Walmart vs Whole Foods taste challenge.... Ooops!

The common misperception that Wal-Mart screws their employees dates from a number of incidents and practices that were document upwards of 10 years ago and were subsequently drubbed into the common psyche of "upper crust" American's by media coverage and angry competitors. People who regularly shop at and are employed by Wal-mart (middle and lower class Americans) don't share most of the misgivings of the bourgeoisie and cultural elite.

When Wal-Mart was in rapid expansion mode, they had an early adverse effect on the downtowns of many small communities, but most of them have bounced back with businesses that do not compete with the local Wal-mart (formal clothiers, appliance centers, restaurants etc.). Economies adjusted and often thrived. Wal-Mart drove down prices, reduced waste in the economy and in the end helped fuel the boom times we all enjoyed. Their supply chain model became the world standard for efficient distribution of goods. They provided cheap and readily available access to good for people who otherwise would have gone without. The average Wal-mart carries a selection of goods previously never dreamed of by most small towns. It was the old Sears catalog come to life and then some.

You all enjoyed the benefits of their efforts whether you shopped there or not through cheaper goods and services and increased liquidity of the marketplace.

Today, most issues with Wal-mart are focused more on the bad behavior of individual managers rather than policies of the corporate parent. Wal-mart doesn't aim to employee the best and brightest and they sometimes suffer for that. However, they do provide employment for people who otherwise might struggle to find it. They are a fair employer. They have maintained their employment and benefit/pay levels while many more commonly praised or accepted ones have dumped employees left and right or forced workers to take pay cuts or reduced benefits. (Auto workers anyone?)

Humana just announced it is cutting 2500 jobs. Unemployment is in double digits. Wal-mart is still expanding.

Is everyone who works at Wal-mart happy? I can guarantee not. Does every manager run their store well and treat their employees with respect? I can guarantee not.

Does that make Wal-mart a bad company? Nope. They are no worse than any other entity in corporate America. Each encounter is only as good as the person you encounter.

Wal-mart is not evil, and they are actually working hard to be as good a corporate member of the global economy as their profit margins will allow. Their goal, after all, is to make money.

As is the same for the local farmer, restauratuer, brew master, free lance food critic.....

The common misperception that Wal-Mart screws their employees dates from a number of incidents and practices that were document upwards of 10 years ago and were subsequently drubbed into the common psyche of "upper crust" American's by media coverage and angry competitors. People who regularly shop at and are employed by Wal-mart (middle and lower class Americans) don't share most of the misgivings of the bourgeoisie and cultural elite.

When Wal-Mart was in rapid expansion mode, they had an early adverse effect on the downtowns of many small communities, but most of them have bounced back with businesses that do not compete with the local Wal-mart (formal clothiers, appliance centers, restaurants etc.). Economies adjusted and often thrived. Wal-Mart drove down prices, reduced waste in the economy and in the end helped fuel the boom times we all enjoyed. Their supply chain model became the world standard for efficient distribution of goods. They provided cheap and readily available access to good for people who otherwise would have gone without. The average Wal-mart carries a selection of goods previously never dreamed of by most small towns. It was the old Sears catalog come to life and then some.

You all enjoyed the benefits of their efforts whether you shopped there or not through cheaper goods and services and increased liquidity of the marketplace.

Today, most issues with Wal-mart are focused more on the bad behavior of individual managers rather than policies of the corporate parent. Wal-mart doesn't aim to employee the best and brightest and they sometimes suffer for that. However, they do provide employment for people who otherwise might struggle to find it. They are a fair employer. They have maintained their employment and benefit/pay levels while many more commonly praised or accepted ones have dumped employees left and right or forced workers to take pay cuts or reduced benefits. (Auto workers anyone?)

Humana just announced it is cutting 2500 jobs. Unemployment is in double digits. Wal-mart is still expanding.

Is everyone who works at Wal-mart happy? I can guarantee not. Does every manager run their store well and treat their employees with respect? I can guarantee not.

Does that make Wal-mart a bad company? Nope. They are no worse than any other entity in corporate America. Each encounter is only as good as the person you encounter.

Wal-mart is not evil, and they are actually working hard to be as good a corporate member of the global economy as their profit margins will allow. Their goal, after all, is to make money.

As is the same for the local farmer, restauratuer, brew master, free lance food critic.....

I agree with your assessment that capitalism's the problem.

First allow me to apologize in advance as this post has little to do with food.

Not a fan of the walmart, or walmarts as my grandmother likes to say.
Their expansion plan in the early 80's targeted mom & pops in smallville US (very successfully). Aggressive tactic but predatory in nature and morally repugnant IMHO.

I believe that the gender based inequity they have displayed in the past is well documented, although they have taken steps in the last decade to rectify that (begrudgingly?)

My primary disgust lies with their brazen exploitation of child labor. Take some time to do a little research into how these cheap goods are manufactured...the facts ain't pretty.

http://wakeupwalmart.com/facts/

Again, two sides to every story.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22719054/

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.

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.

Wal-Mart's wages lag the retail-industry average by just a small margin, an expected result given that the bulk of its stores are located in low-income areas.

About 90 percent of Wal-Mart workers are covered by a health plan, either through the company or a spouse's plan.

People who regularly shop at and are employed by Wal-mart (middle and lower class Americans) don't share most of the misgivings of the bourgeoisie and cultural elite.

I cant speak for the "bourgeoisie and cultural elite" but one my main "misgivings" with both Mallwart and Whole are the anti union practices.

Again, two sides to every story.

I'm probably going to be on my soapbox here and, to be fair, this is not directed at you Justin....

but, there are 6.5 million sides to every story. In teaching writing and having students investigate topics in which they are interested, my biggest challenge is to move them beyond thinking that there is A or B, right or wrong, good or bad, Republican or Democrat, friend or foe, with us or against us....

Wal-Mart provides a very interesting social/business "case study" because of the interesting connections between issues such as Milton Friedman "profit" arguments, responsible community participation, social responsibility toward customers, balancing stockholder demands with ethical behavior, etc.

There's just no way that we can look at Wal-Mart and say "it is good" or "it is bad." It's good for being a driver of the marketplace in terms of keeping costs down. It's bad in the way in which it tends not to rent out the stores it has vacated. If I had a bucket and put in a dollar for everything that was good about Wal-Mart and took one out for everything that was bad, I'm not sure how much money would end up back in that bucket. And, along the way, I'm sure there would be numerous details that would really cause me to wonder "is this good or bad?" And, then there's always the issue of "good" and "bad" being defined by your values, wants, social positioning, etc.

I know Robin pushes civility on the board. And I think we do a very good job of playing by the rules. I wish what we would all push a little more of is "listening." Just listening for the sake of listening. Not listening to rebuke, or counter-attack, or prepare to pull out the "oh but look at my stats." That's really hard to do in an era of super-partisan politics and screaming heads on the radio that know they are right "by god."

Wal-Mart's beyond interesting to me because it shows the challenge of balancing market principles with social responsibility. There's low prices, but then there's the way in which WalMart has (from my perspective) negatively shaped small communities. There's the idea that they offer benefits with the question of how many people actually qualify. There's the incredible stock that WalMart has versus the reality that their buying power negatively influences smaller businesses. And on and on and on.

Fiscal conservatives champion WalMart as a success of capitalism. Liberals degrade it as what goes wrong when profits rule the day. And here we are again, back to "well it's A or B."

rant over.

There Matthew goes again. Being all logical and stuff.

I have yet to find anything worthwhile at walmart, the prices aren't that much lower and having worked there at one time I can't believe any of those stats mentioned...I'd have to see the proof. Only a few people at my store had the company offered insurance; management and pharmacists were the only ones that could afford it.

While I have heard a good bit about the changes they are trying to make, I still can't support them until it proves to be their culture not just the current trend. As much as I detest the company, I have found one good thing about them... http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ So live on Walmart and your slimey ways...all in the name of humor.

For whats its worth, heres a site that is also an interesting read. http://wakeupwalmart.com/facts/ as most sites that are trying to push their agenda, take some of it with a grain of salt. That said, they do at least provide the source for the info thats posted.

http://wakeupwalmart.com/facts/

I cant speak for the "bourgeoisie and cultural elite" but one my main "misgivings" with both Mallwart and Whole are the anti union practices.

I find it interesting that wakeupwalmart.com is ran by the

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

http://wakeupwalmart.com/facts/

I cant speak for the "bourgeoisie and cultural elite" but one my main "misgivings" with both Mallwart and Whole are the anti union practices.

I find it interesting that wakeupwalmart.com is ran by the

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Whoops, some how I overlooked Mark posting the same link. Sorry.

I find it interesting that wakeupwalmart.com is ran by the

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Might as well run anti-republicans ads if you're a democrat and expect anyone to take you seriously...

http://wakeupwalmart.com/facts/

I cant speak for the "bourgeoisie and cultural elite" but one my main "misgivings" with both Mallwart and Whole are the anti union practices.

I find it interesting that wakeupwalmart.com is ran by the

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

hmmm...

took a look at the wakeup site...

no agenda going on there!

When Wal-Mart was in rapid expansion mode, they had an early adverse effect on the downtowns of many small communities, but most of them have bounced back with businesses that do not compete with the local Wal-mart (formal clothiers, appliance centers, restaurants etc.). Economies adjusted and often thrived.

While I agree with much of what you say in your post, from personal experience what you say here isn't always the case.

I grew up in Ashland, on the Ohio and WV borders. From the turn of the century through about the late 80s to early 90s, Ashland had a rather booming, exciting downtown. Pictures from the 40s and 50s show well dressed folks strolling downtown, doing their shopping, in scenes that look rather New Yorkish. I remember shopping downtown with my parents as a child in the 80s, and it being a bustling scene.

Sometime around 1990, Walmart came to town, and along with it the mall, with Walmart as the anchor. So, unfortunatley, not only did businesses downtown that competed with Walmart go by the wayside, just about ALL other stores did as well, as there was something at the mall that was a competitor.

So, those communities in which a free-standing WalMart came to town may not have suffered as much, and were able to bounce back more easily compared to those where a WalMart was used to anchor a large mall. Ashland's downtown has never recovered. Things have improved slightly, but it's still largely a ghost town.

Now, other factors have contibuted, such as Ashland Oil moving large numbers of its employees out of town, Armco and then AK Steel slowing operations, and Kentucky Power moving most of its people to Columbus and other places. However, the Walmart-anchored-to-the-mall was a big part of Ashland's downtown decay, and recovery simply hasn't happened.

If you are saying you are against some place because they are "anti-union", I stop thinking you are being logical about the whole picture. Personally, I don't want to be part of a union. Unions DO do some good, but they also protect lazy, inefficient people from being fired when they screw up. My brother was the president of his union at a local magnet producer, and he and I had discussions about unions MANY times.