The True Value Of Walmart

[ricco67]

on PBS frontline on tuesday 11/16/04

The discussion is the benifits and costs of Walmart in our current economy and the muscle they pull within various industries. One example cited is how they (Walmart) basically tell manufacturers to move overseas to china (where 80% of the products they sell are manufactered in.) to keep costs down to be sold at walmart.

Does anyone feel a bubble happening in the future?

Ricco

[MidtownCoog]

Does anyone feel a bubble happening in the future?

As long as the demand keeps up, I say no.

[pineda]

K-Mart and Wal-Mart have always appeared to be cut from the same cloth to me. Does anyone here recall why exactly K-Mart floundered and fell apart while the monolith known as Wal-Mart has not only thrived but continues to grow at an alarmingly fast pace, to where it appears they will be on every street corner like Wal-greens? Was it solely management related? Was it based in part on Wal-Mart strongarm tactics to force their vendors to give them price breaks others couldn't compete with? Another thing that's always been interesting to me at least, there are people who have no problem saying that they bought something at Target but seem almost ashamed to admit they bought something at Wal-mart, and who don't admit that they even shop there and tell their kids not to tell anybody that they bought something at Wal-mart. We all buy stuff there, but why are we ashamed to say we patronize this store? Anyone care to comment on this?

[MidtownCoog]

I blame Rosie O'Donnel (aka Gorilla) and Penny Marshall for K-Mart's demise.

Seriouly, it was bad management that has doomed K-Mart.

They just brought on a new CEO (again) who has no retail background. Wall Street says it's a big risk.

He graduated from UH. Can't remember his name. Hopefully he can turn it around for them.

[ssullivan]

We all buy stuff there, but why are we ashamed to say we patronize this store?

I don't buy stuff there and I'm not ashamed to say that.

[jtmbin]

We had a similar discussion a few weeks ago: I don't and won't shop at WalMart or Sam's and I'm incredibly happy to say so.

Since we're on the subject, I don't shop at CVS either. Since its now politically correct to elect a president based on a set of mind-boggingly non-conservative "moral" values then I reserve the right to not shop at stores whose corporate values I find reprehensible. If it means that I pay a few cents or dollars more, I'm happy to do it.

[pineda]

CVS corporate values are reprehensible? Explain, please.

[jmancuso]

wal-mart's negatives far outweigh its positives.

[jtmbin]

CVS corporate values are reprehensible? Explain, please.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Perhaps "reprehensible" is a too strong a word for CVS, but not for Walmart. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from our efforts to encourage CVS to build a more urban building for the store in Midtown. Months after proclaiming that a store without a big parking lot out front was not feasible for their business model, they leased space on Main Street with zero parking. I guess their business model is flexible when necessary. The proliferation of their stores in and around my neighborhood leaves me and many of my neighbors dumbfounded. The company is not neighborhood friendly and seems to have a corp. culture similar to Walmart's: Nothing matters but money.

A couple of articles on the subject follow:

Bringing the suburbs into town

IAN Rosenberg watches every move in Midtown. A passionate advocate of urban living, he has been pleased with some of the neighborhood's development.

But the sight of a bulldozer at Gray and Bagby makes his blood boil.

He and other Midtown community leaders are trying to create something unique in Houston: a charming neighborhood where people walk to their favorite bookshop, diner, movie house and grocery -- a bustling retail and residential mix.

It's a challenge, because they're going against the Houston grain.

At Gray and Bagby, CVS Pharmacy is constructing a suburban-style store, with a parking lot in front, next to the spot Midtown leaders are holding up as the model of what the neighborhood should be. They say the drugstore's suburban design may destroy much of what they're trying to do.

The CVS/Midtown conflict is emblematic of a bigger struggle in Houston, pitting the developer-friendly, suburban car culture against the effort to create a walkable urban environment designed to attract the "creative class" of young professionals who are said to drive 21st century economies.

CVS sees it differently: Focused on the present, it wants to lure the tens of thousands of commuters driving to and from downtown each day with easy parking.

"You can't have a store that looks pretty but creates barriers to customer use," said Todd Andrews, CVS' director of corporate communications. "They'll go somewhere else."

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. I think CVS is wrong, as Midtown really didn't exist a decade ago and is pretty clearly populated by people who want to live in a mixed-use area, but that doesn't mean it will suffer at the cash register. It's only now that amenities like drugstores and grocery stores are being built in this area, and so residents may not have much choice about who they patronize unless they want to drive elsewhere, which defeats the whole point. On the other hand, the more pedestrian-friendly Randall's may wind up giving CVS a lesson in being a good neighbor. It'll be fun to watch. Posted by Charles Kuffner on October 27, 2003

CVS Corp. has picked up one more key corner to build yet another drugstore inside the Loop.

The company's latest buy: the southwest corner of Richmond and Montrose.

CVS spokesman Mike DeAngelis said construction will begin by year's end to have the 12,000-square-foot store ready by next spring.

The Woonsocket, R.I.-based company, which recently acquired rival Eckerd, has been on a huge growth spurt in Houston.

In just a couple of years, the company has put stores in these locations:

[pineda]

Thanks for the education on that issue. Personally, I find the entire Walgreens-on-this-corner looking directly actoss the street at CVS-on-that-corner very curious and wonder if it will accomplish the desired goals of driving one of them out of business, which will lead to more ugly, vacant strip mall looking lots. Back to the subject of Wal-Mart; the following link was interesting because it shows how even a giant can be brought to their knees when faced with the prospect of not being able to sell their imported, inferior products to the Woodlands residents:

Wal-Mart vs. The Woodlands

[jtmbin]

Thanks for the education on that issue. Personally, I find the entire Walgreens-on-this-corner looking directly actoss the street at CVS-on-that-corner very curious and wonder if it will accomplish the desired goals of driving one of them out of business, which will lead to more ugly, vacant strip mall looking lots. Back to the subject of Wal-Mart; the following link was interesting because it shows how even a giant can be brought to their knees when faced with the prospect of not being able to sell their imported, inferior products to the Woodlands residents:

Wal-Mart vs. The Woodlands

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, I remember the Woodlands issue. It only shows that they can do the right thing, it's too bad they don't choose to on their own.

[MidtownCoog]

I don't and won't shop at WalMart or Sam's and I'm incredibly happy to say so.

you sir, are a moron

Who cares where you shop!

[jtmbin]

you sir, are a moron

Who cares where you shop!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Grow up. If you don't care about the topic in the post, stay out. Are you another one of the eight year olds?

[jmancuso]

you sir, are a moron

Who cares where you shop!

dude, enough with the name calling...

[MidtownCoog]

You continue to demonize Wal-Mart, and I'll demonize the bozos that think Wal-Mart is the devil.

It's asinine, isn't it? But it

[jmancuso]

You continue to demonize Wal-Mart, and I'll demonize the bozos that think Wal-Mart is the devil.

It's asinine, isn't it?  But it

[pineda]

Wow, someone is defending Wal-Mart! Just curious, why????

[MidtownCoog]

Oy vey. Wal-Mart is gonna get ya! This is a message board, which are all about opinions.

It's just a trend to hate Wal-Mart. It's a freaking store, just like any other. There are millions of companies who would like to emulate their success.

Maybe you can do a sit in next time they try to build a new location. You are such the activist.

And how about your stroke of briallance quote:

Wal-mart's negatives far outweigh its positives.

What a joke.

[jtmbin]

Oy vey.  Wal-Mart is gonna get ya!  This is a message board, which are all about opinions.

It's just a trend to hate Wal-Mart.  It's a freaking store, just like any other.  There are millions of companies who would like to emulate their success.

Maybe you can do a sit in next time they try to build a new location.  You are such the activist. 

And how about your stroke of briallance quote: 

What a joke.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just curious, does Walmart pay your salary? Why do care so passionately that I or anyone else chooses not to shop there? What's it to you? You seem to take it personally. Is your last name Walton? Can you respond like an adult?

[MidtownCoog]

It's fine if you don't shop there, but statements like "Wal-mart's negatives far outweigh its positives" are just simply pulled out of thin air.

I call BS when I read it, and that's BS.

[jtmbin]

It's fine if you don't shop there, but statements like "Wal-mart's negatives far outweigh its positives" are just simply pulled out of thin air.

I call BS when I read it, and that's BS.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"Wal-mart's negatives far outweigh its positives", um, it's called an opinion. It wasn't my opinon although I agree with it.

If you disagree, try disputing that opinion with facts. It's little more challenging than calling someone names, but you might be able to do it if you try real, real,...real hard.

[jmancuso]

Oy vey.  Wal-Mart is gonna get ya!  This is a message board, which are all about opinions.

It's just a trend to hate Wal-Mart.  It's a freaking store, just like any other.  There are millions of companies who would like to emulate their success.

Maybe you can do a sit in next time they try to build a new location.  You are such the activist. 

And how about your stroke of briallance quote: 

What a joke.

dude, you're pushing your luck. you disagree, that's fine so move on and quite being a troll.

[pineda]

"It's a freaking store, just like any other."-Midtown Coog statement

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Wal-Mart, Other Big Retailers Driving Down Working Conditions Worldwide

Jim Lobe, OneWorld US

WASHINGTON, D.C., (OneWorld) --Wal-Mart and other major global retailers in the apparel and food industries are driving down working conditions for millions of mostly women workers worldwide, according to a new report by the British-based international development agency, Oxfam.

Despite the retailers' claims that they demand that their contractors comply with basic labor standards, their demands for ever-quicker and cheaper goods are making compliance impossible in many cases, according to the report, "Trading Away Our Rights."

"This is where globalization is failing in its potential to lift people out of poverty and support development," said the director of Oxfam's "Make Trade Fair" campaign. "There is a widening gap between the rhetoric of global corporate social responsibility and the reality of the corporate business model."

"Many corporations have codes of conduct to hold their suppliers accountable for labor standards, but their own ruthless buying strategies often make it impossible for these standards to be met," he added.

The new report, which is based on hundreds of interviews of workers, factor, and farm owners, global brands, importers, exporters, and union and government officials in 12 countries, comes amid growing efforts by multinational corporations to reassure their consumers that workers who produce their goods are able to earn a decent living.

But a spate of recent newspaper articles and studies have suggested that these efforts may be undermined by growing competitive pressures created by the demands of retailers and the ever-growing number of poor countries that have heeded advice and pressure from international financial institutions (IFIs) to open their economies to attract investment and jobs.

"Globalization has hugely strengthened the negotiating hand of retailers and brand companies," according to the report. "New technologies, trade liberalization, and capital mobility have dramatically opened up the number of countries and producers from which they can source products, creating a growing number of producers vying for a place in their supply chains."

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, has led the field in putting this model into practice, the report said. It is currently buying products from some 65,000 suppliers worldwide and selling to over 138 million consumers each week through its 1,300 stores in 10 countries.

It has made China, where wages are far lower than anywhere else in Asia and workers are denied the opportunity to form independent unions, the center of production, a key point made in feature article that appeared in the Washington Post Sunday.

"As capital scours the globe for cheaper and more malleable workers, and as poor countries seek multinational companies to provide jobs, lift production and open export markets," the Post said, "Wal-Mart and China have forged themselves into the ultimate joint venture, their symbiosis influencing the terms of labor and consumption the world over."

That marriage, however, according to the both the Post account and the Oxfam report, has come largely at the expense of the worker on the factory line. "Wal-Mart pressures the factory to cut its price, and the factory responds with longer hours or lower pay," a Chinese labor official who declined to be identified for fear of retaliation told the Post, "And the workers have no options."

That was also the message of a report released Monday by the New York-based National Labor Committee and China Labor Watch on a toy factory in Ping Township in Guangdong province that produces goods for Wal-Mart. The two groups reported that the mostly female labor force at the plant were paid only about half the legal minimum wage and forced to work longer hours than the legal maximum. It also reported that fire exits were normally locked.

Wal-Mart responded to the report by insisting that it conducted regular inspections of all of its plants in China, but the groups said that plant managers were always informed of the inspections in advance and coached the workers on what to tell the inspectors.

The report was largely consistent with the findings of the Oxfam study that put the main responsibility for the worsening situation on corporate buying teams that pressure suppliers to deliver "just-in-time" orders at ever-lower prices in hopes of squeezing maximum profit from goods once they are sold to shoppers in mainly wealthy countries.

"Today's business ethos is 'make it quick, make it flexible, make it cheap,'" said Blomer. "Anyone appalled by labor conditions in the world today should be asking, 'so who turned up the heat?' The workers at the bottom of the global supply chains are helping to fuel national export growth and shareholders' returns, but their jobs are being made vere more insecure, unhealthy and exhausting and their rights weakened."

To minimize resistance, contractors are employing workers who are less likely to try to join trade unions in those countries where they exist. For the most part, these include young women, often migrants or immigrants, who are easily intimidated if they do not cooperate with management.

"Jobs in labor-intensive industries are celebrated as empowering women," according to Bloomer. "While we welcom the fact that millions of women are getting a wage, the wage alone doesn't free them from poverty. Instead, they're being burnt out by working harder, faster, over longer hours and with few health, maternity or union rights. It's a poor strategy for improving women's lives," he added, noting that the IFIs, such as the World Bank (news - web sites) and the International Monetary Fund (news - web sites) (IMF) were complicit in the worsening situation by encouraging governments to make their labor markets ever more "flexible."

In Chile, for example, 75 percent of women in the agricultural sector are hired on temporary contracts picking fruit and put in more than 60 hours a week during the season, but one third still make below minimum wage.

Fewer than half the women in Bangladesh garment factories have a contract, and the majority receive no maternity or health benefits. Some 80 percent fear dismissal if they complain.

In China's Guangdong province, young women face 150 hours of overtime each month in the garment factors, but only 40 percent have a written contract and 90 percent have no access to social insurance.

Given these kinds of situations, governments must step in to guarantee workers basic labor rights, including the right to join trade unions and bargain collectively. At the same time, a greater effort must be made to enforce labor laws, while consumers must insist that retailers do a far better job of monitoring labor conditions to ensure that the employment they are creating in poor countries is not exploitative, according to the report.

[MidtownCoog]

Don't insult us with quoting "One World".

What is that, some kind of labor/worker's rights Web site?

[pineda]

If becoming more informed about something is insulting to you, then mea culpa.

[dbigtex56]

Oy vey.  Wal-Mart is gonna get ya!  This is a message board, which are all about opinions.

It's just a trend to hate Wal-Mart.  It's a freaking store, just like any other.  There are millions of companies who would like to emulate their success.

Maybe you can do a sit in next time they try to build a new location.  You are such the activist. 

And how about your stroke of briallance quote: 

What a joke.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Opinions can be, and shall be, expressed civilly on this message board.

Any further rude comments will be deleted.

[pineda]

Warning! - The following article may change your opinion of Wal-mart. If you are sensitive to changing your opinion, please do not click on the link below. (The most interesting part of the whole story is down below the story, under "Reader Comments")

Wal-Mart article

[ricco67]

Excellent post, Pineda!

This simply states things that I believe and reinforces my opposition to walmart.

Ricco

[ssullivan]

Thanks Pineda! I knew about the Vlasic situation but not some of the other examples given. It's business practices like these that would make me still not shop there even if the stores were beautiful and well merchandised and the employees the friendliest most knowledgeable ones in the world.

[20sGirl]

Warning! - The following article may change your opinion of Wal-mart. If you are sensitive to changing your opinion, please do not click on the link below.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Great article! And I love your sarcasm.

I never liked Walmart (or any big-box store) simply because they are such eyesores in the neighborhood and they're awful to spend any time in. I do shop at Target for household stuff but I generally try to avoid the whole big-box thing. It's nice to hear from other folks who feel the same way.