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The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/10/2007 3:23:03 PM

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The Wal-Mart era, the retailer's time of overwhelming business and social influence in America, is drawing to a close.

Using a combination of low prices and relentless expansion, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, news, msgs) emerged from rural Arkansas in the 1970s to reshape the world's largest economy. Its co-founder, Sam Walton, taught Americans to demand ever-lower prices and instructed businesses on running a lean company. His company helped boost America's overall productivity, lowered the inflation rate and strengthened the buying power for millions of people.

Over time, it also accelerated the drive to manufacture products in Asia, drove countless small shops out of business and sped the decline of Main Street. Those changes are permanent.

Today, though, Wal-Mart's influence over the retail universe is slipping. In fact, the industry's titan is scrambling to keep up with swifter rivals that are redefining the business all around it. It can still disrupt prices, as it did last year by cutting some generic prescriptions in the United States to $4. But success is no longer guaranteed.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/TheEndOfTheWalMartEra.aspx

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Let go it's harder holding on
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Post #: 1

RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/10/2007 3:25:33 PM

SeeksOnlyOne

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Joined: 5/14/2007
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

The Wal-Mart era, the retailer's time of overwhelming business and social influence in America, is drawing to a close.

Using a combination of low prices and relentless expansion, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, news, msgs) emerged from rural Arkansas in the 1970s to reshape the world's largest economy. Its co-founder, Sam Walton, taught Americans to demand ever-lower prices and instructed businesses on running a lean company. His company helped boost America's overall productivity, lowered the inflation rate and strengthened the buying power for millions of people.

Over time, it also accelerated the drive to manufacture products in Asia, drove countless small shops out of business and sped the decline of Main Street. Those changes are permanent.

Today, though, Wal-Mart's influence over the retail universe is slipping. In fact, the industry's titan is scrambling to keep up with swifter rivals that are redefining the business all around it. It can still disrupt prices, as it did last year by cutting some generic prescriptions in the United States to $4. But success is no longer guaranteed.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/TheEndOfTheWalMartEra.aspx

i knew me boycotting them would be their downfall!!! i havent been back since june when they pissed me off

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/10/2007 4:39:55 PM

CuriousLord

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quote:

ORIGINAL: SeeksOnlyOne

i knew me boycotting them would be their downfall!!! i havent been back since june when they pissed me off

I tried things with a sub once from the other side of this site. I can't remember what it was we had to stop by Wal-Mart for, but I distinctly remember something odd she did.

She'd walk behind me, knocking things off shelves and signs from hooks when no one else was looking. "What're you doing?", I asked.

"I'm smiting Wal-Mart."

< Message edited by CuriousLord -- 10/10/2007 4:43:42 PM >

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/10/2007 7:49:25 PM

laurell3

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LOL that's funny. I would appreciate that in a person.
l

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/10/2007 7:56:45 PM

UtopianRanger

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quote:

The Wal-Mart era, the retailer's time of overwhelming business and social influence in America, is drawing to a close.

I see a complete societal shift on the horizon……an anti-corporatist, populist movement of sorts….a push back against the phony free market freaks.

I’d be willing to bet that within the next six to eight years, if wal-mart doesn’t make some major concessions with regard to its employees, their whole workforce will become unionized. I don't see how it can be stopped.

The middle/working class can no longer afford to work for chicken slop while the greedy wal-mart hierarchy and its major stockholders take in gargantuan profits.

I will live for the day when an entrance to a wal-mart store is blocked by picket signs.

- R

< Message edited by UtopianRanger -- 10/10/2007 7:58:09 PM >

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/10/2007 8:33:28 PM

Termyn8or

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good

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/10/2007 8:35:38 PM

OrionTheWolf

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Many low income families rely on the low priced merchandise at Wal-Mart. Maybe we should do the picketing just before X-mas and teach those poor people a good lesson.

Orion

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/10/2007 9:12:26 PM

TreasureKY

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From: Kentucky
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You know... I loathe shopping at Walmart. Parking is a nightmare, waiting to checkout takes forever, and unless you shop at 3am it's always crowded.

Then again, I remember a world before Walmart's revolution. I remember having to drive all over town to do shopping. I remember limited (parallel!) parking downtown and having to feed meters. I remember having to haul packages several blocks to where we were parked, only to then have to head to another store to try to find what the first store didn't have that you wanted. I remember fewer choices and higher prices.

And I remember the first time I went to a Walmart and the amazement I felt at being able to buy a pair of jeans, a gallon of milk, a sewing pattern, an ice cream scoop, and a hammer all at the same time in the same place.

You know something else? Shopping at 3am is kinda nice.

I honestly wouldn't want to go back.

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/10/2007 9:33:06 PM

popeye1250

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I haven't been in a Walmart in over five years.

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 6:04:53 AM

petdave

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quote:

ORIGINAL: UtopianRanger
I see a complete societal shift on the horizon……an anti-corporatist, populist movement of sorts….a push back against the phony free market freaks.

I’d be willing to bet that within the next six to eight years, if wal-mart doesn’t make some major concessions with regard to its employees, their whole workforce will become unionized. I don't see how it can be stopped.

Ahh, you take that Utopian thing seriously, don't you?

There's an old saying... when you're at the top, there's no where to go but down.

i would dearly love to see Wal-Mart lose all of its influence in media marketing, if nothing else... Homogenization and cost-cutting is fine and dandy for household goods and groceries, but to have a major retailer with an avowedly mediocre/inoffensive slant impacting the release of records and novels is just depressing.

(in reply to UtopianRanger)

Post #: 10

RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 6:11:16 AM

mnottertail

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yanno, nothing wrong with walmart.

if your business is built on cheap and shoddy merchandise at low prices........

Well, you buy junk, and you sell junk, and that is all your gonna get is junk.

people who buy more non-consumable items (let's take a plier, ie) are gonna get sick of the potmetal chinese pliers that have broken 4 or 5 times, go down to Graybar and spend $50 bucks for a klein and never have to buy one again, and then someday will it to their son.

Ron

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 6:35:36 AM

pahunkboy

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they wont-cant build a superstore here. wanna know why? cos Weis grocery store headquarters is here. no one messes w Weis! [156? stores on east coast] yup they tried to come- but the powers that be- stopped it.

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 6:58:39 AM

joanus

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I have no idea where your getting this crap, but Walmart is unstopable. This Monster of a Store has spread like cancer to multi international locations. They have stores in almosts every country from Mexico to Japan. Not only are they buildling "super stores" all over America but have plans to upgrade their stores again once they have finished converting their old stores. As for their rivals; Target is on the wrong side of a two dollar bill, if you get my drift, and K-mart can't tell a good spokes preson from a bum.( Rosie O'Donald and Marta Steward, whose next Bush?) Now I'm not some Mindless Corperate Zombie (MCZ) but I like being les than 30 minutes from 4 different Walmarts, makes my life easier. AS for why there is no Walmart in your town thats probably because you live (as do I) in a small nearly dead town with practicly no ecnonomy and too many Welfarees. No this fresh hell is just geting started.

< Message edited by joanus -- 10/11/2007 6:59:49 AM >

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 7:04:36 AM

pahunkboy

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not really. not against a chain of 156 stores it isnt. Weis is quite a power. walmart is "allowed" but NOT the superstore. refer to the daily item for the scandal over Giant [grocer] coming in. It reads like a spy novel. The blueprints were stolen... the town zoning is bought. the newspaper never prints anythingt bad about Weis.

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 7:12:03 AM

joanus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

not really. not against a chain of 156 stores it isnt. Weis is quite a power. walmart is "allowed" but NOT the superstore. refer to the daily item for the scandal over Giant [grocer] coming in. It reads like a spy novel. The blueprints were stolen... the town zoning is bought. the newspaper never prints anythingt bad about Weis.

Corperate Espinouge(hope I spelled that right) is as american as apple pie and baseball. Its how we do things in this country. Also I've seen the plans for the New Walmarts They include a larger grocery area, with a broader selection on everything. Imagine if Walmart asslimuated Kroger or Windixie. Personally I think Weis sucks, or at lease the one here does. Their produse is about as fresh as Briteny Spears' pussy, their freezers dont freeze, and frankly the back rooms give off a bad smell every time the doors open. But then again this is in Ky and maned by locals.

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 7:16:32 AM

pahunkboy

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Understood. i am not cheerleading Weis. i go to Aldis. tho for milk weis is better. they do a small donation for a house fire and get 1/2 coverage in the paper. BTW- they practicallty invented the partime worker. 39 1/2 hours is part time. no benefits.

if a local politician doesnt walk the weis walk they are gone.

period.

at times the store does seem to help the elderly. i cna tell you tho- there are very few good jobs here- unless you work for the sate,

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 7:29:45 AM

OrionTheWolf

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I rarely shop Wal Mart, because as Ron pointed out, they have cheap crap. There is the rare occasion I have shopped Wal Mart, but I do it knowing they have cheap crap. An example would be jeans to do manual labor in (yard work, repairs, etc.). They are 10 bucks a pair and last about two to three months. The decent work pants cost about 40 bucks and last about 8 to 9 months. You do the math.

There are low income families that thrive on Wal Mart though. I see it every year during back to school. Kids happy they are getting new clothes, new shoes, school supplies, and such. It is their choice to shop there, and it allows them to get things from a low cost store, that they may not otherwise be able to purchase.

I buy alot of name brand products, but I do not pay full price for them. I plan ahead, look for sales, and join buying clubs (Sam's, BJ's, Costco, etc.). When I buy appliances and tools, I look for things that will last. I also look for service in a store, and do not mind paying a little extra for it. There has always been one tried and true method of doing business, give better service at comparable prices. I do not mean to try and match Wal Mart, because they have no service, but to compare to the others stores (JCPenny, Macy's, Belk's, Kohl's, Old Navy, etc.). I have also seen success in the stores that give a mix of the cheap crap, up to the nice name brand stuff (Home Depot, Lowes) in the sector of goods that you can do that in.

While main street may not be what it once was, I am seeing a revitalization occur in many smaller towns, that were hit hard by Wal Mart. The shop keepers have changed their business strategies some, and the town is investing in making those areas ebtter to shop in. I enjoy walking around mainstreet, and looking at the downtown area of a small town, and now that they have some nice stores, cafes, and restaurant's, it is even more enjoyable.

Wal-Mart shook up the complacency that had a hold of retailers for a few decades. They rushed to the top, and are still there but with alot less secure hold. Wal-Mart brought about alot of "bad" things, but it also caused some change that I see for the better. If anything, it created another choice for people to have, and more choices is a good thing to me, even if my choice is to not buy their crap.

Orion

_____________________________

When speaking of slaves people always tend to ignore this definition "One who is abjectly subservient to a specified person or influence."

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RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 7:37:02 AM

mnottertail

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Good Morn, Orion---

And there is the thing of it, rather than wringing their hands because they no longer have a captive audience, these businessmen.....they made the world they found themselves in (some of them) and are surviving it quite nicely, thank you. They adapted, they overcame, they conquered.

By example, I usually go grocery shopping at Wal-Mart because the prices are cheaper for name brand consumables. Not meat, by a damn sight tho...that business goes elsewhere. Tools? No fucking way, Clothes? Like Orion said. Appliances? Sometimes. Bedsheets? somewhat oftener. Junk? when I am looking for junk, sure. Shoes? What are you fuckin' kidding me?

On equal goods, where there is nothing but price to differentiate....well, fuckin' DUH!

I believe that was covered in economy kindergarden. If that is how the struggle is couched, well---

Ron

_____________________________

Have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two? Judges 5:30

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Post #: 18

RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 7:37:45 AM

joanus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: OrionTheWolf

I buy alot of name brand products, but I do not pay full price for them. I plan ahead, look for sales, and join buying clubs (Sam's, BJ's, Costco, etc.).

You are of course aware that Sam's Club is a warehouse version, and apart of the Walmart Francise. They stock and sell the exact same crap, and some serve as distrabution centers. Therefor by buying from Sam's you are supprting the Walmart Juggernaut. Not nit picking here, but if your gonna be against buying their cheap crap helps not to shop at their stores.

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Post #: 19

RE: The end of the Wal-Mart era? - 10/11/2007 7:40:32 AM

pahunkboy

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cheap crap is right. im still looking for the a-hole that makes toilet brushes! i want to be SHOWN how those chaep azz things work!

avoiding W-doesnt necessarily mean quality junk- as it is everywhere. [nuclear plants and heart valves??]

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Post #: 20

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