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Thread: Wal-Mart discussions good or bad

  1. #1
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    Default Wal-Mart discussions good or bad


    Hey Fatboy:
    Here we can talk about Wal-mart and let it all hang out.

    Fire Away mate
    Regards,

    Moose1am

  2. #2
    Don G's Avatar
    Don G is offline Crappie.com Legend * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Thumbs down I moved my reply to this off subject forum

    J, I'm not a union member,but I had a lot of union members working for me(CWA). But, I too despise WalMart. I buy from the small business man whenever possible. My Dad instilled that in me. He was a small business man. I too look at labels when buying. We just had a company that made a large majority of socks(Renfro) here in the USA that went under. Another huge company here (Pulaski Furniture) has 93% of their furniture made in China. All of their furniture was made here in the US 20 years ago.

    As I have written in this forum before, if someone will tell me where to buy everyday items that is made in America I will.

    We are also fighting a Zoning ordinance here in my home county. I have tried, at Board of Supr. meetings, to tell the Supervisors that they cannot stop Walmart from doing what they want to do. We fought it for 3 years and lost.

    WalMart does as they please, when they please and where they please. That is the bottom line and I don't like it.

    As they say, my 2 cents.
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    It's amazing how these posts all tie together..I was just reading the "redneck" posts...now I read this one about Wal-Mart....here's one for ya...If you think someone elses opinion is "bull**** gibberish" just because it's different than yours...you just may be a redneck.

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    BTW Fatboy...I happen to agree with your opinion..but that doesn;t mean the other guy doesn't have some merit to his opinion also.

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    I think if you go digging around the house and throw out everything made in China you might be surprised at how little you got left in the house. Also you'll probably have to do that naked as well.

    I had a choice to buy some jigs the other day from Wal-mart (about 3 miles from the house) or a tackle shop I like to visit, (about 18 miles from the house). I chose to go to the tackle shop and did that for the reasons some have said here. I wanted to talk about my sport with someone who is knowledgable and cares about my business. I wanted to support this little guy and I don't want to see him go bye-bye. I enjoy his conversation.

    But here's a good one. My wife and I went to Wal-mart a few days after I bought the jigs from the tackle shop guy and who do I see shopping at Wal-mart? The tackle shop guy. He was buying jigs, reels, stove gas and other things to sell in his tackle shop. Heck of a note. But it's called survival. This guy like many other small speciality shops in America can't get the time of day from suppliers today, much less a salesman to call on them. It's business.

    I've been in the wholesale sporting goods and footwear business for the past 28 years. For ten years I had to shuffle back and forth between Asia and the U.S. to do business. For the past 10 years I had to live there. That was also survival because I was losing my job after our factories closed down.

    Wal-mart, Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, L.L Bean, etc. were my customers. Every major sporting goods brand produce if not all, the lyons share of their products in China. If one does...they all got to go or fold.

    When I first called on Wal-mart they would only buy made in America products. You could not sell them anything made in China or outside the U.S. That changed as their competitors began to build their products in China, K-mart and Target to mention a couple. Also going public forced Wal-mart to become more profitable. That U.S. labor cost element.

    I've been doing a lot of camping and fishing here in Missouri since I got back. I've been amazed at the ghost towns some downtowns have become. The main reason is the Wal-marts, Home depots, Office depots, on and on. All of retail has consolidated. It's been going on for the past 16 years heavy and has some more to go. The little independent doesn't stand much of a chance because he just doesn't have the buying power of corporations. It's happened to every segment. How many mom and pop shoe stores do you see these days?

    It's economic evolution. Labor has always been the most expensive component of manufacturing and in many ways U.S. labor has shot itself in the foot. "Cut off the nose in spite the face" kind of thing. I was a union officer before I lost my job and at least personally have some insight to that.


    Wal-mart has had their way with the small towns around America for sure. But they just didn't bully their way in, they bought their way in. They bought their way in by promising and delivering big bucks to towns and maybe just a few officials. But they've also provided some jobs for more than one starving pilgram too.

    I don't belong to the Wal-mart fan club. But I recognize that the consoldation U.S. business and retail specifically is a natural economic certainty.

    For now you do have a choice. I prefer to buy from the little guy as long as he can hold out. Even if he has to resort to buying his stock from Wal-mart.

    But there comes a time when you got to say hey....although I like his conversation I can't afford to pay that much extra for it, and he'll be standing in line at Wal-marts with me.
    "You should have been here yesterday!"

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hoot
    I think if you go digging around the house and throw out everything made in China you might be surprised at how little you got left in the house. Also you'll probably have to do that naked as well.

    I had a choice to buy some jigs the other day from Wal-mart (about 3 miles from the house) or a tackle shop I like to visit, (about 18 miles from the house). I chose to go to the tackle shop and did that for the reasons some have said here. I wanted to talk about my sport with someone who is knowledgable and cares about my business. I wanted to support this little guy and I don't want to see him go bye-bye. I enjoy his conversation.

    But here's a good one. My wife and I went to Wal-mart a few days after I bought the jigs from the tackle shop guy and who do I see shopping at Wal-mart? The tackle shop guy. He was buying jigs, reels, stove gas and other things to sell in his tackle shop. Heck of a note. But it's called survival. This guy like many other small speciality shops in America can't get the time of day from suppliers today, much less a salesman to call on them. It's business.

    I've been in the wholesale sporting goods and footwear business for the past 28 years. For ten years I had to shuffle back and forth between Asia and the U.S. to do business. For the past 10 years I had to live there. That was also survival because I was losing my job after our factories closed down.

    Wal-mart, Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, L.L Bean, etc. were my customers. Every major sporting goods brand produce if not all, the lyons share of their products in China. If one does...they all got to go or fold.

    When I first called on Wal-mart they would only buy made in America products. You could not sell them anything made in China or outside the U.S. That changed as their competitors began to build their products in China, K-mart and Target to mention a couple. Also going public forced Wal-mart to become more profitable. That U.S. labor cost element.

    I've been doing a lot of camping and fishing here in Missouri since I got back. I've been amazed at the ghost towns some downtowns have become. The main reason is the Wal-marts, Home depots, Office depots, on and on. All of retail has consolidated. It's been going on for the past 16 years heavy and has some more to go. The little independent doesn't stand much of a chance because he just doesn't have the buying power of corporations. It's happened to every segment. How many mom and pop shoe stores do you see these days?

    It's economic evolution. Labor has always been the most expensive component of manufacturing and in many ways U.S. labor has shot itself in the foot. "Cut off the nose in spite the face" kind of thing. I was a union officer before I lost my job and at least personally have some insight to that.


    Wal-mart has had their way with the small towns around America for sure. But they just didn't bully their way in, they bought their way in. They bought their way in by promising and delivering big bucks to towns and maybe just a few officials. But they've also provided some jobs for more than one starving pilgram too.

    I don't belong to the Wal-mart fan club. But I recognize that the consoldation U.S. business and retail specifically is a natural economic certainty.

    For now you do have a choice. I prefer to buy from the little guy as long as he can hold out. Even if he has to resort to buying his stock from Wal-mart.

    But there comes a time when you got to say hey....although I like his conversation I can't afford to pay that much extra for it, and he'll be standing in line at Wal-marts with me.
    I understand what you said here. Yes labor here in the US cost more than other places but you get what you pay for. I bought Rocky boots for years and love them. They moved from making them in the US to made in China and they no longer are as good as they once were. They size boot will no longer fit as they have cut corners so much. I was raised in a city known for shoes, St. Louis, MO. and all the factories and companies are gone now. I think Redwing still has a factory in Missouri and that is all.

    I read something in a business paper earlier this year that said the US was cutting off its nose in spite their face. They said that corp. America sent all the manufacturing of the companies over seas and kept the white-collar jobs here. What makes these people think after they cut the cost of making the items that these world wide companies will not move the white collar jobs out of the US also some day. They went on to say that day is not far off. They also said them people will yell and cry more than the Blue-collar worker did about losing their job.

    Duane
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    My soon to be ex-wife calls me a CrappieHead

  7. #7
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    Default Walmart

    I buy from Walmart, and I am proud of it. Buy for the best prices, save money, invest more money, retire younger with more money. It is simple economics. I still support my local tackle retailers, because Walmart doesn't carry all of the stuff I want/need.


    Fatboy, I can tell you don't educate yourself so much on the topic. You don't like them and you leave it at that.

    Your argueement calling them communists is hypocritical.

    communism: A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.

    If they organized labor for the common advantage of its members then you might be onto something, but you say they are evil because they give them low wages, which isn't an advantage of its workers.

    The workers can do something about it if they don't like it, get involved in a union. They wanted to open a Walmart in suburban Chicago about a decade ago, guess what, there still isn't a Walmart there. Union members from other businesses along with the ACL-CIO has kept Walmart in court to this date. I am in a Union now, and know that if the workers have any backbone they can and will get what is right.

    I feel that the employees are paid decent, $6.50/hr plus, for doing what? The positions are easy, and the jobs weren't intended to support a family, ever notice most of the employees are teenagers or retireed elderly just working their for the insurance, since the American companies they retired from are cutting back on insurance coverage. Why don't you complain about fast food places that pay even less and don't provide insurance or any benefits. The employees have the option of working there, nobody is forcing them to do so.

    Walmart is huge because they do what they do the best. Every other business and chain out there would do the same thing if they could.

    It is a capitalistic society, and that is all they are doing, running their business in a profitable manner.

    As for your Chinese comments, again it goes back to capitalism, to produce at the lowest cost. All the electronic equipment in your "American made" car came from Asia. You computer probably has Chinese made parts, maybe you should throw out your computer now. Please do, by doing so you will save us from hearing you complain.

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    Crappie66, I agree with what your saying but the fact is Wal-Mart has been in trouble several times over the last three years with forcing people to clock out and work off the clock if they were gonna go over a 30 hour work week. The reason they have alledgedly done this is to keep from defining them as full time. They are also in trouble with the NLRB(National Labor Relations Board) because they taunt or intimidate or fire people trying to organize a union, which is illegal. I remember years ago when Sam Walton was alive being able to walk into Wal-Mart and a sign hanging up saying so and so products made in wherever USA and that it created however many jobs. Then Sam Walton died, all that changed. As for educating myself, www.uswa.org, have done tons and tons and tons of research on lost jobs in the U.S. due to Mexico and China. NAFTA has done nothing but stabbed Americans in the back. Nah, think i will keep my Dell Computers , all three of them. I think if more people would complain about the way Wal-Mart does business, maybe they would listen but i doubt it.
    Last edited by fatboy; 12-13-2004 at 05:03 AM.

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    Kenny, i was referring to a p.m. i got from a guy to remain nameless who basically told me that Wal-Mart was the best thing since fishing poles and called me a certain name. That is what got me fired up. Sorry. Have always been and will always be a redneck and proud of it. Sorry i went on a tirade, but in my county alone, i have seen OSTER move to mexico, TEMCO fireplaces move to CHINA, MAGNETECH electric motors move to CHINA, FINDLAY industries(SEAT COVERS) move to CHINA, POWERMATIC power tools move to CHINA. I agree that if we have no other options than to buy things made in CHINA, that it is our only option, but this monster was created years ago. It is sad to see people who have worked their entire lives get thrown to the curb and left because some guy somewhere else works for a dollar a day or whatever with no benefits at all and OSHA isn't overlooking the safety and well being of the employees.
    Last edited by fatboy; 12-13-2004 at 05:13 AM.

  10. #10
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    papasage is offline Crappie.com 2011 Man of the Year & Moderator GA * Crappie.com Supporter
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    wal-mart isen`t alwayes cheaper . they wer out of ink carterages and a office suplie store had them .[mom pop type]they wer cheaper .
    when wal-mart said they sold u s a onley that was if they could buy it at or less then foreign in the usa. there is alwayes the small print or if`s or`s and the like .
    all the chain stores i know of will want you to work part time and off the clock . my wife worked for a large womens clothing chain store for 8 years . talk about crooks they wer . guess all the big boys are that why they are there and i am still a small buisness owner .papasage
    retired and now i will always fish

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