[quote]Precious Roy wrote:
Walmart has jumped the shark in the US. They have had same store sales declines for eight consecutive quarters, all at a time when people are bargain shopping due to the crappy economy. Without their success in expanding overseas, Walmart would be in a death spiral of falling sales and crashing stock price.
Walmart has lost popularity in the US because they are so hell bent on extracting profits from US consumers that they slashed their selection of groceries and consumer goods in order to only stock what gives them the best margins.
Walmart doesn't have the lowest prices. A lot of Walmart's products are specially made or packaged for Walmart. Brand name consumer goods are often crappier versions of what are sold in other stores. And when you take out the loss leaders, Walmart's prices are usually the same or a little higher than their competition.
I feel like this is the most accurate set of comments on this entire thread.
I can sympathize with ANYONE who is not financially capable of spending $4.99 on a box of Cheerios at the local "Mom & Pop" store when they can go to Walmart and get that same box or LARGER for $2.99. I can sympathize even more with families.
I'm a single individual. No children. I work 40hrs/week and currently pay student loans, car payment, insurance, health insurance, rent, etc. I have a lot of extra medical bills. I continuously turn to Walmart because I know in an immediate sense, I cannot afford to "keep it in the family".
I think a lot of people are missing the biggest danger about Walmart. It's not the fact that Walmart has put your local fruit stand out of business. It's because Walmart is the reason manufacturing companies (e.g. General Electric or Motors) no longer hold the majority of the global power -- retail companies now do, with Walmart trumping it's nearest competitor by over 20% or more in annual sales. You cannot even put Target, K-Mart, or Home Depot on the same level as Walmart. They are not even a scratch on Walmart's ass. Walmart has literally gained control of where it's products are made globally, how much they will pay for that product from another company, how much they will sell it for (sometimes at the profit of $.01 which does not hurt Walmart but it chops the company's profits in half). In essence, Walmart has a TERRIFYING amount of control on the global supply chain.
The worst part is we are basically shopping ourselves broke as an economy because we can't afford NOT to shop there even if we are against it.
I think it simplest terms, the problem is that our economy is now based upon the BUYER and not on who is supplying the products. That's exactly what this thread is reflecting.