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I've never been a Wal-Mart shopper. I doubt I'll ever be a Wal-Mart shopper. While I appreciate the convenience and bargain shopping it offers to many, I've always hated what Wal-Marts do to small businesses in the name of one stop shopping. Now I've got more fuel for my fire.
The December issue of Fast Company published an article titled, "The Wal-Mart You Don't Know".
It's a very interesting, though one-sided, article. Wal-Mart's insistence that prices decrease from year to year has forced manufacturers to outsource overseas, resulting in thousands of layoffs in the U.S. The overall power of Wal-Mart in the retail market is staggering.
Two interesting excerpts:
Wal-Mart is not just the world's largest retailer. It's the world's largest company--bigger than ExxonMobil, General Motors, and General Electric. The scale can be hard to absorb. Wal-Mart sold $244.5 billion worth of goods last year. It sells in three months what number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year. And in its own category of general merchandise and groceries, Wal-Mart no longer has any real rivals. It does more business than Target, Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Safeway, and Kroger combined.
"People ask, 'How can it be bad for things to come into the U.S. cheaply? How can it be bad to have a bargain at Wal-Mart?' Sure, it's held inflation down, and it's great to have bargains," says Dobbins. "But you can't buy anything if you're not employed. We are shopping ourselves out of jobs."
It's a long article but well worth the read and so, so interesting. (Did you know that 1/2 of the jeans purchased in the U.S. in 2002 cost under $20? Under $20!) Denim prices aside, it really does provide a fascinating look at the world's largest retailer.
The December issue of Fast Company published an article titled, "The Wal-Mart You Don't Know".
It's a very interesting, though one-sided, article. Wal-Mart's insistence that prices decrease from year to year has forced manufacturers to outsource overseas, resulting in thousands of layoffs in the U.S. The overall power of Wal-Mart in the retail market is staggering.
Two interesting excerpts:
Wal-Mart is not just the world's largest retailer. It's the world's largest company--bigger than ExxonMobil, General Motors, and General Electric. The scale can be hard to absorb. Wal-Mart sold $244.5 billion worth of goods last year. It sells in three months what number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year. And in its own category of general merchandise and groceries, Wal-Mart no longer has any real rivals. It does more business than Target, Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Safeway, and Kroger combined.
"People ask, 'How can it be bad for things to come into the U.S. cheaply? How can it be bad to have a bargain at Wal-Mart?' Sure, it's held inflation down, and it's great to have bargains," says Dobbins. "But you can't buy anything if you're not employed. We are shopping ourselves out of jobs."
It's a long article but well worth the read and so, so interesting. (Did you know that 1/2 of the jeans purchased in the U.S. in 2002 cost under $20? Under $20!) Denim prices aside, it really does provide a fascinating look at the world's largest retailer.