04-06-2009, 01:36 AM
space-time wrote:
[quote=onthedownlow]
Wal-Mart is a great place to shop ...
could you please explain why? have you seen that jib-jab a few years ago, I think it was called BoxMart.
Explain why? Personal preference...great prices...they usually have what I want/need when I want/need it - especially if in a hurry....24/7...usually nice folks working overall...there are many positives for communities, as well as negatives. I shop at many places...from the local shops to the larger companies - I go where I can get what I need for the price I expect to pay and the service.
Yes, I've seen the Jib-Jab cartoon...funny stuff - entertaining. It has truths and exaggerations like many things. I've also seen other sites/comedians/whathaveyou make fun of America, [Insert any company/person name here], poverty-sticken people and countries, the wealthy, people with unfortunate disabilities and/or diseases....
So what?
There is so much negative fodder for Wal-Mart - that's a given - but there is also many positive qualities for this great, U.S. company...but you hardly ever hear about that, do you? Nope, 'cause usually you hear more of the negative folks with a beef complain on the Internet than defending it - the defenders usually don't waste his/her time since they know things likely won't be changing. Keep up the arms race...but I don't think Wal-Mart is going to lose. Here's a small Forbes piece done last year:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22719054/
"It may surprise — or even infuriate — critics, but a new study finds Wal-Mart benefits rather than harms the American economy.
That's the conclusion of a report just released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which studied the "Wal-Mart effect" for 89 counties in its region over the past two decades. The study shows that between 1985 and 2003, personal income, overall employment and retail employment grew faster in counties with a Wal-Mart than in those without one.
Surprised? Don't be. Just acknowledge that Adam Smith was probably right: An exchange of goods at low prices benefits everyone. In the case of Wal-Mart, it seems evident that its model of low prices brings more choice to consumers, which is why so many choose to shop there.
While it is widely (or maybe not so widely) believed that Wal-Mart wipes out local jobs and depresses wages, "the findings suggest the opposite: Firm growth, employment and total earnings were somewhat stronger in Wal-Mart counties," the report says. Still, according to a Pew study cited by the report, 24 percent of Americans think the company is bad for the economy, and 31 percent had an unfavorable view of it."
"Among those living near a Wal-Mart, the Pew study found 81 percent said it was a good place to shop. Five out of six Americans shopped at the stores in 2005. Nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population lives within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart store, and two-thirds of all retailers are located within five miles of one, the Fed's report says."