WalMart

[Richard L]

It sounds like Walmart is doing everything right and living the American dream. So what's the problem.



Safeway closed their stores around here long before we ever got our first Walmart store. That was their coice to close the stores. Winn-Dixie bought the old Safeway store, remodeled and expanded the building and then closed their doors in about a year



Walmart never built a store where it would compete directly with K-Mart, until they knew they could beat K-Mart and that's exactly what they did.



Walmart did not get as big as they are by bing stupid. Like it or not, they built a better buiness model than their competitors did and made it work. Not so different than what the foreign automakers have been doing to GM, Ford and Chrysler. Instead of making better cars at a lower price, they want to build the same old crap and whine to the government that they need a bailout because the Japanese, Koreans and Germans are kicking their buts.



...Rich

 

[Gavin Allan]

Give K-Mart a bailout! :lol:

 

[gary s]

rich,



very good point and on the money.



some people cannot accept this.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Richard L,



All great points.



There are those out there that "hate a winner", no matter who they are.



The list of companies that have risen to the top, and should be emulated and envied are all too often villified and nay-say'ed.



It's the same in all walks of life, actually, whether it be sports, or entertainment, or even the guy you meet on the street that is doing better than you.



There are those that are out there that like to take shots at those winners.



In my experience those that take such shots do so because they need to make excuses for why others have done and are doing things that they can't (or won't). By cheapening and tarnishing the accomplishments of the winners its as if they or their less accomplished preferred brand, team, company, etc., are raised up a bit and made to look not quite so bad, and less at fault for their position.



It's all summed up by two words: Sour Grapes!



TJR

 

[Martin]

I buy all my jeans at Walmart.......good prices/good quality/good selection of sizes. I also buy alot of other stuff from there as well.

 

[gary s]

tjr,



so true.



i think tom went into hiding :lol:

 

[Tom Schindler]

i think tom went into hiding :lol:

Tom has a job that does not allow him to sit on the internet all day.



I think it is funny everyone tries to defend Wal-Mart. Ohh, poor Wal-Mart. Prices are too high, selection is limited, majority of products are garbage, stores are dirty, etc. These are reasons I do not shop at Wal-Mart.



I have no need or desire to shop at Wal-Mart.



There are many places that provide better service, lower prices, cleaner stores, nicer parking lots, larger selection, etc.



The lack of benefits for the employees is just the nail in the coffin for me.



Keep shopping at Wal-Mart. Before you go there, price the competition. You will be surprised to find out the majority of items sold at Wal-Mart are higher priced than the guy next door.



The Circle K station at the end of my road is ALWAYS 5 cents a gallon less on gas than Sam's Club is.



Always the best price my BUTT!



To top it off, I need to carry my gun with me for fear all the crooks in the parking lot ready to carjack me.





Tom

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Caymen,



My experience with WalMart's around the country is that most tend to "fit" in the neighborhood they are in, both in terms of cleanliness, upkeep, etc.



Is it possible that the one you "frequent" (or are talking about above) is in a bad neighborhood? I know you've said before you live in (or often have to drive through) a pretty crappy 'hood.



TJR

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

Course, when Wal-Mart introduced the $4 Prescription Drug program, and have done a better job of expanding and implementing the program thatn the goberment has shown to have been able to do, that just pissed the liberals off another way.



Now, K-Mart, Kroeger and many other places are doing the same program.



Compare that to the costs of Medicare... just goes to show private practice can do it much better than any goberment program.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Is it possible that the one you "frequent" (or are talking about above) is in a bad neighborhood? I know you've said before you live in (or often have to drive through) a pretty crappy 'hood.

No Wal-Marts in my hood. I have to drive to Cuyahoga Falls to visit a store. That area is know better as Caucasion Falls because Cuyahoga Falls works hard at keep non-White people out of it...or is that the Stow area. Either way, it is a "White" neighborhood wit homes in excess of $200,000. In my area, that is an expensive home.



The other stores are located in Brimfield, Wadsworth, Montrose, and Springfield Township. The Brimfield and Wadsworth stores are brand new. The Montrose store is located a few miles from where LeBron James lives. (I hope you know who Lebron James is.) Springfield Township is, well, Springfield Township.





Tom

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Caymen,



How exactly does a town work hard to keep non-white people out?



I'm seriously interested.



TJR

 

[Tom Schindler]

How exactly does a town work hard to keep non-white people out?

Be non-white and drive through there after dark. You will understand. Try buying a house there being non-white. You will understand.



There is one part of town that has apartments, but in that area, the police harass those that live there. That area is non-white, though the area is very small.





Tom

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Caymen,



Shocked I tell you...I'm shocked.



I've never heard of anyone that is credit worthy, and with money for a down payment not being able to buy the house they can afford and want....not in the past 30+ years anyways.



As for police taking a good hard look at people driving through a neighborhood after dark when they know they don't live in the neighborhood (regardless how they know that) I see no problem, as long as it isn't truly harrassment.



It's been my experience that most more affluent neighborhoods have their isolated "lower income" areas. No surprise there.



I'd rather believe there are less evil forces at work that make certain areas more affluent and with few minorities than others. But heck, that's probably because I live in just such an area.



But I will take your word on what you say. But as I said, I am shocked that such things still go on in "My America."



Going to stick my head in the sand now.



TJR

 

[TomT]

I like to play Walmart Bingo when I shop there:



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

TomT,



Now that's funny right there. I don't care who you are.



True that for many WalMarts that is the demographic. Makes one wonder why, and if these people even shopped before WalMart, or does WalMart make spotting them like shooting fish in a barrel?



TJR

 

[Tom Schindler]

I've never heard of anyone that is credit worthy, and with money for a down payment not being able to buy the house they can afford and want....not in the past 30+ years anyways.

When Theresa purchased this house we live in years back, there was a non-white couple looking at it too. The neighbor lady called the owner, that lived right around the corner, and through this guy knowing that guy and that person knowing another person, we got the house and not the other family.



We knew nothing about it until years later when we became friends with the neighbor lady.



It happens all the time. I personally think as a white person, we do not see it. I am sure if I were Black, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, etc. I would see it all the time.



It is easy to say that someone non-white is playing the race card, but unless you are in that persons shoes, you will never truly know if it is someone playing the "race card" or if it is really a fact of being someone that isn't white.





Tom

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

BINGO!!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Caymen,



What you just described is a home seller picking who they want to sell to. That happens all the time.



Sometimes sellers don't want the perceived hassle of dealing with a minority home buyer because they often have the reputation of being a "tire kicker", or someone who won't "qualify."



Is that discrimination? Yeah, I guess so. Is it illegal? I don't think it should be. If I am selling my home I want to reserve the right to select the buyer from a multiple of would-be buyers using whatever criteria I desire. I think I should have that right.



TJR

 

[gary s]

tom,



a tad of exageration when you say that you have to carry your gun in the parking lot?



me defending walmart ?

no just the facts that it is one of the most successful companies in america.

that is something you have difficulty with. why?

 

[Bill V]

Man, if I had that card at Walmart, I could have Bingo before I got half-way through the parking lot to the store entrance.



If you want to make it challenging, you'd have to limit it to Wal-Mart employees only--but even with that restriction I'd probably have a Bingo within about 20 minutes...