Walmart - did you see the show?

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-15-04 AT 12:40PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Did anyone else watch the 2-hour show last night on MSNBC about Walmart? Wow.

It was a very interesting look inside the operations. I think the CEO is a little strange, the union leader represented in one segment (with union folks standing around in yellow t-shirts) sounds like a stereotypical mafia hit-man and the double talk around whether or not buying items from Walmart result in increased child labor or employee abuses in other countries was just unsettling. The funniest part was seeing the corporate headquarters, a real plain brick building where everyone has metal desks (except the CEO - he gets a wooden desk - at least I think the frames are wood, the rest looks like particle board) and the insistence by the CEO that he share a $49 room with one of the other executives when they travel - just to show vendors, employees and the world that cost cutting and cost efficiency is modeled even by them, but yet, one of the exec's (can't remember his name) pulled down $14 million in wages and stock options the previous year!

Very strange look inside - not sure if it benefits them or not. I have a strange desire to stop in and take advantage of the low prices, but yet don't want to contribute to low wages, possible abuse of employees here and abroad or corporate greed. Ah! The Walmart guilt.

Comments

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  • Didn't see it, but PBS is also running a piece (perhaps the same one as MSNBC?) tomorrow night on Wal-Mart. The upshot I got from seeing the promos is that Wal-Mart has replaced the high-wage, high-value-jobs economy of the past with a low-wage, low-value-jobs economy. They employ lots of people, but not at a living wage. Also not very fond of the way they strong-arm their suppliers. I'll be anxious to see the PBS special tomorrow.
  • I've seen A&E's biography on him. He definately believes in thriftiness. His widow talked about how she insisted he open up purchasing stock in Wal-Mart to the little guys. She said, he believed that only the management should be able to buy stock because they are a different from the "workers".
  • [font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-16-04 AT 08:40AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Yesterday MSNBC had an interesting article on the next 5 areas to be gobbled up by WalMart. They discussed the failure of Toy R Us, because they could no longer complete. The article predicts Best Buy will be the next to fall. They are working at gas stations, banks, electronics, pharmacy and fashion. Some of their statistics are frightening - they already control 2% of gas sales, and 20% of their 100 million weekly customers don't have bank accounts. I just look at the stores that have gone out of business because of them - KMart, Caldors, Ames, and a lot of Mom and Pop stores, that actually tried to treat their employees as family. Now the only option for a lot of people is to work at WalMart and like it - they have no other option.
  • The Walton family has been into banking for many years. They have several ARVEST banks scattered around. They tried to put their own banks into their stores a few years back but this was defeated by I forget either an election or federal regulations. I spent 21 years with Wal-Mart, from '73 to '94 and have lots of great memories and of course a few not so great. I too wonder just how big can they get?
  • I just opened a newletter from SHRM, which has an article on Lawrence Jackson the new head of WalMarts People Division. He has an extensive background in retail supply and operations - but not in HR. With all their problems, I would think they would want some HR experience.
  • Missed the show but have to admit I love Wal-Mart. I have bought into the convenient, economical one-stop shopping. Being previously stuck with overpriced grocery stores nearby it is great to have a Wal-Mart near by. I know two different people at two different stores in the state that started working not long ago and they love it. I was in a store in Niagara Falls, Canada and the clerk I talked to there admitted there were some problems but it was a lot better than other jobs she'd had including none at all.
    Just as every "new" style of anything hits resistance, so too goes the tale of Wal-Mart. The younger generations of today will go for the lowest prices and the best service. It's no longer a class problem with the large discount stores. Our economy has gotten so stiff that most of the population is counting every cent. So to me, Wal-Mart is doing more good than bad.
  • Maybe that's why they have all their problems.
  • As some may know, we've just had one of their largest stores open here in Madison. It has red brick exterior, lots of huge columns, no sign out front, cannot see the bays, cannot view the rear of the store from the highway, the A/C units on top had to be concealed from view and the garden center is prohibited from putting plants outside and cannot sell pine straw and stuff like that. These are city requirements. During the grand opening I was impressed with the glitz and the number of open registers and the 'all smiles' staff. But, after about five months, it's just a typical Wal-Mart where one cannot find an employee and the one you do find has no clue where items are. And the checkout lanes that were unending when they opened....maybe you'll find two registers at most open with lines extending back 10-15 people. So far the local hardware store is still open and is a family business with a 'may I help you' attitude. Since Wal-Mart opened, we have a new Home Depot two blocks away and a Lowe's just broke ground right in front of Wal-Mart. Every building in this city has to meet sign ordinance and must be of earth-tone brick with a color scheme approved by a board.

    I enjoy Wal-Mart but wish to hell it had never been invented.
  • About the only nice thing I have to say about Walmart is that they have a decent selection of fishing and outdoor gear, their tire center is OK. I enjoy the lifetime balance/rotate/road hazard deal. But, typical Walmart, I can't get the same Goodyear Eagle Touring tires again.

    Mark my words, they are after the grocery business BIG TIME. They want to be right up there with Kroger and Publix. Kroger got wise (pun intended) and has leveraged the union to keep them at bay in key markets.


  • I read in the paper this morning that K-Mart is buying Sears and will become the nation's third largest retailer after Walmart and Home Depot.

    I guess the other shopping and employment opportunities in a given community play a large role in whether you think Walmart is a blessing or a curse, along with some of the asthetic and environmental factors. My city is trying to keep Walmart and other "big box" stores from building on top of our aquifer, and I like Don's community's efforts to keep retail outlets from being eyesores.

    Apart from those issues, it feels a little scary to me that one company is taking over so many sectors of the retail market. When they've wiped out all their competition, will they start raising prices? Will retailing become so bland and homogeneous that we won't be able to tell suburban Houston from suburban Boston from suburban LA? That's close enough to true already.
  • PBS/ Frontline did a show on Walmart recently, it aired with us on Tuesday night. I focused on Walmart's dependance on production in China and how they have basically told some US manufacturers to move production to China or they would not be price appropriate for long. They interviewed some gentlemen who worked in mid-west factory towns which have now had their businesses closed due to competition. To add insult to injury, Walmart is building next to the old factories - and offering the former $40 - 60K employees minimum wage.
  • I told my husband that K-Mart and Sears would be merging. I also told him that the new name will be "SMART." Of course, I was just kidding!
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