<p>I don’t have exact numbers either, but I believe that Costco and Target, for example, have better employment practices than Wal-Mart. Also less predatory pricing and not moving in to kill all other retail in the area and then just closing their less profitable stores as Wal-Mart does, leaving ugly buildings and dead local businesses so people have to drive to the next existing Wal-Mart because that’s all there is. Costco is known in our area for low prices on prescription drugs that even non-members can access. I can’t think of a good thing associated with Wal-Mart. Enlighten me.</p>
<p>Wal-Mart is my LAST choice. After checking out Target, Meijer, K-mart, and others, if I still can’t find what I want, I will go to Wal-Mart, and they will generally have it, because they have EVERYTHING. Problem is, it’s made in China (or similar country). Which is why if you support Wal-Mart, you undercut the UC economy.</p>
<p>Where do companies think buyers for their goods will come from, if everything is made in another country? No jobs here means exactly that.</p>
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<p>Not everything that they sell is made in China. They just inked a deal with a major Boston-area bagel retailer to sell their products.</p>
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<p>We sell a lot of products to China. I hope that they don’t have the same attitude that you do and stop buying our products.</p>
<p>There is a TRADE DEFICIT. We buy more goods from other countries than they buy from us.</p>
<p>Edit: I know not everything at Wal-Mart is MIC. But a book has been written about a couple with children that tried for a year to buy made in USA. It was pretty much impossible. The grandparents took pity on the kids and slipped them toys now and then. :D</p>
<p>Wal-Mart shaves cents buying in huge volume from China, Indonesia, etc. and passes the savings along to us. Other companies can’t compete without doing the same. And we, reasonably enough, want the lowest prices possible.</p>
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<p>If you want to reverse that, then we’d need to crash the dollar and absorb a lot of price inflation that other countries have been willing to do for decades. BTW, China runs a trade deficit too.</p>
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<p>Why do we think that we can be a sole supplier to the entire world? Or even to ourselves? We have sold goods all over the world for a long time. We still do. Is it unreasonable that other countries would sell things here?</p>
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<p>Many people do; though not all.</p>
<p>The Whole Foods near my son does an incredible amount of business - the place is frequently packed when we visit. They have twelve cash registers dedicated to people grabbing a bite and then another six or nine for people that want to actually buy groceries. Not everyone wants the lowest prices possible.</p>
<p>For all those who love the Mom & Pop stores:</p>
<p>Yes, they have friendly service. Yes, they are smaller. Yes, their product quality may be superior (but you have to pay more for that).</p>
<p>However, let’s not pretend that they offer better working conditions, better pay, and better benefits than Wal-mart. I grew up in a small town chock full of mom & pop stores. No health insurance. Lots of part time employment. Most jobs right at federal minimum wage or just a tiny bit above it. You were expected to work hard, be highly skilled at your work, be flexible, etc, etc, in order for the small store to survive. </p>
<p>So, please don’t go around saying that mom & pop stores provide better benefits than Wal-mart unless you have something to back that up! (It’s very difficult for a company that employs 5-20 people to get group health insurance benefits for their employees as their group size is small.)</p>
<p>But the choice isn’t only between shopping at small independently owned stores & Walmart.
There are other chains which pay better, allow unions& have generous benefits.
[100</a> Best Companies to Work For 2012: Full list - from FORTUNE](<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/full_list/]100”>100 Best Companies to Work For 2012: Full list - from FORTUNE)</p>
<p>The rise of China as an economic power has removed another major worry from global power politics. The world is far safer with China worrying about trade than looking to conquer by force. It is one of the best things that has happened in the last 30 years.</p>
<p>I would never shop in Walmart for many reasons. I don’t think they’ve continued this practice but not too long ago they locked their stores at night so the overnight workers couldn’t leave - can you say “fire trap?” They also had bathroom restrictions. I’m sorry, wasn’t that stopped with the Triangle Factory Fire and the formation of unions?</p>
<p>They control the marketplace because of their volume purchasing and take the 1st Amendment into their own hands. They make album/cd covers and songs conform to their concept of acceptability. They do the same with book covers. I remember them trying to force Howard Stern into changing his book cover and when he wouldn’t (highly respect the man for this) they refused to sell it. They then redid the NY Times Bestseller List when his book became #1, cutting it off and making #2-11 the top 10. The NY Times sued and won. No corporation should control our Bill of Rights.</p>
<p>Not to mention how they’ve put mom and pop shops and local personality out of business in so many ways and they’re workers are ignorant as to what’s available and how things work. They don’t care if you’re waiting on line forever, they have no concept of service. Sorry, for the difference of a few pennies here or there, I’ll stick to my local merchants.</p>
<p>engineer4life - the one thing local stores do generally offer that’s priceless - employee respect.</p>
<p>Walmart mourns the loss of your business. Many mom-& pop stores I recall from my youth were dusty deadly dull places run by a cranky older man. When I go to WM to buy some toothpaste, spray paint and a Swiffer I am not looking for service. Just a short checkout line and low prices. Now I can self-check and be out in seconds.</p>
<p>One other benefit of WalMart and big box stores in general is the ability to quickly check inventory online before you go to the store.</p>
<p>My biggest gripe with Target is they often have empty shelves for everyday items. WM rarely. Costco only good for very narrow range of items. And if you see it today it might not be there next week.#vexing</p>
<p>It is a misconception that most millionaires lead an extravagant life.</p>
<p>Many drive 7 year old cars.</p>
<p>Many are paying private school tuition for 3 or 4 kids, so even though they may seem wealthy, they have enormous expenses. Some of these kids go to private school for their pre-college years, which essentially means a “college tuition” every year that must be paid.</p>
<p>Also, some of these millionaires only recently became successful, after 20 or 30 years of struggling.</p>
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<p>The fire doors weren’t locked. Just the main employee entrance doors, and they weren’t required for egress. It was weird behavior, and I wouldn’t work in that kind of environment, but many folks didn’t seem to mind having to play cards in the break room for a couple hours each week. </p>
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<p>It’s nice that the employer can show you respect by paying you minimum wage with no benefits, while randomly changing your hours every week.</p>
<p>WM verus Target–both are doing well. Now Best Buy, Sears, Kmart–ouch.</p>
<p>I have no problem with other people choosing to shop anywhere. I just think sometimes we think things are bargains when they really are not.</p>
<p>Well, the entire US and now world economy is based on the assumption that more stuff is good. If you want to go to logical extremes maybe everything is not really a bargain. But I like China being pre-occupied with buying stuff. Makes me sleep better at night.</p>
<p>^China owns most of our debt so it seems they are conquering by entirely peaceful means. ;)</p>
<p>I prefer to think of it as having a very strong positive mutual interest.</p>
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It’s real simple - a lot of people prefer to shop there, likely for the low prices perhaps along with the selection of goods in one place. If none of them saw any good thing about WM then the store wouldn’t be there. As a variant of a saying another poster mentioned - “there’s nothing good about WM, especially the fact that it’s always so crowded with shoppers”.</p>
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This isn’t unique to WM at all. Compare any of the other big box stores and even mom and pop stores and you’ll find the majority of the volume products are made in China. You can’t avoid that issue by just not shopping at WM. I try very hard to buy stuff not made in China and it’s difficult.</p>