And there in lies the reasons why WalMart is as big as they are today.
The established companies refuse to look to the future and think beyond the next stock split or quarterly profits.

If Smith-Corona had not had it's collective head up it's ass it could be out-Delling Dell.

Instead they whined and pissed like little girls instead of grabbing their balls and making shit happen.

As a side note someone said that Home Depot uses like tactics.
Home Depot and Lowes both INVEST in the NAME BRAND companies that stock their merchandise in the stores.
As an example Home Depot bought a shit-load of stock in the company that makes Husky Tools and the company that makes Husky Tools now makes tools for one of its largest investors.
Black & Decker and Murray are the same.

I don't think it's fair to blame WALMART because if it wasn't WALMART it would be some other company doing the same thing.

The mission of the guys calling the shots there is to make the most money possible for the shareholders. Plain and simple. And the easiest way to do that is to do as much of their business as possible in a FREE environment. Ironically, they get more bang for their buck by manufacturing in a communist country. But because we've implemented minimum wage laws and a gazillion regulations (LIMITATIONS ON FREEDOM) pertaining to the manufacturing, the communist country becomes that best environment. Money is freedom. For every dollar we spend in WALMART $.20 of capital goes into the Chinese economy. In return you get some cheapass WALMART goods, but you've basically just exported a chunk of American power.

Same thing with high tech jobs. My job is in jeapardy because some code jockey in India will do 80% of my job for 50% of my salary. So I'm considering a career change. But what are the things we do well here? We can sue each other (lawyer), talk each other out of their money (sales), or regulate each other (work for the government). Is there anything I can do here where the fruits of my labor are something tangible? Something that will help to eliminate our trade deficit? I don't think so.

Like a few others have said, I think if the SHTF it will be because of a collapse that is economic in nature.

As a truck driver, I hate Wal Mart.  They are the biggest bunch of a** holes in the world.  First of all, I disagree with the concept that the truck driver should unload and re palletize their damn freight.  (unfortunately this is common across the grocery distributors incl..  Kroger, Winn Dixie etc...)  But what really pisses me off is what happened 2 years ago in London KY distribution center.  I happened to be there to see it.  Approximately 2 miles down the road from the DC is a truck stop.  While waiting on appointment times (You are not allowed anywhere on the property until 1 hour before your appointment) most drivers will sit there and grab something to eat, some sleep and some fuel.  A driver was fueling and when he restarted his truck and released his parking brake, an air line fitting broke on his trailer locking all the wheels.  He immediately called for a repair service to replace the line and then called Wal Mart to tell them what was happening.  He told them he may be a little late for his appointment but would get there as fast as possible.  He ended up being [red]18 minutes late for his appointment.[/red]  They made him sit around for 2 hours (I was waiting while I had to pay them to get their shit off my truck).  After the 2 hours they told him since he was late, he had to reschedule.  This was a friday.  He would have to wait until Tuesday.  He explained that he is a diabetic and had a doctors appointment on Monday in California, where he lived.  (he showed them his insulin pump and the appointment slip for proof)  They tell him too bad, he would have to wait and reschedule with his doctor.  He tried repeatedly to explain the seriousness of his condition and they didn't care.  All over 18 minutes that he was "late".

Also, the carrier I was working for at the time was contracted that we would be in and out within 2 hours or they would have to pay detention (an hourly rate to compensate for loss of production).  We would check in with security at the gate, drive to the recieving office and check in again.  Back into the assigned dock and carry our paperwork in.  The recieving office would time stamp the paperwork when they finally decided to send it to the unloaders.  They would time stamp it again after 2 hours, no matter if they were done or not.  Then maybe an hour or 2 later we would finally get our paperwork to leave.  As many as 5 hours on site and they have fraudulently time stamped our paperwork to show 2 hours.  Our company, at first, did not believe they were doing this.  I began having the security guard time stamp my paperwork when I checked in and out with them as proof.  I found out from our billing dept that over 6 months time (comparison of their time stamps to drivers computerized communication system) that Wal Mart had ripped them off for about $30,000.  That is how Wal Mart does it.  By ripping everyone else off.  

We have a KMART here in town.  That place makes WalMart look like Tiffany's/  It is nasty/dirty, no employees to be found, and hardly any stock of any item.

So, I got to WalMart, next town over.  Now, I have been in many WM's.  We are so freakin' lucky with ours.  It is kept neat and clean, and orederly.  Even the shitters are pretty clean!!!  It is well-stocked, and have plenty of people to help you find what you are hunting for.  


In small town NM, where the hell else am I going to buy razors, TP, or deoderant???  Grocery store?? HAH!!  We have no chain stores here.  We have a small store on west main street.  Good luck finding some decent sinus meds or motor oil there!!

Just my presonal situation, because of where I live.  You guys in bigger cities tend to have more choices.

Shopping at Walmart is like going to the zoo. I'll pay an extra $5 to $10 dollars per shopping trip to shop with the beautiful people at Fred Meyer's.  

You must have bought it a few years ago.  It has been moving sideways for the last year or so in the 45-55 range.  I wouldn't complain too much except that their dividend sucks!

Some stocks that have been very very good to me recently have been AMSWA, GM, GP, and INTC.

All of which are up from 30-60 percent since I bought them.

I will agree that on the average day, the return department is reminiscent of the bar scene in the original Star Wars movie..[banghead]

You nailed it TJ, I couldn't agree more!

The wife shops there from time to time. I avoid it. The last time I purchased anything at Wally World was in 1997 when I bought myself a new G-Shock. $60; about the same as everyone else.

What I did notice was the place was a friggin' pig sty. There was crap strewn everywhere, dirty floors, displays all screwed up, dirty bathrooms, etc. A total mess.

Personally, I have no use for them. I don't like the Chinese crap they sell and there are so many options around here (Penny's, K-Mart, Target, CostCo, etc.) that I don't have to shop there. So I don't.

The relationship they have with their suppliers in their business. These one-sided business arrangements are probably more the norm than exceptions, so that situation is not unique to Wally World. But again, I don’t support China, so I don’t shop at Wally World.

[homer]Mmmmm... pickles[/homer]
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