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Shan, a lot of people who have good reason to dislike Wal-Mart are also very short of money. Unethical as it is, Wal-Mart is still about the cheapest place around, and is thus very tempting to working class folks like myself. (Though I no longer shop there if I can find what I need anywhere else.)
Posts: 1114 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Two facts about Wal-Mart: -They used to claim that all their product was produced in the United States. Of course, that was when the company was first starting. Now they have over 70% of their inventory that is from China.
-Since they offer usually offer lower quality items at lower prices, and they sell pretty much everything, it puts specialty stores out of business. That eliminates a lot of jobs and replaces them with lower paying ones. Which that means less taxes and a higher poverty rate.
Guys, I'll let you draw your own conclusions from those.
Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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quote:AntiCool wrote: That mirrors my experience. Netflix was much better, though. So much better that I decided to start giving them money.
I totally agree with that. I tried Blockbuster first, but they were slow to mail the movies and often had a short wait for the movies I wanted. Every movie (that I ordered) that had a short wait from Blockbuster was available right away from Netflix, and they mail them faster. It was worth the three extra bucks to go with Netflix.
But back on topic, I agree with a lot of what has been said about WalMart affecting the nation's trade deficit and forcing American manufacturing plants to shut down. The question is whether the low prices and one-stop shopping is worth those arguably bad effects. The average American is not directly (IMO) affected by the bad side effects and so does not associate them with WalMart.
One sneaky thing about WalMart that no one has mentioned is their "entry price" scheme. Their lowest price for the cheapest model in a category, say TVs, is the lowest, but often their higher end models are NOT the lowest price in town. That "entry price" just gets you in the door. Their "low prices" slogan influences you to believe they have the lowest price on everything.
Weird WalMart fact: they shipped two items out to their stores right before the hurricanes hit because their research showed people stocked up on these two items the most. You might think the items were flashlights or batteries. Nope. The two items were...pop tarts and beer.
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Nope, don't go to Walmart because the Kmart and Vons are soooo much closer. An if I am looking for great prices on food I just stop at the commissary on base. When I go to NY I go to Price Chopper. The area I will be living in the Price Chopper is (be prepared) closer.
edit to add: If you haven't guessed it by now, I tend to go to places that are close. I try to conserve my gasoline.
[ March 13, 2005, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: Stan the man ]
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