Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Go Wal-Mart Go

[Nathan Odle <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Apr 5, 2004, at 8:43 AM, Heivilin, Jim wrote:
> Generally speaking ./ is not one of my top, most reliable, unbiased 
> news
> reporting locations.  But that's just a personal opinion.
>

Agreed.  In this case the actual source was the NY Times, which is 
admittedly also unreliable much of the time despite being the 
"newspaper of record".

>> I know there's probably a lot of people on this list that hate the
>> Great Wall of Mart, but I for one am a fan.
>>
> Then you haven't done or listen to anyone whose done some research on
> their business practices.  I don't have the data at the tip of my
> fingers but what I have read has made me realize that the only "best
> interest" they're concerned with is their bottom line.  Perfectly
> understandable (expected even) but the sugar coating they want people 
> to
> believe about them being benevolent and interested in local communities
> is bunk and doesn't sit well.

On the contrary, I'm a fan precisely because I *respect* many of their 
business practices.  They've taken great advantage of economies of 
scale, for one.  They're also unbelievably efficient with their 
logistics.  Their ordering/fullfillment system is UNBELIEVABLE.

These and other things combine to create a store with "Everyday Low 
Prices" - it's not just a marketing slogan.  I *like* the fact that I 
can go into their store and buy deodorant 75 cents cheaper than at my 
local drugstore.  Likewise for their grocery prices.  The "bottom line" 
may be everything for Wal-Mart, but it's also everything for 95% of 
consumers.  The $25 I save on groceries by shopping there lets me take 
my wife out for dinner on Friday night or invest that much more in an 
IRA.

Now, this isn't to say that they don't have some shadier practices, 
i.e. mislabeling things "Made in the USA" or (allegedly) employing 
people with the knowledge that they're illegal immigrants, but sorry - 
you have to take the good with the bad.  No organization is 100% 
perfect (I defy you to name even one - and it'd better not be the 
Catholic Church).  If you take the time to figure Wal-Mart's *net 
benefit* to society and the economy, it's still positive.  That's not 
to excuse their shortcomings, but you have to keep this sort of thing 
in mind..."stick it to the man" is a lose-lose situation and never 
helps anyone in the end.

-N

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