Evil Walmart?

[gangster]

I'd rather pay a little more and buy from a "mom and pop" shop!

[Elie]

here here!!!!

Cheers,
Elie

[Brian Ellis]

Wal-Mart Agrees to Pay Fine, Stop Selling Refrigerants (USA)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. agreed Thursday to pay a $400,000 penalty and to stop selling refrigerants that contain ozone-depleting substances. The consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City settles violations of the Clean Air Act by various Sam's Club stores, which are owned by Wal-Mart, said Todd P. Graves, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri. A federal complaint cited Wal-Mart for 20 violations of the Clean Air Act, which restricts sales of certain ozone-depleting refrigerants to technicians who are certified to use the substances. According to the complaint, Sam's Club stores in 11 states sold refrigerants used for automobile air conditioners or other refrigeration systems to customers who were not certified to use them. "These chemicals are regulated by the federal government because they contribute to ozone-depleting pollution," Graves said. "Retailers have an obligation to responsibly monitor the sale of these products." The ozone layer protects humans and animals from damaging ultraviolet rays. Excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation can cause cataracts, skin cancer and other ailments. "This settlement will aid in protecting the ozone layer worldwide by eliminating from the earth's atmosphere harmful refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that leak from industrial appliances and have contributed to the depletion of the earth's ozone layer in recent years," said Assistant Attorney General Thomas L. Sansonetti. The consent decree settles violations of the Clean Air Act at stores in Missouri, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and West Virginia. The violations in Missouri occurred at Sam's Club stores in Independence, Springfield and Joplin.
Article @ http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...ws/7772965.htm
Source : The Miami Herald, quoting the Associated Press, 22 January 2004

[Brian R.]

Walmart in China

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22507-2004Feb7.html

These people are squeezable.

[K6-III]

There's a reason I don't shop at Walmart. (leading importer of chinese-made goods)

It took me 4 days to find europe-made athletic shoes, but damn well I found them.

I don't buy clothes made in China, I don't by technology items made in china, unless there really is no alternative. Same applies for taiwan.

If we put an effort into it, it is possible not to buy Made In China...

[schmosef]

Wal-Mart is a shining example of the free market system. You can’t blame Wal-Mart for being successful at the “game”. They’re simply doing a great job of exploiting the rules to their benefit.

When they do fall out of line, they should be reigned in by the government, a la fines for employing foreign workers and improperly selling regulated merchandise. However, such examples of contravention of the rules are better understood as middle management incompetence (which is inevitable in a company that size) and not indicative of high level strategic planning. At a high level, they’re simply leveraging the system, as it is, to provide value to their share holders.

I applaud anyone who avoids Wal-Mart or chooses to “buy American” on principle but the reality is that it’s a drop in the bucket. You can’t expect Joe six-pack to see beyond his immediate need to feed his family when trying to balance his budget. It’s up to corporations to make deals that maintain and grow the economy. Yet the rules of the current system don’t reward long term corporate altruism. If not for government intervention, seatbelts would still be an option--and perhaps only available on high end vehicles (as currently anti-roll systems are on high end SUVs). The Reagan administration lowered vehicle bumper standards in the 80s and the cars we drive today, 20 years later, are still less safe because of it.

It is the government’s responsibility to see three steps ahead, look at the mess that’s in store, and legislate pre-emptive change. It’s obvious that the rules need to be tweaked to ensure the long term viability of the game.

Now Wal-Mart's lobbying arm has grown so big that it is in a position to influence the rules. This raises red flags and, in my opinion, should be a cornerstone issue of the upcoming election. The current system allows Wal-Mart to be involved at a level that is simply a conflict of interest. What competent board of directors would lobby government to implement new rules that would effectively lower profit? As with the separation of Church and state, there need to be more clear legislation separating Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Bush administration seems to carry the stench of corporate influence in every major policy decision that I can remember: environment, energy, Iraq, the list goes on. And I don’t even know if the inference is justified, I just know what I feel about what I’ve read and heard. (And I’m still for the war in Iraq!)

As I’ve said in another post, the Democrats seem poised for a real fight. I think that this is an issue in which they can score a K.O.

[KvHagedorn]

I agree with most of what you said, schmosef, but don't think the Democrats are any less guilty of sucking corporate dick. As has been noted elsewhere, Kerry is one of the worst when it comes to taking money from special interests, including corporations. Remember Democrat Fritz Hollings and Disney?

The whole system is rotten to the core. We need another Teddy Roosevelt who isn't afraid to take on big business interests. The main problem is that institutionalized bribery is just that.. institutionalized. Giving money to politicians 100 years ago, well everyone knew it was criminal, plain and simple. Now it's just business as usual.

[schmosef]

I agree that both parties are rife with corrupting elements. Don’t confuse me for a Democrat or Republican.

[tangent]I’m Canadian. And don’t get me started on corruption in Canadian Politics… Our retarded government overspent on a gun registry database by a BILLION DOLLARS! And no one was made to account for it! They’ve managed to placate the population here by feeding us lines like “At least we’re smarter and more respected than the Americans” and “Our social services are among the best in the world”. Meanwhile, we’ve become the forgotten uncle of international diplomacy and people are waiting in ridiculously long lines for even the most basic of medical services.[/tangent]

I just think that the Donkies are in a better position to make an issue out of the evils of corporate influence during this upcoming US election.

Beyond that, I think it’s really up to the people of America to force the politicians to do what’s right.

[KvHagedorn]

The worst thing about Wal-Mart is that it destroys opportunity by working from the wrong end. People need to be able to afford necessities like a home and health insurance, not enticed by some megamarketer into buying a lot of cheap junk to fill the emptiness of their trailer-park existence. Wal-Mart is like a drug pusher, selling cheap fixes to people addicted to consumerism.

What people buy at Wal-Mart could be bought anywhere else if Wal-Mart wasn't there, and it would be a better quality product because Wal-Mart had not squeezed the manufacturer to cheapen it in order to survive. There would be more competition, so the price would still be reasonable, but people would not over-consume. The example of the Vlassic Gallon jug of pickles is perfect. What happens is people buy the gallon and 3/4 of it rots and has to be tossed out. They would still pay less to buy a quart in the grocery store, and get the same utility. But the Vlassic company decided it has to crawl to Wal-Mart and provide them with cheap gallon jugs because Wal-Mart wants them (this too is a mistake.. if I were a manufacturer, I would refuse to sell to those people.) Vlassic makes less money, the farmers make less money, everyone but the Waltons makes less money. This goes further to concentrate wealth in the hands of the richest people and turn everyone else into minimum wage serfs. Don't let Wal-Mart off the hook by saying they are just doing what anyone with good business sense does. They are predators.. predators out of control, and they are killing off the middle class because our government is too corrupt to stop them.

[Jon P. Inghram]

You people are just paranoid. Show me any information, even if only works of fiction, that would imply that a world ran by corporations would be a bad thing.

[KvHagedorn]

Gee I hope you are being sarcastic.. how about Rollerball?

[Jon P. Inghram]

Yep, that'd be why I put a winking smilely in the post. The way things are going right now I really wonder what the country (ignoring external events like terrorists) will be like in 20 years.

[MultimediaMan]

You know KvH... people like you are called "Closet Aristocrats". You have this arrogant sense of superiority and riteousness that stinks up the forum. You have no idea what you are talking about.

You obviously don't care about saving money or giving everyone their fair shake.

This whole "discussion" started with a half-assed article about how Wal-Mart does business that every other retailer in the U.S. does at some level or another. Including the mom and pop shop that sells Chinese-made portable Radios. When was last time you were able to BUY a U.S.-Built Portable Radio?

Bueller.....?

Bueller..........?

Is that Wal-Mart's fault? We weren't even a player in the top 100 when the last pocket Radio was made in the U.S.

Every retailer does it, and Wal-Mart gets singled out because we are the biggest. Mom and Pop are still the biggest overall, read on to find out why...

Retailers who see a Wal-Mart move in know they either have to compete or offer something Wal-Mart doesn't. And that's not hard to do. Since direct competition is not an option for most the retailers who have any business sense at all (Read: 99.9% of them.) know that they must change their business to the better alternative/higher-end (and higher markup) items that Wal-Mart doesn't offer, and change their business to tending to service-related needs for goods purchased at Wal-Mart: Computers, Mowers, TV, Microwave ovens, you name it. And for those customers wanting more than their Local Wal-Mart has to offer, these retailers are more than happy to satisfy that need.

These "Table Scraps", as you will no doubt call them, amount to billions of dollars in profit to small businesses.

You can't blame Wal-Mart for growing...even as big as we are we constitute less than 10% of all retail sales in the U.S.; even though we are the countries largest Grocer, we still sell less than 8% of all Groceries. Retailers that don't grow, die. Look at K-Mart, JCPenney, and Sears. Guess who constitutes the bulk of Retail? Mom and Pop. And don't tell me Mom and Pop shops start their people at $7.50 an hour part-time, or offers benefits...or stock ownership.

Ever think about the people Wal-Mart employs? 1.413 Million of them, every one of them gets paid more than the "average" wage in their area. Personally, I was able to PURCHASE a new house and still have enough left over to cover my families needs, now and into the future. I am an hourly associate (though hopefully not for much longer: I'm itching for a salaried position).

Now, to set the Record straight, regarding the Illegal Immigrant Contractor Issue, please note that we were cooperating with a Government investigation since 1998 that asked us to use these contractors as part of an ongoing investigation. The U.S. Attorney's Office has been very quiet lately about that issue, hasn't it? They screwed up, big time, and we know it.

[schmosef]

MultimediaMan makes my point. You can't blame Wal-Mart for working the system so successfully.

The fault lies with regulation and the regulators.

What Wal-Mart does is take the system to its logical extreme. Actually, I think that the real extreme (if you believe the proposition that Wal-Mart destroys its suppliers) would have Wal-Mart chewing up and spitting out every available supplier in any given category and then be forced to accept the whims of whomever stepped up to fill the void. In any case, the only solution is to change the laws. Wal-Mart is not going to change its business practices otherwise.

Personally, I envision something along the lines of: if you’re an American company selling to other American companies or to American consumers, a certain percentage of your product has to be sourced / manufactured in the USA. And if you’re a foreign company trying to sell in America, you should pay a surcharge to the US government in the form of an import tariff.

Wal-Mart would have to ensure that all it’s suppliers conformed to the rules, and each tier 1 supplier would have to keep their tier 2s, 3s, etc. in line.

I realise that this is overly simplistic and I can already envision a few flaws, but I offer it as a working model for change. Something also has to be worked in to factor the working conditions of off shore labour.

Lastly, I have to say that I totally disagree with KvH’s little rant. KvH, you speak like someone with high ideals, altruistic vision, and no real-world experience. That’s not the way the world works. You remind me of this coloured girl I knew who HATED Koreans because they owned all the liquor stores in Harlem. First, she was generalising. Second, she wasn’t laying blame where blame was / is due. Listen this is not a flame, instead of trying to flame me back, try explaining the viability of a retail business model that involves a company preaching to consumers "you don't want to buy something today, best keep your money in the bank so you can buy something from someone else tomorrow".

Bueller.....?

[MultimediaMan]

Off Shore labor is a fact of life in the global economy, and many in Wal-Mart don't like it one bit.

However, we sell what sells. Some people have blithely gone on to say we define what sells. But from my above post, we know Wal-Mart has less than 10% market share, so that cannot possibly be true.

However, many items are priced so competitively that they have to be made offshore. When you're a discount retailer, this is really important. The final price is very important. We cut costs in far more ways than having our suppliers cut their costs. We analyze and critique our business constantly. By doing this we identify what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong. We look to new ways of controlling costs: our biggest "secret" is controlling our costs from within, and figuring out new ways of controlling costs. We share our knowledge on how we do this with our vendors, and we expect them to improve as we improve. And we do improve, every year.

Most of you would freak to know exactly how many people we have in my department as compared to some of our competitors. I'm not certain I can say a definite number or percentage with my NDA, so I will refrain from saying until I can talk to my Director about it.

I can say we do it with fewer people than our competitors.

However, I can say we have deployed and maintain over one million pieces of equipment, the vast majority of which are IP addressable or otherwise connected to our networks.

This is more than our competitors, again I cannot say how much more.

Why I'm mentioning this is important. We never wanted to be the biggest. We want to be the best.

Best is a superlative to an adjective, and thus it can mean many things on many levels. Profit is one thing, but there are several other things we are after.

We have a motto: "Today is the worst we will ever be, we can only get better".