What are your thoughts???

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2009
What are your thoughts???
19
Mon, 04-12-2010 - 9:46pm

Interested to hear your opinions....


Sunday I went to a BBQ at a friends house (cooked outdoors but ate indoors)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2006
Mon, 04-12-2010 - 9:55pm

I know that there is truth to what she is saying, but come on! Where else would the working poor get a good deal on basic essentials? I just went to wal-mart today and bought my kids mittens for next winter at $3 dollars a pair (thinsulate ones too...the thick ones) I also got my oldest son 2 pairs of hanes boxers for $1. That's .50 cents a pair! No one can beat that.

On the other hand, I have friends who's parents owned a grocery store in a small town in Maine. A super wal-mart moved into town and ran them out of business. I don't know what the answer is, but you can't tell me that wal-mart is the only evil. What about the mall? Macys? Best buy? Old navy? I mean, aren't they all big companies driving the little guys out of business? What exactly is she suggesting we do? And I don't think the working poor are complaining. They are probably damn happy to have a wal-mart to shop at.

Good topic though! What does Wal-mart do to the economy and how does it affect us? How would not having a Wal-mart affect us also?


ReallyRosieAaronPhotobucketSmileyJacob










iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2010
Mon, 04-12-2010 - 10:15pm

There is truth to what this woman was saying. DH and I live in a farming community and do some hobby farming ourselves so we see directly the effect big business has on the little guy. But Wal Mart is not the only shopping chain out there that hurts the small business owner, it's just the most convienent scape goat. Yes Wal Mart is bad for small business and has some questionable business practices but there are two sides to every story.


The other side is, Wal Mart offers

 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2008
Mon, 04-12-2010 - 10:48pm

I try my best to avoid Walmart like the plague!

The "cheap" prices you pay at Walmart are not really cheap, when you look at the human and environmental impact (re: products made in developing countries with little or no regards to occupational health and environmental degradation). We can say it doesn't matter, because the pollution is not in my backyard, but a few years ago polluted dust was blown all the way from China to California!

Also, in the US, there used to be good manufacturing jobs for hard working people with not a lot of education. Even though nobody got rich, they were able to support a family and live comfortably. Those jobs are gone.

So in a sense it is a vicious cycle - we love to buy lots of lots of cheap stuff and instead of buying products made in the US (or Canada, or any of the western European countries with decent labor and environmental law), we go for the cheap stuff. In order to fill the demand for a lot of cheap stuff, manufacturers shut down plants in North America and move them somewhere else. Many people cannot make a living wage so they have no choice but to buy the cheap Walmart stuff ... And Walmart certainly don't pay the majority of their workers a living wage. It is interesting to see the half a dozen G5's (top of the line private jets) that Walmart keeps at the airport in Bentonville, Arkansas when I went there a few years ago.

edited for spelling mistake




Edited 4/12/2010 10:54 pm ET by demontespan
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-26-1999
Mon, 04-12-2010 - 11:04pm

Hi Duke,

Yes, I think there is probably a lot of truth to what she says, but I think there are some benefits to Walmart as well.

They *do* source product from locally as well as globally. A year ago I bought a really good quality MADE IN CANADA kettle at Wally's for less than what any of the poor quality made in China ones cost. Walmart was also the only place I could find a kettle made in Canada, and I had looked for awhile.

I have also found in pricier stores that everything is made in China...so the smaller pricier stores aren't necessarily helping the Canadian or US economies either. They are just charging more of a markup for the imported junk.

And when I was lucky enough to have a winter vacation in Mexico, I found a couple of fantastic made in Mexico bikinis at Walmart in Puerto Vallarta. I shopped EVERYWHERE before I went and I couldn't find anything. I don't want a bikini made in China, thanks, and that was all I could find at home.

That said, from a purely financial point of view, I would urge you to be careful shopping at Walmart for the things most people assume are cheaper. I find that watching the fliers from major retail chains (Superstore/Loblaws, or if you have a London Drugs and can stack coupons), you can do alot better than Wally prices by shopping sales. I find it is the same as buying flats of stuff at Costco...the per unit price is often higher for the case of whatever than if you buy individual units on sale at a major retailer that you don't have to pay an annual membership to.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2010
Mon, 04-12-2010 - 11:42pm

But in all reality, the prices are *cheap*. I'm pretty sure that the struggling mother at the checkout who is digging for pennies in the bottom of her purse to come up with enough money to pay for

 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-13-2007
Tue, 04-13-2010 - 2:54am

Well fortunately, I am just full of opinions...

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Tue, 04-13-2010 - 4:18am

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2003
Tue, 04-13-2010 - 7:52am

I hate Walmart, but mostly because its so effin busy all the time. I try to avoid it. I think, for a while, it was true . . . they sold cheap junk from China. But now ALL stores sell cheap junk from China. So what do you do?


Walmart is also changing the healthcare landscape. Some stores are offering $25 visits to docs at walk in clinics in their stores, or $4 generic drug refills. These are things that really do benefit the low income consumer, but at what cost?


I have shopped at Walmart, but I try to avoid if I can. I am of the mindset (now) that if I save a little bit more, I can buy the same thing that is of better quality (whatever that thing is).


Having said all that, right or wrong, that woman was unbelievable. I would have been tempted to make up some hard luck story just to make her feel like an *ss.


But thats just me . . .


Bex -


"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift -thats why its called the present."


Bex -

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2008
Tue, 04-13-2010 - 9:16am

Yes. I'm well aware of the evils of Wal Mart, but it is a catch 22. For people on a budget, its a problem solver. I don't go to Wal Mart very often, because it is so busy and big box stores are overwhelming. I also don't see a big difference in prices from the supermarket, so I just assume buy my TP and laundry detergent at the supermarket. I'm there anyway.

But to each their own. That lady sounds like a busybody with nothing better to do than to pick fights at BBQ's.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
Tue, 04-13-2010 - 11:13am

There is some truth to what she is saying.

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