Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

[Miulang]

WM's "free market" values bad for US?

If we are a moral, ethical country, why are we allowing multinational companies like WM to go overseas to procure goods from sweat shops so we take advantage of those low-low prices?

"... Back at home, Wal-Mart's free market mantra stops at the water's edge of the public till. By one estimate, Wal-Mart has pulled in $1.5 billion dollars in taxpayer funded subsidies (see www.walmartwatch.com). And that's at the low end, because subsidies are sometimes hard to track based on the lack of public reporting requirements. Wal-Mart is happy to cash in on government largess like property tax abatements, infrastructure support, free land and just straight-out cold cash-all of which are the antithesis of "free market" ideology."...


Miulang

[pzarquon]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

Heard a piece on your friends at Wal-Mart Watch this morning on NPR News. Thought of you instantly, Miulang. A full-page USA Today ad, eh? Labor and environmental groups, among others, uniting against the Great Evil, eh? Strange bedfellows and coordinated PR... the things money can do!

[Miulang]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

Heard a piece on your friends at Wal-Mart Watch this morning on NPR News. Thought of you instantly, Miulang. A full-page USA Today ad, eh? Labor and environmental groups, among others, uniting against the Great Evil, eh? Strange bedfellows and coordinated PR... the things money can do!

Actually, it's good political strategy. The only thing that seems to rouse people in this country is if they think they have a vested interest in an outcome. So if the environmentalists merge their cause with the equal rights movement who merge their cause with the labor unions, how many people in this country are left untouched? Not too damned many.

Here's one way WM appears to be fighting back...in this market, WM's bought radio airtime with an ad by an East Indian immigrant woman ("Shah") who claims she lives in Renton, WA and extols the virtues of working for WM..."as someone from another country, WM doesn't discriminate against me...I can go as far as I want"... blah blah blah. Yeah, they got the best bang for their buck there: a female immigrant from India who is considering becoming a branch manager...

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

BBC-3 sent a reporter on the road to Bentonville, AR in search of the world's richest woman (Alice Walton) and what WM's strategy is for world retailing domination.

Sam Walton at one point must have said, "don't give all your profits back to your employees, pass the savings along to the customer. But while you're at it, intimidate your employees enough so when talks of unionizing arise, your employees will be too scared to vote to organize for better pay and benefits..."

Miulang

[Miulang]

What's the annual salary of a fulltime WM associate?

I hope for the sake of any WM associate in Hawai'i who's working full time, that it's more than $19k a year. How can anyone live comfortably in Hawai'i on that kind of salary without having to get services from the State (and therefore subsidies from the taxpayers)? Since the State requires health care coverage for workers, I hope at that the associates can at least get HMSA coverage for a reasonable amount.

Anybody work for WalMart or know anyone who works for WM who works at least 28 hours and gets health care insurance? Inquiring minds want to know.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Today, China. Tomorrow, India?

WM plans to go a' courting in India. Unfortunately for them, the Indian Communist party and a cadre of small business owners want to make life hell for them.

In an interesting financial aside: The DOW closed down by 111 points today, driven down by 2nd quarter warnings from WM that they would not be able to meet their projected profit margin. The stock lost something like 93 cents per share. And yet Target was up 63 cents. WM is going to suffer more and more as people who have little discretionary spending power (the ones who really need the low low prices to keep up with the Joneses) have to pay more and more for the basics, like gasoline. WM is trying to go a little more upscale, but I don't know if they'll succeed at that without raising prices and pissing of the bulk of their customers.

Miulang

[Konaguy]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/12/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

Consumers still king. Wal-Mart slipping?
Strong retail sales numbers show shoppers are still in a mood to buy, maybe just not at Wal-Mart.
May 12, 2005: 3:57 PM EDT
By Parija Bhatnagar, CNN/Money staff writer



NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Consumers did it again.

Despite the dual distractions of rising gas prices and rising interest rates, they showed an uncanny ability to shop -- a lot -- last month.

That's good news for the economy and good news for retailers. Oddly, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, probably has more reason to sulk than smile.

[Miulang]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

Some interestiing FAQs about WM's potential entry into the Indian market.

WM's International President met with the Indian Prime Minister with the intention of currying (pardon the pun) the favor of the Indian government to get incentives for doing business there.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

Poor WM. Their promises of low low prices for everything are about to be dashed by the Bush Administration reimposing an import quota on cotton trousers, cotton knit shirts and underwear manufactured in China. The American trade unions made such a stink about losing jobs overseas that they forced the White House to reimpose the quotas.

The good thing is soon you can walk into WM and confidently buy something made in America again. Long live underwear made in America!

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

Poor WM. Their promises of low low prices for everything are about to be dashed by the Bush Administration reimposing an import quota on cotton trousers, cotton knit shirts and underwear manufactured in China. The American trade unions made such a stink about losing jobs overseas that they forced the White House to reimpose the quotas.

The good thing is soon you can walk into WM and confidently buy something made in America again. Long live underwear made in America!

Miulang

Of course, China is not taking this news lightly. They are demanding the White House back down and remove the import quotas because it says the US is violating the free trade agreement...hahaha. Now is the time for American unions to start flexing their muscle again...bring some of the manufacturing back to this country. I do believe that the White House will be caught between a rock and a hard place.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

IF WM is getting $50 million in state subsidies for its employees just from Florida alone in a 10-year period, I wonder what the total amount of state and federal aid in the form of Medicaid, food stamps, etc. is being given to these underpaid WM workers all across the country?

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

Looks like India will be a little harder sell for WM than China was. India wants the US dollar but doesn't want US control. WM sounds like it wants to export more food from India. What can India grow that Americans want???

Miulang

[Miulang]

Lookout WM, here comes the SEIU

There is a possible silver lining in the breakup of the AFL-CIO for all the WM workers who wish they could have a union but are afraid to organize because of WM's heavy handed union-busting tactics.

Whereas the AFL-CIO has been pretty wishy washy about standing up to the corporation (they prefer lobbying), the SEIU is not afraid to roll up its sleeves and fight. If the SEIU can set up shop at WM, then the workers might be able to get the benefits they are entitled to for working hard and get off the State welfare rolls. It would be a coup for the unions if the SEIU could represent the WM workers, because that workforce is one of the largest in the country.

I've never been much for unions because I've only briefly held one union job, but if it's going to help give millions of American employees parity in terms of pay and benefits, then power to the people.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

Here's a very interesting story about the man whose company said "no thank you" to selling products to Walmart...and his business survived to be bought up by an even larger company. For this man, quality = expensive, which is definitely not WM's business model, which is quantity over quality.

"I believe Wal-Mart has done a great service to the country in many ways. And it may be that along the way, they've driven some people out of business who shouldn't have been driven out of business." --Jim Weir, former CEO of Simplicity and Snapper Tools

Miulang

[memorylane]

Re: Wal-Mart War Room - Chapter 2

How many W*M's are on the island of Oahu now? I work for one of their distribution centers which is how the products get to their stores and they pay great (14.45 currently in plain ole Oklahoma), they have assanine rules to keep up with but otherwise........i am half praying they put one of their *white clouds* (what the DC looks like from about 2 miles away) on the island so i could transfer there for free, haha. No haters, i hate them enough as it is but they'll basically be buying my first home when all is said and done even if it is a mobile home.