Thread: Boycott Walmart , help the local industry .

When you own a business, you don't keep businesses open that don't make money. That's a simple concept. If it loses money, get rid of it.

As for profits, can you blame a company for being the best it can be? Despite everything, the company Wal-mart creates thousands upon thousands of jobs and puts food on the table for families across the country and the world - not just Sam Walton's family.

You expect the worlds largest retailer to have business ethics? I went to one of their stores once and everyone was 300+ lbs and the merchandising was a complete mess. Never again.

I've never shopped at Wal-mart b/c of the company's strict views against unionization of the workforce. I also liken Wal-mart's devestating effect on local business to an oppressive federal government that stifles the States. In short, down with Wal-mart.

Originally Posted by Decker

I've never shopped at Wal-mart b/c of the company's strict views against unionization of the workforce. I also liken Wal-mart's devestating effect on local business to an oppressive federal government that stifles the States. In short, down with Wal-mart.

I think you should always strive to be the best. That includes in business. Wal-mart should try to be the best - have the lowest prices, get the most customers, sell the most goods - if some small companies lose business as a result, so be it. It's all part of capitalism.

If you guys want businesses that are limited in size and methodology by the government, maybe you live in the wrong country.

I avoid Wal-Mart simply because I friggin hate shopping in the store. It's messy, you can't find anything, and the employees are morons.

As far as all the "political" reasons go, I really don't give two shits. If a store is in a convenient location and has what I need, I'll shop there.

Originally Posted by thatguy

I think you should always strive to be the best. That includes in business. Wal-mart should try to be the best - have the lowest prices, get the most customers, sell the most goods - if some small companies lose business as a result, so be it. It's all part of capitalism.

If you guys want businesses that are limited in size and methodology by the government, maybe you live in the wrong country.

What does striving to be the best--whatever that means--have to do with substandard wages and working conditions; or having to work at Wal-mart in the first place b/c the competition has been crushed by Walmart's pricing tactics (i.e., absorb the cost of underpricing the competition to destroy them, thus winning out in the long run). Capitalism is fine, but your tastes in unregulated capitalism are predatory: nothing but the law of the jungle. The end result of purely laissez faire capitalism is always the monopoly--the strongest set rules and take the rewards--to hell with all others unless something trickles down.

I never shop there because it's a circus show

I've hated Wally world for years. Won't ever shop there or their website, I don't care how good the deals are.

say a mom and pop operation has 3 stores, 2 are pofitable one is not. they close the one. is that wrong?

Iv never even seen a walmart in all my life

Although I don't agree with the slave labor the manufacturers of many of their product lines use in foreign countries I am glad they opened stores here and gave people steady jobs, and I am certainly glad that they fight unionization because their workers are lazy enough they really couldn't afford to pay union wages, keep the prices down and have people half as productive as they are now. Like redspy posted if you've been in the stores the workers don't really put much effort in they just show up on the job and go through the motions until it's time to leave. Many have been there for a while and get paid well enough and have choices in stock options. My aunt was a manager and retired with a nice check and great chunk of stock that split several times. She'd started as a check out clerk and worked her way up. I worked there for 1 year in High School and had 3 pay raises .

Originally Posted by maniclion

Although I don't agree with the slave labor the manufacturers of many of their product lines use in foreign countries I am glad they opened stores here and gave people steady jobs, and I am certainly glad that they fight unionization because their workers are lazy enough they really couldn't afford to pay union wages, keep the prices down and have people half as productive as they are now. Like redspy posted if you've been in the stores the workers don't really put much effort in they just show up on the job and go through the motions until it's time to leave. Many have been there for a while and get paid well enough and have choices in stock options. My aunt was a manager and retired with a nice check and great chunk of stock that split several times. She'd started as a check out clerk and worked her way up. I worked there for 1 year in High School and had 3 pay raises .

Hey, on my Hawaii honeymoon, I bought most of my souvenirs from a Wal-Mart on Maui.

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

Hey, on my Hawaii honeymoon, I bought most of my souvenirs from a Wal-Mart on Maui.

See you probably bought the same dash board hula girl for $2 that the Mom and Pop last chance gift shop at the airport was selling for $20, cause in our capitalist system someone gotta take it in the ass somewhere or there wouldn't be a profit.

Originally Posted by maniclion

See you probably bought the same dash board hula girl for $2 that the Mom and Pop last chance gift shop at the airport was selling for $20, cause in our capitalist system someone gotta take it in the ass somewhere or there wouldn't be a profit.

I actually did buy a $2 hula girl there, but it's sitting on my bar in my basement.

Hey, pay $2 at Wal-mart, or $15 at Hilo Hattie.

I hate Walmart, but I hate unions even more.

And god forbid a company open stores that sell stuff cheaper. The anti-Walmart crowd need a good lesson in FREE MARKETS! Come to think of it, so do the union crowd.

Originally Posted by Decker

What does striving to be the best--whatever that means--have to do with substandard wages and working conditions; or having to work at Wal-mart in the first place b/c the competition has been crushed by Walmart's pricing tactics (i.e., absorb the cost of underpricing the competition to destroy them, thus winning out in the long run). Capitalism is fine, but your tastes in unregulated capitalism are predatory: nothing but the law of the jungle. The end result of purely laissez faire capitalism is always the monopoly--the strongest set rules and take the rewards--to hell with all others unless something trickles down.

Substandard wages and working conditions??? THere is a real good solution for that and it does not involve collective bargaining or boycotts....get another freaking job!

If you can't, maybe you should be thankful for the one you got.

You must admit that Wal-Mart, K-mart and the others come in handy for cheap disposable merchandise like when we had guests come over we went down and bought a cheap comforter and pillows instead of going to Macy's and blowing $50 or more on one. We buy our dogs biscuits there because the pet store robs you. I just hate going there around the 1st and 15th of the month because it's a mad house and the welfare crews are tearing the shelves apart.

Originally Posted by Pepper

Substandard wages and working conditions??? THere is a real good solution for that and it does not involve collective bargaining or boycotts....get another freaking job!

If you can't, maybe you should be thankful for the one you got.

Real good solution? I don't think so. Monopolistic employers do not leave a lot of employment options, in some geographic areas, for those with retail skills. Nonetheless, I see your point.

Yep..it is annoying as hell at WalMart. My wife buy the groceries there b/c they are so much cheaper, but even she complains about the place.

I just don't know what has happened to us when someone figures out a way to do something better/cheaper and we have to boycott them.

I think I will boycott Apple and IBM b/c they put all those poor type-writer manufacturers right out of business!

Is Wal-mart's way of doing business better? I don't think so for reasons I've posted. Are cheap prices the measure of what's best irrespective of the source of the products sold (some child/slave labor) and questionable business practices? Isn't there more to this question than mere economic materialism--what's in it for me? I think so.

Slave labor? Walmart.

please.

Originally Posted by Pepper

Slave labor? Walmart.

please.

He meant the manufacturer of the products not walmart, I think Walmart employees are spoiled.

Fuck the Unions. Greedy Fucking Bastards. Teach those fuckers at the union.

Apparently they are looking to sue Walmart for bad business practice instead of this boycott.

As far as I'am concerned Wal-Mart has good prices and thats all that matters, especially when your on a tight budget. I know that the store is a mess and it gets sickening shopping in there but overall I can gets pretty much everything I need in there with good prices. If you don't like Wal-Mart do what I do: Run in-shop-run out asap....

Originally Posted by The__wenger

If you don't like Wal-Mart do what I do: Run in-shop-c r a w l....t h r o u g h...r e g i s t e r....l i n e s...run out asap

Corrected.

Unions are worse than the mafia.

When the real world came here there was a big deal about picketing because they used non-union labor. rather than cowtow to the unions, they just picked up and left. The Mayor and Governor begged and pleaded and told the unions to back off. They did and MTV came back. Pussies.

Union bashing aside, you guys need to come to Las Vegas. Yes, the Wal-Marts here get busy. Show me a store that doesn't get busy and I'll show you a store that's going out of business. I already know what I want and I don't go to Wal-Mart looking for advice on how to split the atom, so the median IQ of the employees is of no concern to me. The stores here seem to be MUCH neater than the ones in your collective towns so it's easy to find what I want. I go one of the 8,453,296 registers that are open, and I leave.

I shop at Walmart quite a bit. Realistically, they deliver a decent product for a slightly better price than the competition... their stores are big, noisy, and quite a bit messy and full of nasty fat people. If you can handle that, then shop there. Today I went to Kroger just to change the shopping scene a little, and other stores tend to offer little incentives here and there to entice customers, so I go and save a couple bucks on their sales. Kroger had quite a few people there... and as far as I know, it is competing quite decently with Walmart, even though it is a little ways away. They both offer the customers something different. You'll get rock bottom prices at Walmart, but Kroger specializes in the relationship marketing approach.

Neither are wrong IMO, its what works best for them.

As to unions wanting to muscle int Walmart, I said its good on them to stomp the unions into the ground as often as possible. We've all seen what Unions do. Walmart offers its employees decent wages (especially considering that a good deal of them are borderline unemployable), and benefits. Unions would come in and screw Walmart in the ass by increasing costs and decreasing productivity. It happens with EVERY union.

I heard a story about some supermarket once that started to unionize in their meat department... well, the store owner told them that he paid them decently and gave them good benefits already, but he didnt want unions in his stores. They decided to unionize regardless, and shortly there after came back at him demading better pay and more benefits for less work. So he decided that it would be more cost effective to outsource the meat production and closed down that section of the store. Now thats how I think that Unions should be handled.