything because of the crowd. Sam has two kids living in Columbia, Mo., the Kronkies (maybe spelled wrong) donated 25 million to a new basketball arena if they could name it. They named it after their daughter who graduated there until it came out that she had payed someone to do most of her papers for her. They are terrible to work for on the construction end to, it's most likely they will not pay you all of you're money and have broke alot of companies because of this. The Kronkies live in a house that cost around 9 million 10 to 15 years ago, and they say Sam came up to visit and told them if that was the way they were going to live he didn't want any part of it. This is all heresay of course but I did work on the house some. It has become a gluttinous money hungry bunch of investors and lawyers that have no care except for the bottom line profits. They are going to sell junk dirt cheap products as long as the people will buy them. Just my thoughts.Thanks

PistolWhipt

Great post FiverBob .... you nailed it on the head.

PISTOL

russ300h

I have lived in Mass all my life. I am now semi retired in Maine. Let's face it, you live in an impovershed area. The only part of New Hampshire that does well is the "Golden Triangle" where the majority of high paid workers commute to Mass to make their living. The rest of us are trying NOT to end up living in an impoverished area. Techs in Mass make easily between 50K to 100K, some even more. On a good day, my daughter (still there) will make $300 in tips at a local restaurant/pub chain and she's only part time going to college. Average homes there are $400K and up and until recently, some signs never made the front lawn. Different world!

Think to WHY your local stores are in the condition they are in. Everybody ran to Wal Mart to save a few bucks. Drove past the Ames, past the IGA, past mom & pop's and now they have no choice but to deal with Wally. They have you where they want you and YOU love it. Years ago there was a TV feature about Wal Mart, blew me away. It affirms the efficency you tout, but not in a good way. During a heat spell, as soon as K-Mart, Sears or whoever ran out of air conditioners, the price shot up at Wally. How do you know anymore you are getting such a good deal there? You have no one to compare them to. People in Vermont see the problem, how hard is it for Wally to open a new store there?

I guess bottom line is your vision of Wally depends on where you come from. More importantly it should depend on where you want to go.

one8upcb

I LOVE WALMART They might sell things made in other countries but really how many companies really sell things strictly made in america. Business people are just smarter. Why pay an american that wants a fortune to work when they can pay cheap labor and actually make some profit. The big picture is We as AMERICANS messed up. And the word that explains it best is GREED

Chrisreyn

How in the world does WalMart compare to Al-Quida?????????????

PistolWhipt

Correlation to "If all your friends were jumping off a bridge ... would you do it too ?" I suppose

Apples to Oranges ..... We haven't worried about the "Commie's" for quite some time.

PISTOL

Chrisreyn

This is the sort of "Strong Reaction" that I dont understand... how on earth is Walmart the cause of all the problems in the country?? Or is it just that its large enough to make a good target???? Is it just a sign of american and corperate growing pains.


like that old "Bubble-Pops" commercial said...."The world may never know...."

NHDiesel

I don't see what you are getting at. I know its a different world...I used to live very close to the Mass. border in southern N.H. The people are jerks, everyone is out for themselves and it was a terrible place to live. I earn less but I live in a much better area. I used to do lots of business in Mass., purchasing vehicles for sale up here or to part out on-line. People down there don't value a dollar and throw away used vehicles dirt cheap, which was very good for us. In fact, my $500 Ram came from Mass.

Actually these stores were in worse condition before Wally came to town. Wally has forced them to raise their standards and attempt to compete in order to survive. When Wally came in, the locals cheered for it and are happy its hear. And we actually had the exact scenario you mentioned happen this summer during a heat wave. Everyone was out of air conditioners except for one small appliance store and Wallyworld. Wally's were on sale for aprox. $100, and the same unit at the small shop was almost $200. Wallys stayed on sale throughout the heat wave, and they replenished their stock to ensure people would have enough. The small places just didn't care that much and didn't worry about their stock.

Jim

mx261

Ok guys and gals, I am closer to this fire than most. I am a diesel mechanic for Werner Enterprises. Werner Enterprises is the dedicated fleet for the Wal-Mart DC up here in Wisconsin. We service Wis, Minn, Iowa, Ind,S. Dakota, Neb and mich. 350 semi loads went out over the past 4 days. Any way, im not going to get into anything to deep on here but I have first hand knowledge of how they really work. It is unbelievable. thats about all im going to say. I just wanted to throw a line, as some of these posts seem to hit tthe nail pretty good. As a job option, imo, IS NOT an option

PistolWhipt

Ya lost me ... not really sure what point you were trying to make ...


PISTOL