# Most Hated U.S. Businesses



## Foxfyre (Jul 12, 2010)

Probably BP now heads most lists of most hated businesses in America right now, but lately Wal-Mart is right up there at or near the top of every such list I've seen for the last several years.

The Albuquerque Journal puts out a little "Business Outlook" tabloid every Monday.  That part isn't on line so I can't provide a link, but today's issue provided these facts:

New Mexico nonprofits received $380K in Walmart grants in the past week including:
--Cancer Services of NM - $25,000
--Economic Council Helping Others Inc. food bank - $25,000
--Heart Gallery of NM (older children foster children adoption agency) - $25,000
--La Familia Medical Center (providing medical services to the poor) - $50,000
--NM Wildlife Association - $25,000
--Roadrunner Foodbank - $75,000
--Special Olympics - $25,000
--The Storehouse (another food/thrift bank) - $30,000
--Association of Food Banks - $100,000

In the fiscal year ending Jan 31, 2010 Walmart and its foundation donated more than $5.8 million to NM to N.M. organizations including $315,000 it helped collect as donations for worthy causes.
--Albuquerque Journal - Business Outlook - Page 3

Now if Wal-mart does that in our relatively sparsely populated state, I imagine it does much more in your state.

Is any other major corporation doing this kind of public service?   What's to hate?


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## Madeline (Jul 12, 2010)

Personally, I hate the Hasbro Toy Company, manufacturer of the My Little Pony collection.


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## masquerade (Jul 12, 2010)

Currently, I hate Sears.

Their customer service (IMHO) has declined considerably over the years.  When the warranty is up on my washing machine, I will no longer have anything to do with Sears.  My business with them is done.


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## boedicca (Jul 12, 2010)

What's to hate?   Big Government types hate those who are successful and independent from the government.


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## Foxfyre (Jul 12, 2010)

Madeline said:


> Personally, I hate the Hasbro Toy Company, manufacturer of the My Little Pony collection.



Okay, why?


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## Foxfyre (Jul 12, 2010)

masquerade said:


> Currently, I hate Sears.
> 
> Their customer service (IMHO) has declined considerably over the years.  When the warranty is up on my washing machine, I will no longer have anything to do with Sears.  My business with them is done.



I think I'm right there with you Masquerade.  After a long string of grievances the most recent was this past week.  The expensive treadmill we brought from them has quit working and when we called to see what we could do, they agreed to send somebody out for $95 which we would pay whether they could fix it or not.  Any work they did on it would be on top of that.


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## manifold (Jul 12, 2010)

Perhaps Wal-mart would be better liked if instead of making these charitable donations they used that money to pay their employees a living wage and provide them with healthcare coverage.


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## Foxfyre (Jul 12, 2010)

boedicca said:


> What's to hate?   Big Government types hate those who are successful and independent from the government.



But there are so many they could go after in addition to Wal-mart.  But Wal-mart seems to be a particularly favorite target.

I'm in Zogby's on line polling group and receive intermittant polls about this or that.  But whether the poll is about Presidential or Congressional approval or upcoming elections or religion or opinions about this or that policy or assessment of whatever products, there will invariably be included a totally unrelated question:   "How often do I shop at Wal-mart."

So somebody is paying them to track it.  And I'm guessing that somebody isn't Wal-mart.


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## Foxfyre (Jul 12, 2010)

manifold said:


> Perhaps Wal-mart would be better liked if instead of making these charitable donations they used that money to pay their employees a living wage and provide them with healthcare coverage.



All the Wal-marts around here are paying well above minimum wage and comparable to other similar retail outlets and provide some attractive stock options for all employees that others do not.  I would guess that is the case everywhere.  And there are people waiting in line to get hired--no 'help wanted' signs in any of the windows.  So that can't be it.

Wal-mart also has provided healthcare coverage for all fulltime employees since 2006 and makes it available to part timers who usually decline because of cost, but that also is very typical of all the similar type retailers.  Wal-mart initially suggested phasing out part timers and going to all fulltime employees because of the healthcare issue and accusations of not paying a living wage, but most of their part timers are part timers because they WANT to be part times and that idea got shelved.

So that isn't it.  That is probably part of the ammo used by Wal-mart hates to attack them, but that isn't itl.


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## Madeline (Jul 12, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> masquerade said:
> 
> 
> > Currently, I hate Sears.
> ...



Sears has been the worst IMO, but all the mid-line retailers seem to think that eliminating sales staff and degrading customer service is the pathway to profits.  I despise them all.


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## masquerade (Jul 12, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> masquerade said:
> 
> 
> > Currently, I hate Sears.
> ...


We had multiple customer service people calling us daily, asking if the 'part' had arrived yet.  After almost two weeks, a customer service person phoned with a follow-up to the repair work on the washer.  Keeping in mind here ... the stupid part hadn't arrived yet!  More talk ... blah .. blah .. blah ... someone will be out at your house tomorrow between 8-12.   Well, 12:00 came and went and that's when_ I_ got on the phone.  ( husband had dealt with it up until that point)  I'll spare you the details of that colorful conversation, but I do hope that the manager I waited on hold for for 20 minutes, took my comments regarding their customer service, back to his superiors.  I won't ever know, because like I said, I will never do business with Sears again.


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## Samson (Jul 12, 2010)

manifold said:


> Perhaps Wal-mart would be better liked if instead of making these charitable donations they used that money to pay their employees a living wage and provide them with healthcare coverage.



Didn't a Universal Healthcare Bill pass across Obama's desk only a few months ago?

Doesn't the Federal Gov't set a Minimum Wage?

Perhaps if a Wal-Mart Employee is unhappy with their benefit package, they could go to work for someone else: I understand there's plenty of manufacturing jobs in China.


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## Madeline (Jul 12, 2010)

Samson, we need life sustaining jobs for unskilled workers.  Walmarts fall short.  Ergo, many of us hate Walmarts....but they are hardly alone.  Far too many employers in this "service economy" are no better.


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## Samson (Jul 12, 2010)

Madeline said:


> Samson, we need life sustaining jobs for unskilled workers.  Walmarts fall short.  Ergo, many of us hate Walmarts....but they are hardly alone.  Far too many employers in this "service economy" are no better.



I wasn't aware that all Wal-Mart employees were living in cardboard boxes and eating out of trash cans.

Like, what do you suggest unskilled workers do to "sustain their lives?"

I don't suppose LEARNING A SKILL may be on the list of solutions.


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## Madeline (Jul 12, 2010)

What skill do you suggest a Walmart employee go get, Samson?  I have a kidlet of my own I'm trying to launch, with a BA and an MA, and still, no clear path.  I'm sure eventually things will smooth out for her, but not every kidlet is as intelligent or school-oriented.  

Maybe Walmarts deserves all the animosity I feel for them, maybe not....but I think the young deserve our compassion.


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## Ravi (Jul 12, 2010)

Why does Walmart need our love?


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## Foxfyre (Jul 12, 2010)

The thing is most Wal-mart employees don't think Wal-mart falls short, and that's why they work there.  Everybody who works doesn't NEED to earn what you or I would consider a 'living wage'.

Why is it Wal-mart's obligation to pay people more than they need to in order to hire people?   Nobody else does no matter what business it is.

I would think it important that there is honest work made available for unskilled labor as most of us at some time in our life have BEEN unskilled labor and needed a place to plug into to develop a work ethic, obtain skills, acquire references so that we could move up and beyond unskilled labor.

In 2009 Wal-mart was paying an average hourly wage of $11.24/hour.  Sears, by comparison, is paying their floor sales people between $6 & $9/hour.


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## Samson (Jul 12, 2010)

Ravi said:


> Why does Walmart need our love?



Maybe they simply want to contribute to the communities in which they do business?


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## Samson (Jul 12, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> The thing is most Wal-mart employees don't think Wal-mart falls short, and that's why they work there.  ....
> 
> In 2009 Wal-mart was paying an average hourly wage of $11.24/hour.  Sears, by comparison, is paying their floor sales people between $6 & $9/hour.



You realise you're making entirely too much sense.


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## Foxfyre (Jul 12, 2010)

Hey I have an idea.

Since everybody thinks Wal-mart pays pitiful wages and aren't paying a 'living wage' even though they are paying more than most retail outlets, and. . . .

Since everybody thinks it is Wal-mart's duty and ONLY Wal-mart's duty to pay a living wage. . . .

How about we just get Obama and the Congress to establish a minimum wage that is a 'living wage'.

How much should that be?   Give me a number so I can call it in as a suggestion.

And once in place, then Wal-mart will have to pay it.  Of course everybody else will too.

And while you're figuring the number we need to shoot for here, the rest of us can be considering:

--You can live luxuriously in Borger TX or Salina KS on a modest fraction of the money it takes for the same standard of living in San Francisco or New York City.

--Once minimum wage exceeds the wage that employees have worked for and earned, there is probably going to be some disgruntled employees unless they are given comparable wages over mnimum wage.

--And once that happens, inflation in the form of much higher prices for everything will wipe out much or all or more than the increase in wages.

--the the 'poor' will still be just as 'poor' in comparison to the rich.

So what will we have gained?


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## Yukon. (Jul 12, 2010)

Strange but the companies that do the most for the average person are hated the most by Conservatives.


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## Samson (Jul 12, 2010)

Yukon. said:


> Strange but the companies that do the most for the average person are hated the most by Conservatives.




Strange but you did not identify whatever-the-hell companies you're talking about.


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## Douger (Jul 12, 2010)

You have the option of avoiding Walmart.
You don't have the option not to be poisoned by your govt..... fluoridated water etc.
Very few have the option not to eat GM poison.
Cargill ADM, Monsanto etc.
Your milk is destroyed and your food is full of pesticides. Your water is recycled from human shit but there is no way to filter out the heavy metals, hormones and pharmaceuticals in it.
It's law that all animal feed in the empire contain hormones and antibiotics.......VIA above mentioned Nazi companies.

You're all being murdered slowly.
Have a nice day and remember " Gawd Blass Murka ! "


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## Nosmo King (Jul 12, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> Hey I have an idea.
> 
> Since everybody thinks Wal-mart pays pitiful wages and aren't paying a 'living wage' even though they are paying more than most retail outlets, and. . . .
> 
> ...


Above and beyond what Wal*Mart pays or does not pay, my gripe with them has to do with the way they conduct business.  Wal*Mart has chased Mom and Pop operations in business for years and run by generations of the same family completely out of business.  Wal*Mart's clout allows them to pressure suppliers into lower costs.  That tactic is not available to the small business person.  And they call it a "Free" market!

Regulars at the USMB Coffee Shop know about the All-Class reunion held in my hometown over the July 4th weekend.   The high school alumnae association foots the bill (this year it ran over $65,000).  The only means to recoup this expense is a voluntary registration fee ($10) and t-shirt and souvenir sales.  This year, our local Wal*Mart printed and sold All-Class reunion t-shirts without clearing it with the organizing committee.  Wal*Mart refused to pull the shirts or share in the profits!  Is this the way we want our businesses to operate?

Ask the good people of Wooster, Ohio about Wal*Mart!  In Wooster one could find the Rubbermaid Company.  When Rubbermaid wanted to market through Wal*Mart, Wal*Mart asked Rubbermaid to lower the cost of their products.  Rubbermaid could not further lower costs without cutting into their own profits.  Wal*Mart told Rubbermaid to move operations to China so the costs could come down to their self-imposed threshold.

Now, without the operations in Wooster, the people there can't afford to buy much anymore.

Pop quiz: Who is China's fifth largest trading partner?  



Answer: Wal*Mart!

Buy American or not at all!


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## Foxfyre (Jul 12, 2010)

Nosmo, I hear what you're saying and I'm sure every bit of it is true.  And I don't know enough of any of those circumstances to even comment, much less attempt to defend Wal-mart.

When Mr. Foxfyre and I lived in a small rural community in the mountains just east of Albuquerque, a Walmart Super Center planned to go in out there.  But we loved our little Mom and Pop shops and services out there--all picturesque, friendly, and comfortable--and we knew we would lose those and the general atmosphere if the Walmart went in.  So we joined in to actively and successfully petition to block it.

I have also mourned the loss of two favorite dress shops that especially carried styles and colors I love.  They could compete easily with Walmart, but they couldn't compete with the big department stores as more and more moved into our city.  We lost a favorite and helpful little office supply and computer store to the big box stores like Office Depot and Office Max.  All our cozy little book shops eventually closed when Barnes & Nobles and Borders moved in.   Neighborhood movie theaters closed as the big, impersonal multi-theater complexes sprang up.  Small homegrown restaurants can't compete against the big franchise places moving in.  Our friendly local mechanic finally closed up shop when they couldn't compete against discounted services at Costco and Sears.  It's a rare corner grocery store that can hold on if there is a big chain supermarket within 15 minutes.

However much we deplore it, times and cultures change, and stuff we used to treasure goes by the wayside and sometimes we find it difficult to get attached to or appreciate the new stuff.

So the answer to competition from China is not in closing down Walmart.  Destroy Walmart and there will be somebody more than willing to fill that void and accept the products from China that Walmart no longer buys.

The answer is to elect a President and Congress who want a strong manufacturing base and vigorous commerce and industry here in the United States and who will create a regulatory and tax environment that makes it attractive and desirable to make things and do business here more than anywhere else.


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## Samson (Jul 12, 2010)

Douger said:


> You have the option of avoiding Walmart.
> You don't have the option not to be poisoned by your govt..... fluoridated water etc.
> Very few have the option not to eat GM poison.
> Cargill ADM, Monsanto etc.
> ...



Yet, oddly, our life expectancy continues to rise..........


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## Luissa (Jul 12, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> Probably BP now heads most lists of most hated businesses in America right now, but lately Wal-Mart is right up there at or near the top of every such list I've seen for the last several years.
> 
> The Albuquerque Journal puts out a little "Business Outlook" tabloid every Monday.  That part isn't on line so I can't provide a link, but today's issue provided these facts:
> 
> ...



Why do you check out there factories in China?
And until recently they took life insurance policies on their employees. They are prime example of what is really killing the small business in this country.
But Walmart isn't the top of my list.


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## Samson (Jul 12, 2010)

Luissa said:


> Foxfyre said:
> 
> 
> > Probably BP now heads most lists of most hated businesses in America right now, but lately Wal-Mart is right up there at or near the top of every such list I've seen for the last several years.
> ...



Since you brought up "their factories in China" why don't you prove how bad they are?

Linky?

Frankly, they could be models of social progress for all we know.


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## blu (Jul 12, 2010)

manifold said:


> Perhaps Wal-mart would be better liked if instead of making these charitable donations they used that money to pay their employees a living wage and provide them with healthcare coverage.





not to mention the exploitation of native people all over the world.


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## blu (Jul 12, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> manifold said:
> 
> 
> > Perhaps Wal-mart would be better liked if instead of making these charitable donations they used that money to pay their employees a living wage and provide them with healthcare coverage.
> ...



thats why they have some many people who are forced to work 1 hour under full time a week so they don't get benefits.


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## blu (Jul 12, 2010)

Madeline said:


> What skill do you suggest a Walmart employee go get, Samson?  I have a kidlet of my own I'm trying to launch, with a BA and an MA, and still, no clear path.  I'm sure eventually things will smooth out for her, but not every kidlet is as intelligent or school-oriented.
> 
> Maybe Walmarts deserves all the animosity I feel for them, maybe not....but I think the young deserve our compassion.



what are your daughters degrees in?


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## blu (Jul 12, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> *The thing is most Wal-mart employees don't think Wal-mart falls short, and that's why they work there.*



wow, you are an idiot. that is like saying the sweat shop people in china work there because they don't think the factories fall short.

also, sears pay less per hour but has more benefits meaning they pay more in the end.


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## blu (Jul 12, 2010)

Samson said:


> Ravi said:
> 
> 
> > Why does Walmart need our love?
> ...



yea but shutting down all the other small businesses in the area that sell goods and then enslaving all the people who just lost their job to shit pay and no benefits. what saviours they are!


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## blu (Jul 12, 2010)

bp, walmart, microsft, and apple are my most hated companies. 

$15 fork haliburton and 'rape as you go' blackwater are too but so many other people hate them I don't think they need me to join too


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## Samson (Jul 12, 2010)

blu said:


> Samson said:
> 
> 
> > Ravi said:
> ...



I was referring to the OP.


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## Foxfyre (Jul 12, 2010)

I am still waiting for you guys who hate Walmart to tell me what wage the government should force them to pay.  And what benefits they should be forced to provide their employees.

I mean this is serious since apparently you're saying all those folks who work for Walmart are FORCED to work for Walmart and have absolutely no place else to go.

And shouldn't everybody else from McDonalds to Sonic to Sears to Office Max to Big 5 to Barnes & Noble also be forced to pay that living wage, whatever it is, as all of those pay lower averages wages than Walmart does.


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## Samson (Jul 12, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> I am still waiting for you guys who hate Walmart to tell me what wage the government should force them to pay.  And what benefits they should be forced to provide their employees..



YEAH??


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## Nosmo King (Jul 12, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> Nosmo, I hear what you're saying and I'm sure every bit of it is true.  And I don't know enough of any of those circumstances to even comment, much less attempt to defend Wal-mart.
> 
> When Mr. Foxfyre and I lived in a small rural community in the mountains just east of Albuquerque, a Walmart Super Center planned to go in out there.  But we loved our little Mom and Pop shops and services out there--all picturesque, friendly, and comfortable--and we knew we would lose those and the general atmosphere if the Walmart went in.  So we joined in to actively and successfully petition to block it.
> 
> ...


It's not the kitsch or charm of small town life at stake.  It's people's basic freedom to compete in a free Capitalist marketplace.  Multi-nationals like Wal*Mart have an unarguably unfair advantage in this marketplace.

For all the hubbub about Obama's 'socialist agenda', there are those who shout about it and then shop at Wal*Mart and think it's just dandy!

How can people claim to love the 'free market' also love the way it has been co-opted by giants and foreigners?  I can't square that rationalization at all!

That's why I don't shop at Wal*Mart and encourage as many folks to do likewise.  I love this country too much to allow one retailer to call the tune for every potential entrepreneur.


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## Samson (Jul 13, 2010)

Nosmo King said:


> That's why I don't shop at Wal*Mart and encourage as many folks to do likewise.  I love this country too much to allow one retailer to call the tune for every potential entrepreneur.



Meh...I've yet to see a town with only a Wal-mart, and no other entrepreneur's business


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## Nosmo King (Jul 13, 2010)

Samson said:


> Nosmo King said:
> 
> 
> > That's why I don't shop at Wal*Mart and encourage as many folks to do likewise.  I love this country too much to allow one retailer to call the tune for every potential entrepreneur.
> ...


Granted.  But how many small retailers survive after Wal*Mart opens?


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## Foxfyre (Jul 13, 2010)

Nosmo King said:


> Samson said:
> 
> 
> > Nosmo King said:
> ...



Almost all good ones do who use the Wal-mart as an anchor store to draw customers into the area.   Every Wal-mart around here is amidst a bunch of small businesses all that would probably have a much tougher time of it if the Wal-mart was not there.  They have to provide products and services different than what Wal-mart offers, of course, but they need the anchor store there.

When we still lived on the mountain, I depended heavily on several businesses in a shopping center at the first exit as you come into the city.  Wal-mart was the anchor store but there was a photo service, shoe store, great pizza place, dry cleaners, pet groomer, etc. all there.  When Wal-mart relocated though, all those little businesses started struggling and one by one also moved elsewhere.  Much to my consternation of course.

So there's always a flip side.   Most small businesses can't compete with Wal-mart and would be foolish to try.  But Wal-mart also provides an anchor for many other small businesses who don't directly compete with it.   It isn't all negatives.


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## Samson (Jul 13, 2010)

Nosmo King said:


> Samson said:
> 
> 
> > Nosmo King said:
> ...



By "small retailer" I'm thinking of the 5-Dime, mom-and pop General Mechantile Store.

None Survive.

But, I don't think of Wal-Mart as being the main cause of the demise of these stores. I see them disappearing a long time before Wal-Mart appeared on the scene. Their doom was the rise of the Gas-Station/Convenience Store. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Sinclair, etc.

In my area, I've mourned the loss of one store, Tru-Value Hardware, which couldn't compete with Wal-Mart. But this wasn't a small retailer.


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## Yukon. (Jul 13, 2010)

Enron is a good business.


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## Samson (Jul 13, 2010)

Yukon. said:


> Enron is a good business.





Enron's been defunct for the past 9 years.

Genius.


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## editec (Jul 13, 2010)

WALMART is the sympton, not the disease.

I don't know why so many people hate that company.

They basically sell the same crap as everybody else.

They just sell one hell of a lot of it.

Sure they're in part responsible for the continued erosiion of small businesses and downtowns in the USA, but that erosion of small businesses and downtowns was happening decades before most of us ever heard of WALMARTS.

Malls started killing downtowns in the 1950s.

Superstores are merely the next logical step in retailing just like DEPARTMENT stores were the logical step in the early XXth century.

I don't think WALMART is a good company, or a bad company, either.

They are playing by the rules that our government demands of them.


If we want to change WALMART, change those rules.

They'll play by them and they'll probably STILL keep winning......until somebody invents a newer business model that puts WALMARTS OOB, just like has been happening to Sears Roebuck since the mid 1970s.

This anti-WALMART nonsense is why many of fellow liberals make me nuts.

Their complaints make like* zero* sense.


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## Samson (Jul 13, 2010)

editec said:


> This anti-WALMART nonsense is why many of fellow liberals make me nuts.
> 
> Their complaints make zero sense.



I believe Socialists hate any example of Private Business Success.


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## Nosmo King (Jul 13, 2010)

Samson said:


> Nosmo King said:
> 
> 
> > Samson said:
> ...


Just an example; at one time prior to Wal*Mart, there were seven (7) different stores offering bicycles here.  After Wal*Mart there is but one~ and that's Wal*Mart itself.  My sister-in-law knits and crochets.  She said five years ago, she could shop at at least five different retailers for yarn.  Now, she only has Wal*Mart.


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## Nosmo King (Jul 13, 2010)

Samson said:


> editec said:
> 
> 
> > This anti-WALMART nonsense is why many of fellow liberals make me nuts.
> ...


But editec said "Liberals"  I know because I read it.  You jump inexplicably to Socialists and an assumption of "hate" among those Socialists.  why?  

Trying to poison a thread or pick a fight?


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## Samson (Jul 13, 2010)

Nosmo King said:


> Samson said:
> 
> 
> > editec said:
> ...



I said Socialist because that's what I meant.

I don't equate "liberal" with socialist.


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## Yukon. (Jul 13, 2010)

To the Conservatives all Liberals are socialists. They have such poor education they dont know the difference. Consider idiots like CornHolio,  a card carry GOP moron.


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## Foxfyre (Jul 13, 2010)

Samson said:


> Nosmo King said:
> 
> 
> > Samson said:
> ...



We did have a Tru-Value out there on the mountain that did a pretty fair business, but eventually went belly up.  None of us minded paying a bit more to buy out there locally because it was nice not having to drive all the way into town to get some picture hangers or a bucket of paint.  But they kept racheting up the prices sometimes to unacceptable levels and their service deteriorated.  Before long everybody was driving in to the big box building supply stores.

I don't think it was Wal-mart that did in Tru-Value.  I think it was Tru-Value taking their customers for granted when they had to compete with stores like Lowe's and Home Depot.  The only homegrown stores that have been able to compete with those is a local company called Sammons.  They have two or three store but are big enough and do enough volume to keep their prices competetive with Lowe's and Home depot, and offset their slightly higher prices by providing highly knowledgeable and personalized superb service.  They aren't going to sell you the wrong kinds of screws or nails or paint for your project.  They're holding their own.


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## Samson (Jul 13, 2010)

Foxfyre said:


> They have two or three store but are big enough and do enough volume to keep their prices competetive with Lowe's and Home depot, and offset their slightly higher prices by providing highly knowledgeable and personalized superb service.  They aren't going to sell you the wrong kinds of screws or nails or paint for your project.  They're holding their own.



But....But.....

How can this be???

A local business competing with Wal-Mart on the basis of offering superior service???


You must be mistaken: Nothing can stand in the way of the Evul MultiNational Wal-Mart.


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## GHook93 (Jul 13, 2010)

The coffee blows, but I spend a fortune their because my wife is addicted Grande Vanilla Skim Lattes and my kids are addicted to Strawberries and Cream!


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