Retired after 25 years in retail and dealing with the spread of Walmart, seeing it displayed like that is scary.
…including a similar charting of Costco and Sam’s Club… over-laying a charting of shuttered local-owned community businesses built on relationships rather than price.
And in other news, multi-billionaire William Gates The Third and his sweater hope to inject stuff into your body.
It’s all about the relationship.
I wonder how much counselling WG-III will require now that he’s only the 3rd-wealthiest man?
I’m sure he’s contacted Sleepy Dopey Joe about becoming Ambassador to China. He already has experience dealing with them.
Walmart at some point will end up like Sears, Woolworths and a host of other stores at some point.
I’m all for competition to bring better quality and better prices to the market but from what I understand, Walmart doesn’t always bring better quality to the market. I’ve heard that some companies make the same model of a product but swap out cheaper parts for the model sold to walmart. Instead of a metal part, the manufacturer will swap it out for a plastic part in order to decrease cost. Also, I hear that Walmart brings in manufacturers of similar products into a room together and then beats them all up until Walmart gets a product for a very low price and that they have a “we screw the other guy and pass the savings on to you.”
Hornady refused to sell to them apparently. That’s probably a good idea.
JQ
For many things their quality is more than good enough.
Their biggest crime is letting poor people shop like rich people. Buy boots that really are waterproof and good enough for a couple winters, but cheap enough that you’re not shopping at Goodwill for your kids shoes.
I don’t know why this is such a big deal to so many. Nobody handcuffs you and drags you into a Walmart. If you hate Walmart then don’t go there.
The the thing that gets me are all of the people I know who complain about companies wanting to pay the least amount of pay to their employees, yet those same people will always shop for the lowest price.
But let me give you a personal example of “…local-owned community businesses built on relationships rather than price.”
There is a locally owned hardware store a few miles from my rural homestead. I needed a 3 ft. section of 1/2 inch copper pipe to complete a small plumbing job I was doing. So, I went on over to that locally owned hardware store. They had two bins of copper pipe. One was 8 ft. sections and the other 4 ft sections. Don’t you know, they were out of the 4 ft sections but the bin of 8 ft sections was chock full. The 8ft sections were about $12.00 apiece. The 4 ft sections, if they had had them were $6.00. I asked the guy – who was someone I knew well – if he would cut one of the 8ft sections in half and sell me one of the 4 ft pieces. He adamantly refused! (…which was his right.) And told me he wouldn’t be able to sell the remaining 4 ft. Well, I knew that was bullshit and he knew it was bullshit, and it pissed me off so much, I left his store and drove the 17 extra miles over to Lowes. Guess what? They were also out of 4ft sections, but they had 8ft sections that were – wait for it – $5.00. That’s right. Lowes 8 ft sections were *cheaper* than the local guys 4 ft section would have been – for the same pipe!
Yeah, I know. I probably paid the difference in the cost of gas to get over to Lowes. But still…
I still use the local guy, but only when I need one or a few items. When I need a lot of stuff, I drive the extra miles to Lowes.
Roy is right. This is a virus that can easily be avoided. Also Wal-Mart has done more to feed and clothe low-income Americans than any government program every will.
you’re right Roy. No one is forcing me to do business with Mega Lo Mart. That is until they drive the mom and pop store out of business. Then Mega Lo Mart can charge whatever they want for copper pipe sections and you won’t have an option.
Given the access to cheaper credit and volume of business, Mega Lo Mart can afford to play the long game to drive out competition in each location at a time.
JQ
Mom and pop stores drive themselves out of business. Poor selections, old or nonexistent inventory, dirty, old stores, higher prices and uncaring owners and employees. They’ve held their customers hostage for years.
People vote with their feet and wallets.
Read the story of Vlasic Pickles for a classic case of how Wally World treats their suppliers :
When you get in Bed with a snake – don’t be surprised when bad things happen.
Basicly – the price negotiated for much lager volume of Pickles was so low that customers were buying gallon jars of pickles for the price of quart jars elsewhere and wasting half the jar. Demand drove up the price of cucumbers and Walmart wanted Vlasic to lower the price for a renewed contract to less than what Vlasic paid for raw materials. Vlasic narrowly escaped Bankrupcy.
For many of us, the only alternative to WalMart is Amazon after they have hosed small businesses before and after CV. And they are both evil. Can we just stop with the libertarian fantasies and break them all up.
Yes please. The altar of GDP is not worth our society
Retired after 25 years in retail and dealing with the spread of Walmart, seeing it displayed like that is scary.
…including a similar charting of Costco and Sam’s Club… over-laying a charting of shuttered local-owned community businesses built on relationships rather than price.
And in other news, multi-billionaire William Gates The Third and his sweater hope to inject stuff into your body.
It’s all about the relationship.
I wonder how much counselling WG-III will require now that he’s only the 3rd-wealthiest man?
I’m sure he’s contacted Sleepy Dopey Joe about becoming Ambassador to China. He already has experience dealing with them.
Walmart at some point will end up like Sears, Woolworths and a host of other stores at some point.
I’m all for competition to bring better quality and better prices to the market but from what I understand, Walmart doesn’t always bring better quality to the market. I’ve heard that some companies make the same model of a product but swap out cheaper parts for the model sold to walmart. Instead of a metal part, the manufacturer will swap it out for a plastic part in order to decrease cost. Also, I hear that Walmart brings in manufacturers of similar products into a room together and then beats them all up until Walmart gets a product for a very low price and that they have a “we screw the other guy and pass the savings on to you.”
Hornady refused to sell to them apparently. That’s probably a good idea.
JQ
For many things their quality is more than good enough.
Their biggest crime is letting poor people shop like rich people. Buy boots that really are waterproof and good enough for a couple winters, but cheap enough that you’re not shopping at Goodwill for your kids shoes.
I don’t know why this is such a big deal to so many. Nobody handcuffs you and drags you into a Walmart. If you hate Walmart then don’t go there.
The the thing that gets me are all of the people I know who complain about companies wanting to pay the least amount of pay to their employees, yet those same people will always shop for the lowest price.
But let me give you a personal example of “…local-owned community businesses built on relationships rather than price.”
There is a locally owned hardware store a few miles from my rural homestead. I needed a 3 ft. section of 1/2 inch copper pipe to complete a small plumbing job I was doing. So, I went on over to that locally owned hardware store. They had two bins of copper pipe. One was 8 ft. sections and the other 4 ft sections. Don’t you know, they were out of the 4 ft sections but the bin of 8 ft sections was chock full. The 8ft sections were about $12.00 apiece. The 4 ft sections, if they had had them were $6.00. I asked the guy – who was someone I knew well – if he would cut one of the 8ft sections in half and sell me one of the 4 ft pieces. He adamantly refused! (…which was his right.) And told me he wouldn’t be able to sell the remaining 4 ft. Well, I knew that was bullshit and he knew it was bullshit, and it pissed me off so much, I left his store and drove the 17 extra miles over to Lowes. Guess what? They were also out of 4ft sections, but they had 8ft sections that were – wait for it – $5.00. That’s right. Lowes 8 ft sections were *cheaper* than the local guys 4 ft section would have been – for the same pipe!
Yeah, I know. I probably paid the difference in the cost of gas to get over to Lowes. But still…
I still use the local guy, but only when I need one or a few items. When I need a lot of stuff, I drive the extra miles to Lowes.
Roy is right. This is a virus that can easily be avoided. Also Wal-Mart has done more to feed and clothe low-income Americans than any government program every will.
you’re right Roy. No one is forcing me to do business with Mega Lo Mart. That is until they drive the mom and pop store out of business. Then Mega Lo Mart can charge whatever they want for copper pipe sections and you won’t have an option.
Given the access to cheaper credit and volume of business, Mega Lo Mart can afford to play the long game to drive out competition in each location at a time.
JQ
Mom and pop stores drive themselves out of business. Poor selections, old or nonexistent inventory, dirty, old stores, higher prices and uncaring owners and employees. They’ve held their customers hostage for years.
People vote with their feet and wallets.
Read the story of Vlasic Pickles for a classic case of how Wally World treats their suppliers :
https://www.studymode.com/essays/Walmart-Vlasic-Pickles-Case-64302484.html
When you get in Bed with a snake – don’t be surprised when bad things happen.
Basicly – the price negotiated for much lager volume of Pickles was so low that customers were buying gallon jars of pickles for the price of quart jars elsewhere and wasting half the jar. Demand drove up the price of cucumbers and Walmart wanted Vlasic to lower the price for a renewed contract to less than what Vlasic paid for raw materials. Vlasic narrowly escaped Bankrupcy.
For many of us, the only alternative to WalMart is Amazon after they have hosed small businesses before and after CV. And they are both evil. Can we just stop with the libertarian fantasies and break them all up.
Yes please. The altar of GDP is not worth our society