Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money'

[Newsjock]

Source: CNN

Wal-Mart's core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

"We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact."

Wal-Mart shoppers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, typically shop in bulk at the beginning of the month when their paychecks come in.

... "Purchases are really dropping off by the end of the month even more than last year," Duke said. "This end-of-month (purchases) cycle is growing to be a concern.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/27/news/companies/walmart_ceo_consumers_under_pressure/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin

[yourout]

1. Then pay your employees a decent wage.

[murphyj87]

21. Walmart Canada is...

Walmart Canada is unionized in many parts of Canada and even the minimum wage, though it varies from province to province, averages $9.50 CDN ($9.97 US) an hour.

[Aerows]

80. In Canada

People also have medical coverage. We don't have that in the US, either.

[murphyj87]

117. Exactly...

The average Canadian has $15,000 in his pocket while the average Ameerican pays that amouint for health costs (insurance, deductibles, and copays). Minimum wage workers in Canada have exactly the same health care as the Premier of their Province, thier Meber of Parliament, and the Prime Minister of Canada.

It should be noted that shortly after Danny Williams got back to Newfoundland after having heart surgery in Florida (where he also has owned a condo and belonged to a golf club there for decades), even his own party turned on him and forced him to resign on the spot, not only as Premier of Newfoundland, but as Member of the Newfoundland House of Assembly for Humber North. Having surgery in Florida when he could and should have had it in Canada completely ended Danny William's political career, much to his surprise.

[Canuckistanian]

146. There are no unionized Walmarts in Canada

There was one in Jonquiere, Que that tried to unionize. Walmart shut it down.

Another one TRIED to unionize - then they voted down certification. Some say it was new hires who overwhelmed the vote.

[diane in sf]

66. I highly recommend your response!!!

[YvonneCa]

105. Maybe even a 'union negotiated, collectively bargained'...

...decent wage. ;) And realize that some of your customers are having that stripped away from them as we speak.

[RKP5637]

2. To Walmart I can only say DUH. n/t

[laundry_queen]

63. No kidding!

WTF did they think was going to happen? First, kill manufacturing jobs in the US and ship it all overseas so those people who lost their jobs are too broke to buy your shit. THEN take over small towns so that all the local small businesses go under, so THOSE people now are too broke to buy your shit. Then pay people who work for you next to nothing, don't let them unionize or don't give them benefits so THEY can't afford to buy your shit...then you wonder why people aren't buying your shit? Really? Let me know where this asshole got his MBA because I'll be sure to avoid that school when I go get mine.

[999998th word]

69. Bingo^

[druidity33]

71. Remember when Ford decided

to pay his workers more so they could afford a Ford car? Actually the man was a maniac, hated Unions, and his American "ideal" was a pipe dream. But he did want his workers paid well so they could be good CONSUMERS.

:(

[dixiegrrrrl]

76. Bravo!

[raccoon]

77. Excellent analysis. nt

[Pacifist Patriot]

79. Perfect analysis

[closeupready]

91. That's exactly it, packed in a nutshell.

+1000

[RKP5637]

97. Well said!!! n/t

[CrispyQ]

101. Outstanding rant.

:thumbsup:

[Amonester]

116. +1 TRILLION

NOW they *fake* SURPRISE????

F*CK THESE iRResponsible LOOTERS!

[OhioChick]

120. Well Said and Agreed n/t

[Trajan]

137. I gotta join in - BULLSEYE !

I could not have said it better ..... Thanks for that ....

BEST post I've read in DU in a long while ...

[Canuckistanian]

145. +10000

Not the sharpest business minds at Walmart. The pay was good while it lasted, probably.

[Canuckistanian]

144. You got it

Stock your stores with products made ENTIRELY outside the country, then wonder, "hmmm, why can't Americans buy more of our cheap, slave-made shit?"

What a puzzler.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. You reap what you sow. nt

[bluestateguy]

4. Wal Mart made a business decision to target lower income customers

Now they are reaping the consequences of that choice.

[EC]

26. They also made the choice to create low income

customers.

[emsimon33]

62. EXACTLY!!!!! And they couldn't see it coming?????

This is the beginning of the wave that will engulf the country as more and more people whose jobs were shipped overseas can not afford to purchase what the companies that shipped the jobs overseas are selling.

How did they fail to see the consequences of their greed?

[DJ13]

5. This is what happens when hundreds of billions of Fed money only goes to the wealthy

Trickle down does NOT work, all that money was wasted.

We would be long out of the recession now if just half that had gone to the lower classes.

[RantinRavin]

12. Trickle down worked perfect

It trickled right on back to China where it came from.

[Crowman1979]

138. What they meant by "Trickle Down" is that the rich piss all over the middle class.

[CanonRay]

147. + 1000

:fistbump: :yourock:

[defendandprotect]

25. And we're still subsidizing the oil companies --- !!!!

[Bandit]

109. What I don't understand is why we are not subsidizing Walmart

I always thought Walmart was one of the really Big Shot Republicans, so why haven't they figured a way to get the Government to subsidize them or maybe they do. Maybe it is in Cheap Chinese Imports with little or no tarrifs. :shrug:

[defendandprotect]

115. They will .... maybe something like a Chapel in Wal-Mart? ....

:evilgrin:

[RKP5637]

29. NONE of it makes any F'en sense, none of it. I just watched

the following. You might find it offensive, I don't know, but for us it certainly lifted the veil off a lot of the stuff we see happening. In fact, we found it one of the best documentaries we've seen if one wants to look behind the curtain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzULm4d8h8w

[DJ13]

33. You might find it offensive

Not a bit, actually it looks interesting, thanks!

[RKP5637]

37. That's good. I'm never quite sure what to say if I send it to someone. I have

a really open mind, I just want to try to understand what's going on. I've been pretty bewildered about some things because something seems just not right.

[ellenfl]

39. kick eom

[RKP5637]

41. Thanks! n/t

[robinlynne]

64. kicking to keep a link. watching now.

[RKP5637]

94. Thanks! n/t

[closeupready]

92. K&R to watch tonight, if it's rainy.

:hi:

[RKP5637]

93. Good! I think you'll find it pretty interesting!

:hi:

[ronnie624]

100. Thank you very much for that.

All of those who support the current administration need to watch it.

[RKP5637]

129. You're welcome. It was a real eye opener for us. You kind of see some

things you wonder about, but when it's all put together it's pretty concerning.

[Brickbat]

6. Lick it up, Wal-Mart. LICK IT UP.

[xfundy]

7. Mal-Wart can congratulate themselves

on making it happen.

Just to see, I went into a local MalWart a few months ago. Noticed their prices on store-brands were often more expensive than national brands, eg, their brand of cream cheese cost more than an equal amount of Philadelphia. Other products (should have made a list) had similar discrepancies. Like most (I'm being generous by not saying ALL) right-wingers, they lie/distort/obfuscate any and every issue or claim.

When shopping for produce and staples, I go out of my way to find and patronize "ethnic" or multi-ethnic stores. Prices are better, people appreciate the patronage and let you know it. Money stays local.

[Knight Hawk]

24. Very careful shopper here

I am sorry but in central Florida on at least 8 out of 10 grocery,produce,meat items Walmart is 10 to 20 % less than their competition.I am not talking about items made in China .I am talking about:eggs,milk,fruit,bread,can goods .Edy's frozen yougert is $3.59 at Walmart over $ 6.00 at Publix,Winn Dixie etc.

[Swagman]

36. patronise Main Street and Mom'n'Pop businesses

[City Lights]

83. "Mal-Wart" is perfect!

Spread it far and wide!

[high density]

8. More tax cuts for the Walton Family will fix that

Right?

[rsmith6621]

9. So Mr Duke... Time For You To....

....Put pressure on the other Millionaires like yourself you know the OIL COMPANIES and cry to them about your pain and how it is hurting your bottom line...namely your BONUS.

[MadMaddie]

10. Folks here is a translation

WalMart will look at all of the communities where their big fucking stores are, they will evaluate which store to close. (mind you a store that destroyed local community businesses-pick a state and community)

What that means is that WalMart will close stores and further devastate communities. There will be very few local businesses that are still viable. This could kill even more towns.

It's coming....by the way Walmart has the most empty properties across the U.S.

[Sonoman]

44. Well put, MM.

Personally, I don't care what the fuck happens to WalMart, but I do worry about all of those smaller-market communities.

I entered a WalMart exactly one time (to buy 50# of cat litter during an ice storm) and will never go back. It was a de-humanizing experience.

Gave twenty bucks to a guy who was panhandling at the entrance of the store. That was in Montgomery, AL.

Sonoman

[LuckyLib]

126. I entered one once as well, to get gardening gloves I had forgotten on the way to a CSA produce

picking day. Won't go back. But I understand when it's the only game in town and money is tight.

[wordpix]

51. they're planning 4 new stores in DC area so this is news---so far, one community saying not so fast

[n2doc]

122. and they hold on to those empty stores

to prevent competitors from using the locations.

People will be reduced to buying from gas stations, or driving long distances.

[MadMaddie]

134. Exactly!

With the Supreme Court the way it is communities have no real fighting chance of keeping them out.

[Autumn]

11. Damn that sucks

My sympathy to the Walton family.

[elleng]

13. Good to see this, 'cause they and others like them could provide

impetus for positive, otherwise difficult/impossible change.

[MattSh]

108. Why change...

when they can have the government
1) declare them to big to fail
2) then bail them out?

:shrug:

[freshwest]

14. Yeah, crappy wages, selling cheap Chinese crap to enrich the Waltons had nothing to do with it...

[Booster]

15. Now that Wal-Mart is concerned the people in Wash DC (BOTH

parties) will probably doing something constructive. Can't have Wal-Mart pissed off.

[Zorra]

16. If they hadn't alienated the left in so many ways,

they might not be having a problem.

[earthside]

17. I have no truck with Wal-Mart ...

... but if this is true (and why would they lie about such a thing?) then it bodes ill for the economy.

I continue to be skeptical that there is any real 'recovery' happening for 80+ percent of Americans -- even the slight down tick in unemployment may mean folks just getting McDonald's-type jobs paying a quarter or less of what they earned three years ago.

I think occasionally pent-up demand causes people to spend what little they have saved or else put more on the credit card ... and then it looks like some improvement. But then, as this Wal-Mart story indicates, folks slump back down into fiscal malaise.

And, don't just think it is gasoline prices, everything is going up ... from groceries, to clothing, to health insurance, to school fees, etc.

[Knight Hawk]

27. Exactly

The economy for the middle class on down is NOT good and is NOT improving .The financial hole our country has dug itself in will be paid for by the little guy.Obama knows this and is in on the "fix".

[Kolesar]

38. Hopefully, commercial spending will continue until the jobs return

My employer set an all time sales volume last quarter.

[fasttense]

72. And exactly what jobs do you expect will return?

Manufacturing is increasing it's numbers of foreign facilities and R&D labs. So, forget manufacturing and research and development.

Corporations are consolidating, creating more and more regional monopolies. Creating fewer and fewer management, supervisory and executive positions.

The remaining jobs, that can not be shipped out or downsized are service jobs. But you can't afford to buy Wal-Mart crap with a McDonald's job.

But maybe the jobs you are thinking of are things like cleaning Bill Gate's toilet. We can all fight over those lucrative jobs.

[Kolesar]

74. You can fight for a job cleaning Bill Gates' toilet

Me, I am going to retire early at age 55.

[w4rma]

89. Glad you've got yours, jerk. (nt)

[Kolesar]

90. Who asked you?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4830334&mesg_id=4830782

[Javaman]

111. odd responce...

you thread back to your own self indulgence.

I don't know how that proves your point.

:shrug:

[Kolesar]

113. Who asked you?

[Javaman]

118. You posted on a public site, I responded.

a little defensive aren't you?

have fun pissing on the poor when you retire.

The above poster is correct, you are a jerk.

Ta! :)

[LanternWaste]

124. The fact that the statement is on a publicly viewed message board implies

The fact that the statement is on a publicly viewed message board implies that everyone is indeed asking everyone else questions. Did you not know that...?




Oh, and BTW, I asked myself... just in case your genteelness and civility should continue down its same path :hi:

[closeupready]

128. +1

nt

[RobinA]

75. What Earthside Said

The real story here is not Wal*mart, it's what it says about the economy. Yes, Wal*Mart has a hand in this, but that's another issue. I have suspected this so-called recovery ever since I heard about it. I am employed and fairly secure at the moment, but I see no evidence in my area of any recovery. The same people are out of jobs who were at the beginning of the crash.

[Pacifist Patriot]

81. I imagine everything is going up due largely to gasoline prices.

We have a fossil fuel based economy and many products are petroleum based. You can't just have gas prices go up and nothing else. Gas prices go up everything has to follow. You can't distribute goods without the increased cost of transportation due to fuel expense.

[global1]

18. It's What I've Been Saying All Along......

who is going to buy the stuff they sell if they can't afford to buy it?

The only way out of our current financial problem is to get people back to work and pay them a decent wage. Once people begin to feel good about themselves again because they are earning money - they will spend it. That is the engine that will get this economy going again. It's not rocket science. And guess what - those earners will begin paying taxes again. Income tax, sales tax, property tax, etc - and that will help dig the government and states out of their financial problems too.

If people don't have it to spend - who's going to go on vacation? Who's going to eat at restaurants? Who's going to go to the movies? Who's going to buy that new car? Who's going to buy those appliances? etc, etc, etc.....

It is very telling that of all corporations complaining that it would be Wal-Mart.

When Wal-Mart is starting to feel the pinch - we are really in bad shape. This doesn't bode well for the U.S.

[Knight Hawk]

28. one small problem....................

back to work earning good wages doing what?.........We are in the middle of a sea change.Good jobs are being exported .Did you see Bernake's press conference today?When questioned about our deficit problems he said it was VERY serious.As a solution he mentioned cutting government programs not a WORD about raising taxes.This is a war between the rich and the poor.Do not bet on the poor(middle class on down).

[Art_from_Ark]

65. Bernanke's press conference

I think that can help explain why gold reached another record today.

[closeupready]

95. Bernanke is a typical puke - cut spending, don't raise taxes on the wealthy

:mad:

[Stevenmarc]

19. Gee if only you didn't pretty much single handedly destroyed the manufacturing sector

you would have more customers with money.

[OneAngryDemocrat]

20. DIRECT ACTION

Go to http://walmartstores.com/contactus/feedback.aspx#1 and tell Wal-Mart what you think of Mike Duke's amazing observation.

I wrote, "In regards to Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke's recent comment that shoppers are losing buying power inside of your big box store, here's a novel idea to turn things around: Pay your own employees a decent wage, Wal-Mart, and let them unionize. They'll then be able to buy more of your goods."

[raccoon]

78. Kudos to you! nt

[OneAngryDemocrat]

135. Bumped...

...

[FirstLight]

22. I said it yesterday, and I'll say it again...

What happens when the money is all gone?

when the top 2% hoard it all, and there's nothing left (to trickle down) for the masses who are relying on social services or have low wages, the domino effect comes fast...

I wish the PTB would 'get it'

[RKP5637]

45. You might want to take a look at post #29. If it

offends you please don't ding me. I'm just trying to get the info. to a few people I think might be interested. We looked at it here and thought it was an excellent documentary on some of the things going on. We too wish the PTB would 'get it', but if you view this documentary you'll probably discover what we did that they aren't interested.

[EC]

102. That's exactly why we should be taxing them more

and creating government jobs (maybe temp jobs of two years or so)to stimulate the economy. When more people have $$'s maybe more small businesses will be created to offer more jobs. The only way to get the money back in circulation is taxes.


All their complaining about redistribution of wealth is nonscence...that's what makes the market...movement of $$'s.

[Mulhane]

107. At least you have to admit...

that there are less aluminum cans on the ground lately.

[florida08]

23. you mean the Koch types don't shop at Walmart?

Gazillions in profits might drop? Course not..they'll just raise prices. Maybe they shouldn't have monopolized the market by saturating us with stores in every direction. Hope they have to eat that ship of theirs.

[progressoid]

30. Hey Mike...Fuck you and your Walton bosses.

:grr:

[Initech]

31. When the revolution happens, I'm taking over a walmart and declaring it a sovereign nation.

[conspirator]

125. I call chairman of the wallmart federal reserve nt

[Initech]

132. That's community property in my country.

:evilgrin:

[Bozita]

32. Henry Ford could have told 'em that almost 100 years ago, 1914 to be exact.

The big reason behind his famous $5/day wage.

[Scottybeamer70]

34. They never got any of my money,

so it isn't my fault.

[glinda]

60. We pay more to shop elsewhere even though it hurts our pocketbook.

[closeupready]

96. Me. too. Though I have to say, Costco - after membership - is as cheap or cheaper than Walmart.

AND their products are better. :)

[CrispyQ]

104. I have a project on hold because I can't find ceiling hooks at any of the local shops in town.

I live three block away from a Walmart.

The really irksome thing about it is that Walmart put the local True Value hardware store out of business a few years ago. :grr: They would have ceiling hooks.

[Duer 157099]

35. What? You mean the wealthy don't shop there?

Huh, seems like somebody dropped the ball when they decided on their business model.

[Doremus]

40. How does management justify supporting govt policies that

help destroy their core shopper base?

Myopic imbeciles.

[Harmony Blue]

46. Management these days is focused on short term

goals, but not on any long term goals.

Sad really.

[CrispyQ]

106. Yes. The corpo's only look one quarter ahead. --nt

[hatrack]

42. "Always Low Wages - Always!"

And now, we see what that really amounts to.

I'll be delighted to see the Walton heirs take a bath, and horrified by the degree of suffering implied by what it will take to make that happen.

[DollyM]

43. Wal Mart hasn't even considered that it is because their prices are going up way too fast?

A couple of weeks ago, I went to get some groceries at WM. I already by pass their milk because it is nearly 4 dollars a gallon. I can get it at Aldi's for $2.49 a gallon. I was going to make stuffed peppers and about lost it when I saw they were charging $1.44 for a single green pepper! I knew I could get it at the local IGA or Aldi's for half that. Apparenly so did everyone else, there big stock of green peppers sat there so they marked them to 1.22 each a few days later. Still they did not move, then all of a sudden, they were all gone. I waited patiently knowing was what coming next. A few days after that, the people from the food pantry stopped by with my mom's food basket and it contained a dozen green peppers that were very quickly going bad. I am laying odds that they came from Wal Mart because they couldn't sell them at those ridiculous prices. Wal Mart thinks because they are Wal Mart, people won't notice the huge jump in prices and still buy from them. Obviously they were wrong . . .

[Harmony Blue]

47. For Florida,

Wal mart has offered competitive prices (sometimes cheaper) compared to retail Super markets in the region.

But most produce that Wal Mart procures into the state of Florida, is from California. But with increasing gasoline prices, these cheaper produce goods have sky rocketed. While Publix, Sweetbay, Winn Dixie at least don't rely on produce goods that much from California, but local growers (eg Plant City).

Wal Mart's other problem is that they are often located in sub urban areas that are spaced out. With increasing gasoline costs, I doubt someone would be willing to travel 20 minutes to a Super Wal Mart to save 20 cents on a carton of dozen eggs for example.

[eridani]

68. That is truly perverted. People from Florida buying California oranges?

And vice versa? Effing CRAZY!

[Pacifist Patriot]

82. No kidding. This has bugged the daylights out of me for years.

Watching big huge trucks laden with citrus fruit barreling down the highway headed out of the state and then walking into a grocery story gleefully advertising fresh California citrus. Boggles the mind. Someone once told me it was because Florida produces juicing oranges and California produces eating oranges. Yeah, you go ahead and continue thinking that.

[DollyM]

130. and my plan is to have a neighborhood garden and srew Wal-mart!

We have the land and our neighbor likes to garden so he is putting in a nice size garden on our land so we can share in it's bounty. More and more neighborhood gardens are becoming the thing around here. I want to see Wal Mart try to get $1.42 for a green pepper in a couple of months.

[4dsc]

48. Keep asking republican legislators "where all the good paying jobs?"

Keep up the pressure on these dirtbags although I don't think it will do any good in the long term.

[UpInArms]

49. if tax cuts create jobs, where are the jobs? eom

[wordpix]

50. "and please bail us out b/c our profits aren't in the billion$/quarter anymore"

"and if you don't bail us out, we'll have to layoff thousands and stop building big box stores"

that's the next thing we'll hear.

[JosefK]

52. ..or maybe women have wisened up & decided to no longer

shop at a place that pays them less than it pays men.

[isuphighyeah]

53. They never figured that their business

practices would bankrupt the very consumer base that supports them? My heart breaks for them.

[iemitsu]

54. while i have no sympathy for walmart or other corporate giants

this observation is not a good sign for those of us at the bottom.
last night i went to a lowe's to get a replacement hose for my shower stall. it was about 6:30 pm and the store was empty. i have never been in the place when it was so deserted. there was not even a clerk manning the check-out counter. after waiting to pay for several minutes, someone from the customer service/return counter had to come over and work the till (she was not sure she had permission to do it).
both the wife and i thought it strange and foreboding.

[Harmony Blue]

56. Yes it foreshadows the future

The trend in retail as of 2011 is to send people home who are part time workers, and to let go of full time workers. Part time workers are now staffing full time positions in retail. I mean, think about it....part time workers who average 20-25 hours a week are being told to go home, and their hours are cut by a 1/4, possibly in half?

[iemitsu]

143. that sucks.

but i believe you. the corporate model is terribly destructive to communities.

[global1]

55. We Got To Get MSM To Pick Up This Story And Report It.........nt

[CoffeeCat]

57. I'll tell ya what you need to do, Mr. Walmart CEO...

...the next time you're at one of your DC-circuit cocktail parties--rubbing elbows
with the banker, health-insurance, political and business tycoon mucky mucks--just
lean over and tell them to stop their oil-speculating nonsense.

You travel in those circles. Don't act so surprised.

[yurbud]

58. assholes that they are, Walmart is at least a real business unlike the hedge funds and the like on

Wall Street, so Walmart can be hurt by their customers being hurt.

Wall Street on the other hand sees us as so much ground beef still on the hoof.

[glinda]

59. Their support of special interests is biting them back in the butt.

[emsimon33]

61. Create factories overseas to produce your junk and what did they expect!

WalMart--made in China with the cheapest prison labor and the cheapest materials

[Rosie1223]

114. My thoughts, exactly.

:hi:

[Rex]

67. NOTE - NOT 'the working class is hurt' or 'the working class

seems to be getting poorer'. No, it is 'our shoppers are running out of money'.

You know what?

Fuck Wal-Mart, they ran the 'mom and pop' stores out of Americas small towns.

Fuck em.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

70. The bulls are running wild on Wall Street, happy days are here again!

The mark of a successful Democratic administration: Wall Street is hitting new records everyday. Fuck the working class, the investor class comes first and only feeding their insatiable greed is important. Fed prints 600 billion to suppress interest rates and as a result there is no inflation. This would be funny if not so many people were not being seriously injured by this behavior. The answer is cut Social Security and Medicare and then Wall Street can soar higher.

[No Elephants]

98. Perfect post, FreeStateDemocrat.

Just adding an observation: "mark of a successful Democratic administration" -- Head of Treasury is a Repuke. Fed Head is a Dummya Bush appointee. .

Head of Defense is also a Repuke (ditto Clinton's Head of Defense) and a Dummya Bush appointee, soon to be replaced by a former Nixon Republican. Almost everyone else is a DLC type (whether or not formally a member), or worse.

Any wonder the results are good for the investor class, but not so much for the middle class or those in need?

I guess a "successful Democratic administration" and a "successful New Democratic administration" are very different.

[Gin]

110. a good analogy to what is happening is..... we are experiencing the

running of the bulls...anyone who gets in the way gets gored.

[neverforget]

73. Implement the Ryan Plan and the only thing sold at WalMart will be cat food

[kpete]

84. Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money'

Source: CNN

Wal-Mart: Our shoppers are 'running out of money'


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wal-Mart's core shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said Wednesday.

"We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact."

Wal-Mart shoppers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, typically shop in bulk at the beginning of the month when their paychecks come in.

Lately, they're "running out of money" at a faster clip, he said.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/27/news/companies/walmart_ceo_consumers_under_pressure/index.htm

[onehandle]

85. So give them some, Billionaire family. nt

[fredamae]

86. Well, I'm not sure what to say

aside from the fact that big corps will now fight over the remaing flow of dollars?

EXXON just posted 69% increase in profit..maybe wm will go after that? Run crying to "daddy koch"? Who knows, but what did the corporatist expect?

[qb]

87. Walmart gambled big on undercutting their competitors. I hope they lose big too.

[Stumbler]

88. Oh no!

Time to give some tax-subsidies to Wal-Mart to ensure they don't suffer too much from a loss of revenue. As for those lazy, slobbish, piece-of-$#!t customers, it's time for someone to tell them to get off their asses and get to work....

:sarcasm:

:banghead:

[Raine]

99. They should call their buddies on Wall Street

and tell them to quit hogging all the money.

[No Elephants]

103. Um......duh?

And it's not only about fuel pries, although that is certainly a convenient scapegoat for Pontius Pilate Wal-Mart.

Inevitably, the "trickle down and tsunami up" model ends, sooner or later. It simply cannot sustain itself indefinitely.

Now, the top 400 individuals are richer than the next 150 million individuals combined. Well's almost run dry (though it will probably get worse). Luckily for the Waltons, they made billions while the getting was fantastic.

Those of us not in the top 10%, but who do have two cents to rub together, can keep paying the bills for local, state and federal government--with ever-dwindling services and ever-increasing wars--and suck it.



Hmmmm. Wonder who'll win Dancing With the Stars this season.

[RedCloud]

112. Just kick the crap out of the oil companies.

[AllyCat]

119. Of course, giving them tax breaks didn't bring shoppers into their stores either

Amazing how corporate and wealthy tax breaks seem to have NOTHING TO DO with improving the economy. Customers help businesses thrive, not tax breaks.

[KansDem]

131. Don't you just love these people!

Customers help businesses thrive, not tax breaks.

From time to time I hear people who claim they are small business owners and that if they paid less taxes they could hire more workers...
:rofl:

Yeah, sure!...

I'm not an economist but it's an increase in business that prompts a business owner to hire more workers, not a cut in taxes!

Do they really think I'll believe them when they say if they had more money from paying less taxes, they'll spend it on hiring? Yeah, right!!!

If these business owners believe I'll believe them, I have a palm tree in Madison (WI) to sell them!

[tblue37]

121. Henry Ford paid his factory works a decent wage so that they

would be able to afford to buy the automobiles they were building. He simply (and wisely) considered it good business to help build his customer base. But today's oligarchs are idiots. They insist on killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, because they think that is the way to get more gold out of the poor goose!

[live love laugh]

123. Mehhbe Walmart it's b/c YOUR prices are too high. Believe it or not Walmart's prices

are not cheap for a lot of things. I was there for pj's for a last minute weekend trip. One set was $25. That's not much for a normal store but Walmart's quality is inferior. The set should have cost more than half the price.

[Trajan]

139. So True ...

Something I had to point out to some supporters of Walmart .... I challenged them to actually compare their prices with other big box stores ...

They are less expensive by pennies (at best, and often more expensive), and their goods are shittier by dollars ....

My friends dont shop there now either ....

NOTE: Portland OR has very few Walmarts, and plenty of other options ... I feel sorry for those in other communities who do not have those options ...

[JI7]

127. i would be happy if they went out of business

[1monster]

133. I predicted this years ago when the move to off shore a majority of jobs went

into high gear.

I asked if the corporations were really that stupid that they could not see the future when the majority of the people would no longer be able to purchase even necessary goods.

I was told that the corporations were not worried because they would get their riches from the rest of the world and the USA would eventually become a country of low wage workers.

But it seems the rest of the world is having their financial problems too. Those super rich obscenely over paid CEOs and their flunkies are creating a world in which they will not be able to get the luxuries that they want because they failed to realize that money flows upward. When the base of the economic pyramid crumbles, the rest of the pyramid is going to come tumbling down too. And when the base collapses, there will be no goods made because the base will be too occupied with surviving to be able to create expensive goods (which take expensive parts).

A rising tide lifts all boats and floating docks. A lowering tide causes the big boats to lower just like the little boats. And the little boats need less dept. That ole luxury liner, it gonna go aground on the sandbar sooner than Commodore CEO realizes...

[Trajan]

136. EVERY supposed 'Entrepreneur' who has trafficked in ANTI Labor memes

Doesn't realize - They are biting the hand that feeds them ...

EVERY wage they suppress ... EVERY reasonable benefit they deny ... EVERY step they take, whether material or rhetorical, that supports the suppression of worker wages and compensation - Is a step toward the failure of their own business ....

Some 80 years ago - The American people suffered a horrible depression, which changed the basic nature of the social compact between government and citizens ....

Now ? ... People have long forgotten the pain that led them to FDR, and have bought into the nonsense by the conservative snake oil salesmen that wages must be reduced in order to 'compete' ...

The people are doomed to repeat history, it seems .... Thanks in at least small small portion to the refusal of the Democrats to support the liberal philosophy that once made them great .... They have been outmaneuvered at almost every step these last three decades ...

Yeah .. Your shoppers are running out of money alrighty .... Walmart was part of the problem, and now THEY will reap the whirlwind as well ...

[ProudDad]

140. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

People seem to be taking my advice...

Buy local, buy used and think about whether you NEED it and if not, don't buy at all!

[sarcasmo]

141. The whole country is running out of money, not just your Walmart shoppers.

[Auntie Bush]

142. This is just the beginning.....

This is going to happen to the majority of companies as they cut wages and unions and drive the middle class into the poor class. No one of will have any money to do anything but pay the absolute necessities...if they're lucky. As more people default on their mortgages because of decreased wages and higher expenses...the banks are also going down the tube along with a lot of small businesses. The end of America as we know it!

[Name removed]

148. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LetTimmySmoke]

149. And megacorporations didn't think about this BEFORE they started offshoring all our jobs?

Short term profits, long term fail.

[sarcasmo]

150. Every time I see this I think it's from the onion.

[rocktivity]

151. Candidate for this year's "You Call This NEWS?" Award

You mean that WASN'T Sam Walton's ultimate goal?

:eyes:
rocktivity

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

152. Pretty bad when your base can't even afford to buy cheap junk from China.

Me thinks a cost-of-living-wage will solve this.