How do you feel about Wal-Mart?
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| Wed, 11-26-2008 - 6:23pm |
I read this op/ed (it's tied in with the automotive industry issues) http://www.indystar.com/article/20081119/OPINION12/811190304/1301/ARCHIVE the other day and it got me thinking. I've always heard about the lousy way they treat their employees but...it's their prices that keep me going back. Since I've moved to the South it's been even worse. They have Super Wal-Marts here where there is a grocery store in the Wal-Mart.
Now, there was an article the other day in my local newspaper with the mayor asking people to do their Christmas shopping downtown and buy local to support our mom & pop stores. Now, I'd love to do that but I have three kids and you know where I'm going.
Part of me really doesn't like what Wal-Mart stands for but the other part of me feels like "why should I pay more when I know I can get it cheaper there?"
Any thoughts?

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Yup. These Fox Republicans have done nothing to protect labor from competing with exploited abused labor abroad. In fact, a good part of what set this off is this. The Fox Republicans with Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay went on a feeding frenzy on sweatshop labor in the Mariana Islands. If you haven't learned about the scum scum scum of the Earth hypocritical Fox Republican politicians and what they did to the people of the Mariana Islands and the American workers who had to compete with abused labor, here it is:
"So compelling was the case for change the Alaska Republican marshaled that in early 2000, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Murkowski worker reform bill.
But one man primarily stopped the U.S. House from even considering that worker-reform bill: then-House Republican Whip Tom DeLay.
According to law firm records recently made public, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, paid millions to stop reform and keep the status quo, met personally at least two dozen times with DeLay on the subject in one two-year period. The DeLay staff was often in daily contact with Abramoff.
DeLay traveled with his family and staff over New Year's of 1997 on an Abramoff scholarship endowed by his client, the government of the territory, to the Marianas, where golf and snorkeling were enjoyed.
DeLay fully approved of the working and living conditions. The Texan's salute to the owners and Abramoff's government clients was recorded by ABC-TV News: "You are a shining light for what is happening to the Republican Party, and you represent everything that is good about what we are trying to do in America and leading the world in the free-market system"
Later, DeLay would tell The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin that the low-wage, anti-union conditions of the Marianas constituted "a perfect petri dish of capitalism. It's like my Galapagos Island.""
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/09/real.delay/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5492833
And no, Bill Clinton and the Democrats did not have completely clean hands as Wal-Mart started their China orgy in the late 90s, but things spiraled totally out of control, like everything else, under the Fox Republicans and their free and unfair trade policies.
My daughter and I are both huge bargain hunters. We got 4 pairs of jeans for her, at Aerpostal, for $4.95 each with an additional 25% off. I've also bought a couple pair of
>>> As a single mother with three I can tell you that I do care where their clothes come from.
I think you're in the minority...or have enough money that you can stress over such things.
>>> I don't buy my children's clothes at Walmart because, in my experience, the clothes don't last long. Much more cost effective to purchase better quality clothes that can stand up to repeated washings without falling apart. In actuality I have found thrift shops and resale shops to have quality clothes, often name brand clothes, for reasonable prices. Failing that, sales at more upscale stores provide better quality clothes.
I've found that regardless of "quality" or "price" kids clothing rarely last very long, either because they outgrow them in short order or because they actually wear them.
>>> It is a fallacy that many people of limited means fall into when they purchase based solely on price without regards to quality. Most often the product doesn't last as long as a better quality, but higher priced, product. This leads to repeated purchases - good for Walmart, bad for the consumer.
Quality is relative. $25 jeans usually last as long as $100 jeans...but some people feel that saying they're wearing a certain brand is worth the difference in price. The food at Wal-Mart is as good as the food at your local grocery store. The T-shirts, jeans, sweats, etc are as good as that found in more expensive stores. School supplies, CDs, DVDs, electronics, toys, etc are all of similar quality to those found in more expensive stores.
>>> Much better to wait, save your pennies, and then purchase a higher quality product that will outlast the cheap 'low priced' product offered at big box stores.
When little Bobby needs shoes, or Suzy needs a dress for the Christmas festival at school, there isn't a lot of time to wait and save your pennies.
>>> Unfortunately, if you don't take the time to realize this you are stuck in an endless cycle of consumerism and inferior products.
It's called "real life." LOL!
>>> The concept of planned obsolescence is not good for uneducated consumers who often fall prey to this via the 'low prices' mindset to say nothing of landfills filled with discarded products and their packaging.
Or for foolish consumers who believe that a "name brand" or higher price tag makes something "better."
As Sarah would say, there you go again... I have never paid $100 for a pair of jeans - it would be a stretch to reach that conclusion from my post. It is exactly because children actually wear their clothing that good quality is important if you want the clothing to last a whole season, let alone long enough to pass down to a sibling. Ironically, some 'name brands' in particular the more expensive name brands are less well made than the middle brands - at all times the actual quality of the clothing should be the most important consideration - unless you have unlimited disposable income, which I do not.
In my experience the food at Walmart is not necessarily 'just as good' as that found in my local grocery store - often times, when I have shopped there, the produce has been less fresh for example. Many grocery stores also offer double and even triple coupons - something Walmart does not. Again the lure of 'low prices' often blinds people to the facts - not all of their prices are lower and it takes careful shopping regardless of where you go.
If you don't realize that Suzy will need a dress for a Christmas festival at school until the last minute that is just poor planning on your part - Christmas does come every year on exactly the same day after all. It is called planning ahead and if you are on a limited budget proper planning is that much more important.
True children outgrow shoes, but again the is a more or less predictable pattern and goes back to the planning required to purchase items on sale or at the end of the season for next years use. The cycle of endless consumerism and inferior products is only 'real life' for people who cannot plan ahead and prioritize their purchases. Or people who blindly follow the hollow mantra of 'low, low prices' without looking closely to verify the accuracy of the claim.
>>> It's not about the prices beau. You can get similar prices at a store much friendlier to its workers - Costco.
Costco doesn't have much of a selection...but if you can get comparable or better goods at similar prices then, by all means, shop away...and even if you can't, buy what makes you happy.
>>> It's about the way Wal-Mart gets to the prices by trashing its workers and American manufacturing.
LOL! You think Costco sells only American-made products? What about Target?...or Kmart?...or Sears?...or Home Depot? Do you think these companies offer a "living wage" or haven't put "mom & pop" storesout of business? Where's the hate for these companies...or the many, many others just like them?
>>> And yes, we used to make bicycles, radios and other things in this country. The factories are gone, gone to China. You can say it ain't so all day and all night. I wish your typing would make it true. But it won't. Continuing the Fox Republican Ostrich approach is a sure path to disaster.
You don't find a lot of livery stables or wagon wheel makers any more either. Time marches on...and with the loss of factories were the creation of other types of jobs. There are many millions more Americans (and tens of millions of illegal immigrants) these days, and with 4% unemployment just a few months ago, they were all busy doing something. I guess some people just have an over-fondness for bygone days.
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