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<p>What would you suggest for the people that need jobs?</p>
<p>A lady that I knew worked there for extra cash or maybe she just wanted to work some hours outside the home. Her husband had a good job and they were doing reasonably well so she got a job as a cashier at WalMart. I assume her husband’s employment covered their health insurance requirements.</p>
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<p>I gave my opinion. It is as valid as yours.</p>
<p>I believe all people should be paid and have working conditions that comply with the law. Even those people “that others would not consider”. Wal-Mart has lost several lawsuits on these subjects. Here are some links for your education:</p>
<p>[Wal-Mart</a> Campaign | International Labor Rights Forum](<a href=“http://www.laborrights.org/creating-a-sweatfree-world/wal-mart-campaign]Wal-Mart”>Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum |)</p>
<p>[Walmart</a> labor abuses come back to haunt as Black Friday walkout looms – Society’s Child – Sott.net](<a href=“http://www.sott.net/article/252827-Walmart-labor-abuses-come-back-to-haunt-as-Black-Friday-walkout-looms]Walmart”>http://www.sott.net/article/252827-Walmart-labor-abuses-come-back-to-haunt-as-Black-Friday-walkout-looms)</p>
<p>[Walmart:</a> Leading the Race to the Bottom | Global Exchange](<a href=“http://www.globalexchange.org/sweatfree/walmart/racetobottom]Walmart:”>http://www.globalexchange.org/sweatfree/walmart/racetobottom)</p>
<p>[Criticism</a> of Walmart - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Walmart]Criticism”>Criticism of Walmart - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>There are apparently more Walmarts in Washington state than I realized, but I always shop as local as possible.</p>
<p>What an interesting thread! Growing up, my family not only shopped at Wal-Mart but we also always waited till things were on sale before we got them. I remember, before they finally got stable jobs, my parents used to drive around to every store in town till they figure out the one where the cucumbers were the cheapest. While Wal-Mart could be a little expensive, at least all the stuff there were new, and the employees all spoke English.</p>
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<p>A transparent system, where either jobs are either really part time, not just under the full-time limit, or really full-time, so people who live on the wages, can…</p>
<p>And a transparent healthcare payment system, where either we have employer-based health insurance, or government health insurance, rather than pretending we have the former, but allowing employers to shift people to the latter.</p>
<p>This in between state costs everyone, so that Walmart can make a bigger profit.</p>
<p>Costco’s somehow seems to be able to provide a more humane model; maybe Walmart could study them, if they cared to.</p>
<p>If Walmart raised its prices to pay better wages/benefits–where would poor people shop?
People like to make fun of the look/behavior of the people who shop/work at at Walmart. If you have extra $ you are free to pay more for “atmosphere”–that way you won’t have to have to look at poorly dressed customers or handicapped greeters/cart pushers.</p>
<p>BTW, Walmart has a big variety of food choices–including organic/vegetarian/all natural, ethnic etc. I don’t know if all Walmarts do this, but here they will match any advertised price from any other store in town.</p>
<p>My mom lives in a rural area and is stuck with Walmart. The thing she loves the most about coming to visit me is not having to go to Walmart. She hates having to buy their meat and produce. About the only other choice she has is Food Lion and that is even worse.</p>
<p>Again, I’m not convinced they’d have to raise their prices so much–other stores manage. </p>
<p>And where did they shop before Walmart came to town? </p>
<p>Plus, Walmart wages drive down the income levels, keeping the cycle going.</p>
<p>Rarely do I go into Walmart. We have many shopping choices in this area, and, amongst other things, Walmart isn’t especially close to where I live. It’s older. Big. I’ve only been in there a few times. </p>
<p>Where we used to live the Walmart was a newer store, pretty nice, and in a good location, but it’s not a place I normally ever went. The main reason may sound silly. Too many people in the parking lot. A lot of kids. And stray carts. I felt like I needed an extra set of eyeballs to navigate my way in and out of the lot.</p>
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<p>As a business owner, how do you navigate changes in the system which may disrupt your cost model?</p>
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<p>My former project leader lived in the UK where they have healthcare provided by the government. And she elected, through her employer, to get a much higher level of healthcare service. So there may be gray areas too.</p>
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<p>WalMart’s operating margin is 6%.</p>
<p>It doesn’t seem like they’re making big profits.</p>
<p>For comparison, McDonalds’ operating margin is 30%, Home Depot’s is 10%, Yum! Brands’ (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) is 16%, IBM’s is 21%, Dollar Tree’s is 12%, and Panera Bread’s is 13%.</p>
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<p>I recall that Costco has a membership model and they are somewhat more upscale compared to WalMart, correct? Costco’s operating margin is 3% so they are operating on thinner margins but Costco’s revenues are about $2 billion compared to $464 billion for WalMart. It might not be possible for Costco to scale up to WalMart volumes.</p>
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<p>I don’t think that there are any other stores out there with comparable scale and their demographics. Do you have any examples of stores out there with similar customer demographics and annual sales?</p>
<p>I shop at Wal-Mart maybe a couple of times a year - there are a few things that I unfortunately cannot get anywhere else, it seems.</p>
<p>In general, I avoid them - I think that their costs are low but so is the value, and the treatment of the employees hurts both the employees and society. </p>
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In many ways I think that is a separate problem - Wal-Mart does not exclusively or even primarily service those too poor to shop at other stores. In my experience the savings at Wal-Mart are marginal at best, and are often made at the expense of needed quality and the living of their workers. The poor would generally be better shopping nearly anywhere else at all, as would everyone else.</p>
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I come from a long line of white trash - my issues with Wal-Mart have nothing to do with their customer base. I actually knew one of those disabled greeters, and she was treated like human garbage that should have been greatful anyone would employ her.</p>
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Somewhat, by scale alone, but variety does not equal quality - despite my MIL’s preference for shopping there, I have never had good experiences with Wal-Mart purchased food.</p>
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Yes and no. They will match on the same item, and often go to great lengths to show (correctly) that no one else carries their stock. Remember that Wal-Mart is a huge buyer and their demand for low cost and high profit often results in products uniquely tailored to meet their demands and sold nowhere else!</p>
<p>Funny story - when I was in my last semester of engineering undergrad, I (and a number of fellow students) was invited out to tour a local business that designed circuit boards for home entertainment electronics. They sold their designs to a number of customers, but realized after awhile that their products were not going to Wal-Mart - manufacturer X would use their boards in products sold at OTHER stores, but not at Wal-Mart. When they asked why, the manufacturers (the several who replied) said that Wal-Mart required that they create special models, using the CURRENT cases but designs that were a couple of years old, and farmed out to the cheapest manufacturers available. This way, the electronics LOOKED and WERE PRICED as if new, but were shoddily-built versions of old designs - maximizing profit! The few times that I went to check on this, the model numbers on the Wal-Mart TV’s and DVD players I checked were found in no other stores, which incidentally side steps the whole price guarantee.</p>
<p>I seldom shop at Walmart. I would say never, but sometimes, in a pinch, I find myself in one. I don’t like their business practices, but I also don’t like the atmosphere in the stores. They are just ugly, IMO. I don’t mind Walmart’s presence so much in big cities, but I don’t like what they have done to small rural towns – put the very few small businesses in some of these places out of business, basically.</p>
<p>I also had two of my worst <em>shopping</em> experiences at Walmarts in rural towns in South Dakota. Treated like a shoplifting suspect – twice, in two different stores located on the fringes of small towns when the buzzer went off. I had the receipt with me, so it was obvious I didn’t steal anything, but still was treated with suspicion. So weird, and so unlike the usual friendly service in midwestern businesses. Or any other successful business, for that matter.</p>
<p>i have choices, and so i never set foot in a walmarts</p>
<p>So how much is the Cabot cheese per pound? We buy it at BJs but if it’s cheaper at Walmart, I’ll go there.</p>
<p>No, I do not shop at WalMart. I HAVE shopped there in the past but not any more.</p>
<p>I like going to one store where I can get familiar with the layout and be able to quickly buy many different things in one excursion. Walmart fits that need, so I use it a lot. If I need an oil change or need to get snow tires, I can drop the car off, pick up whatever I need, have my prescription filled, and be on my way out.</p>
<p>Seriously, only about once a year, and even that one time i HATE it. I can never find what i want, and it’s a depressing atmosphere.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID X2 using CC</p>
<p>I don’t like Walmart, and the nearest one is about 10 miles away anyway. I greatly prefer Target, but I sometimes go to K-mart because it’s in a convenient location.</p>
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<p>There are lots of products at WalMart that I wouldn’t buy. Their computer products are often out-of-date, low-quality or cheaper at a local computer shop. But a lot of people buy computer equipment from them because the prices on computers and electronics are low and they buy the other stuff that may be overpriced because they happen to be there.</p>
<p>I don’t agree that the poor would be better shopping nearly anywhere else at all. Warren Buffet doesn’t think so either.</p>
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<p>It’s a good place to go for protein bars.</p>
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<p>WalMart also has a very sophisticated inventory system; they were high-tech with satellite-based inventory control before the internet became wide-spread.</p>
<p>Wal-Mart is not a high-profit company. Their margins are actually quite low.</p>
<p>I have never actually been in a Walmart store… not something I frequently come across in my daily life or my travels. Younger d was in one for the first time this summer up in rural NH when she was in summer stock and she bought a hat to keep her face out of the sun.</p>