Walmart Is Not the Bargain You Might Think

[marmar]

Walmart Is Not the Bargain You Might Think

Saturday, 07 December 2013 00:00
By Maura Stephens, Truthout | Op-Ed

People flock to Walmart for perceived bargains and convenience. Here are some facts that might keep them from adding their hard-earned cash to the profits of a company that's squashing lives and worker rights worldwide.

Next time someone tells you they shop at Walmart because it's cheap or convenient, share this.

Despite 1,500 protests nationwide against Walmart, the world's biggest retailer claimed its most lucrative Black Friday ever in 2013. Our friends and neighbors flock there.

They do - even those who have seen mom-and-pop stores shut down when Walmart moved into town, who miss being able to pick up one or two items and be out of a store in 10 minutes, who personally know Walmart employees relying on food stamps and who have heard how much money the Walton family continues to accumulate.

Walmart is the poster child for how huge corporations have undermined people's ability to make a living. It does this by sending manufacturing abroad to countries where labor is cheap, at the same time paying its own employees less than a living wage, using other unfair labor practices in numerous locations in the United States, and undercutting locally owned enterprises right out of business. It harms Main Streets and local commerce centers across the country and further drives people to malls. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/20440-walmart-is-not-the-bargain-you-might-think-it-is

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. I would close down all Walmart or revamp it

[aaaaaa5a]

2. I despise Walmart with every fiber of my being. nt

[mdbl]

3. Haven't been there in 2 years and

don't plan on ever going there again. Wal Mart business practices lowered the standard of living in America. They didn't save you or me enough money to justify that.

[99Forever]

4. Many, if not most here...

.. are well aware of the kind of business practices that the 1%er Waltons use.

If you are still giving ANY business to Walmart or Sam's Club , you should be damned well ashamed of yourself.

[hobbit709]

8. I go there for one reason and I'm not ashamed of it

Their brand of glucose test strips are $9 for a box of 50. The VA sends me a box of 50 Accucheck strips every three months. That's not enough even to test yourself once a day. No one else even comes close on that price. When you get $938/mo SS you buy what you can afford.

[99Forever]

10. Considering that almost every retailer...

... will do price matching, especially with documentation, perhaps you can relieve yourself of that "one reason" for feeding the beast that is killing this nation.

[hobbit709]

13. $9 as opposed tp $50, I've looked.

you can send me the $50 a month to be PC or you can keep quiet. At $938 a month income I will keep buying them.
I don't care what you or anyone else thinks.

[99Forever]

15. "Looked" and ASKED for a price match...

.. are two very different things. Almost every major retailer does price matching. Period.

And no, I won't "keep quiet," if someone is too lazy and self-centered to make the minimum effort to help their struggling fellow human beings I WILL say my piece. It's quite obvious you "don't care" what anyone thinks of you.

[hobbit709]

18. It's easy to get on a moral high horse when you're not in a bad position.

When you're scraping by you do what you have to do to survive. I learned that at a very early age.

I know who and what I am, that's why others' opinions of me mean nothing-especially yours.

[99Forever]

19. It's also quite easy to play victim...

... even when there's a way to not to be one.

Excuses, everybody has one.

[HappyMe]

20. That's kind of mean.

You really don't know jack about the other poster's circumstances.

What's your excuse for treating a diabetic like crap to make your precious point?

[99Forever]

21. What's your excuse for...

... not supporting a living wage and decent benefits for Walmart employees? You know nothing of their circumstances.

That's kind of mean.

[HappyMe]

23. lol! Please.

I support a living wage for everyone. How you got that out of what I said, I'll never know.

I worked at WalMart when I lived in WI. So.....

Are you going to answer my question?

[99Forever]

24. Pot...

... meet kettle.

[hobbit709]

28. Even you

[99Forever]

31. I neither work for Walmart nor ever shop there.

By doing so, I avoid being part of the problem. I also joined with Walmart employees in protest on Thanksgiving Day. If you have any suggestions as to what further I can personally do to be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem, speak up, I'm all ears.

[hobbit709]

33. You're still posting on something made by oppressed labor in China.

I don't pretend moral superiority at what I do.

[99Forever]

35. If standing with our fellow working Brothers and Sisters...

... for economic justice is what you consider "pretend(ing) moral superiority" then I'll proudly wear that label.

I much prefer that to being a sniveling, whimpering, sheeple.

[hobbit709]

36. My response to being called that is as follows:

You are a pretender. Were you with me in Chicago?

[99Forever]

38. Isn't that special?

You've learned how to cut and paste and use emoticons as an insult as brutal as I might expect from an angry adolescent. Got any more terrible, gut wrenching digital slams I should be all askeeeeered of?

Good grief, how lame can you get?

[hobbit709]

41. Cut and paste.

All you have to is go the smileys tab on the post screen.

the other poster was right-you ARE funny.

[99Forever]

42. I'm funny...

... and you're childish.

[hobbit709]

43. I bet you're one of those people that bring great joy whenever they leave the room.

[99Forever]

44. How very original.

Gonna start with the Peewee Herman quotes next?

Keep on supporting those Waltons, they just love people like you. Who gives a crap how many people get walked on in the process, as long as YOU get yours? Right?

[hobbit709]

45. Just like you. At least I'm not 4 out of 5.

[polichick]

37. Why can't the VA send more? We sure have plenty of money for war profiteers...

So sad how low this country has sunk!

[hobbit709]

39. You tell me and we'll both know.

As it is I get about $700 worth of meds a month for $0 so I can't complain too much

[polichick]

40. Well, I'm glad you're getting those meds! Don't get the limit on test strips.

[progressoid]

47. The Walmart brand? I have a friend who tried them and kept getting incorrect readings.

Her doc told her that he had heard from other patients that they too had unreliable readings. I think she said they were too high.

[hobbit709]

48. The ones I use are consistently 15 points lower than the Accucheck meter

Every time I cross checked them over the last 4 years. I use Reli-on Prime

[etherealtruth]

26. I am sure you changed the poster's mind

People are often influenced by sanctimonious self important asses.

[99Forever]

27. Hey, what the fuck, right?

Who gives a shit if the largest retailer on the planet pays shit wages to their people and dumps a large portion of paying for their basic human needs on the general public, as long as YOU can get cheap Chinese junk and the Waltons can add a few hundred Billion$$$$$ to their pile, right?

After all, it is all about YOU.

[etherealtruth]

29. LOL ... you are very funny!

Thank you!

[99Forever]

32. You think that how Walmart walks on their employees is funny?

And how they dump paying for the basic human needs of them is a joke?

That's pretty sad.

[etherealtruth]

34. No (LOL), I think your inability to communicate effectively and sanctimony is hysterical

I have no desire to discuss other issues as they are overshadowed by your inability to communicate in any productive manner.

Is your delivery an attempt to draw attention to yourself (vs an issue you claim to hold important)? Negative attention is attention.

Have a lovely day and thank you, again.

[cstanleytech]

5. Sure the mom and pop stores cant compete but they also were not exactly paying top dollar themselves

either.
Perfect example where I am is the local IGA is the nearest store unless you want to travel 30 minutes to walmart and their prices are alot higher on many items that are cheaper at walmart and I know for a fact that they pay just as bad as walmart does so the problem isnt really walmart its that alot businesses in general just dont give a damn if their employees can earn enough to live on.

[Fla Dem]

22. Walmart sets the bar. As the largest competitor, other smaller businesses have to trim costs

and raise prices to keep the doors open. Unfortunately people will go the extra 30 miles for the cheaper goods, so eventually the small stores close. That's the Walmart effect.

[SheilaT]

6. I have not shopped in a Walmart in over a decade now.

The quality had declined a lot, so I simply stopped going.

In recent years I've had the chance to do some small price-checking, and no surprise, what I checked was cheaper elsewhere.

[ellie]

7. I do the shopping in the family

and WalMart is not cheaper than King Soopers generally. Cleaning supplies, for example, are pretty much the same price at both places and Target, too. I think their produce looks sketchy, as does Target's. King Soopers has the best produce. King Soopers has better sales and I like their house brands. Of course if WalMart is the only place to shop in town then you are at their mercy.

[CFLDem]

9. It's the most convenient place for me to shop.

That's all the bargaining I need. 👍

[RebelOne]

11. If you have a Kroger nearby, their prices rival Walmart.

My local Kroger is almost around the corner from my house, and I would not shop anywhere else.

[CFLDem]

12. I have publix

and their prices are noticeably higher. Plus I'm a very eclectic shopper and Walmart just has everything I need under one roof.

And as a bonus, I'm polluting less by shopping at one place instead of many.

I feel bad about the low wages, but that's my government's fault for not setting a higher minimum wage or forcing Walmart to pay for the welfare spending it induces.

[etherealtruth]

25. I shop at Kroger and Target

though I don't shop at Walmart ... my understanding is that the Kroger food prices are as low 9if not lower) than Walmart's and the shopping experience is far better.

[BlueCaliDem]

30. That's my experience, too. Ralph's (what Kroger is called in SoCal) has incredible prices

and sales, and they have an excellent produce section and selection that sells organic (dandelion for my tortoises) and European (kale, Belgium endive, etc.) produce at great prices! And I LOVE Ralph's own-brand roast beef. The best in the country! Plus the people there are so friendly that I know most of the cashiers by name and they know mine.

I rarely go to Target unless I need carpet cleaning fluid or Purex Crystals for the laundry, and I never go to WalMart. My husband hating the place helps. Plenty of $1 Stores and 99cent Stores not to have to ever go there where they try everything to keep you longer in the store as possible to purchase more.

There's also a State Bros close by, but their selection is mediocre and the people there are so freaking cranky all the time that it's no fun shopping there. Plus their fresh bakery doesn't offer the variety of fresh bread and baked goods that Ralph's does.

[Codeine]

46. The only time I ever shop at Stater Bros. is when the UFCW workers go on strike.

Stater's makes the rather obvious decision to honor whatever contract is eventually agreed on by the rest of the companies, so they don't get struck and their business goes through the roof. Then as soon as the strike is over I'm back in my Ralph's and happy again. Stater's is great for traditional meat-and-potatoes family stuff, but we don't eat that way, so we need the wider selection that Ralph's carries.

[BlueCaliDem]

49. +1000 eom

[vinny9698]

14. Plus they sell shoddy goods on purpose

It is called planned obsolescence. I buy tennis shoes from Wal Mart, at the end of three months the glued parts separate. When I was a teenager, a pair of sneakers would last until the soles wore out, not till the glue fell apart. I have yet to buy a pair of tennis shoes from any source where I had to replace them because I wore a hole in the sole.

[xchrom]

16. du rec.

[polichick]

17. Until Americans stop voting against themselves - at the polls and...

with their dollars, not a lot will change.

[Egalitarian Thug]

50. Cheap is always more expensive. Always has been, still hasn't changed.

You've got people right here openly demonstrating their failure to understand even this simple lesson.