Fun Facts About Wal Mart...

Come on guys, Wal-Mart's not all bad. I live Where they were born, Northwest Arkansas.

I walk just a few blocks north and I'm at the Walton Arts Center, where I can watch world class plays from New York, Paris, Germany. It's an awesome facility to have down the street from where I live.

I go a few blocks in the other direction and I have Bud Walton arena. Sporting events on a monster scale are always going on their.

The Crystal Bridges museum is being built about thirty minutes away from me. It should be completed soon and they are buying up so much of the worlds greatest masterpieces that protests are breaking out in the art community.

They demand that any company they do business with have an office here. If you don't have a good job here it's because you don't want one. We're one of the fastest growing parts of the country.

OK, so they're raping and pillaging the world. That doesn't mean that EVERYONE is getting screwed.

I like Wal-Mart.

I wouldn't work for them though.

Originally posted by theknuckler
the point is, all these companys, a lot of them anyway are taking away jobs from hard working americans and giving them jobs with little to no benefits, crappy hours, crappy overtime pay, and all that. apparently you're anti union, but that's how the middle class is. Hard working individuals. How would you like to own a hardware store, then walmart moves in next door. Now you're fcked cuz they can sell for less, and you end up working there next to the auto-mechanic who's business also got shut down, making piss-nuts, and then maybe if you're lucky after a year or so you can get some health benefits. Wal mart makes billions upon billions of dollars but still treats their employees like crap. It ain't right.

Who is being treated like crap? WM associates avg. over $10 an hour, and they do so have benefits. They also get quarterly bonuses depending on how the store does in sales, profit, etc...
And WM doesn't destroy small town businesses on a grand scale. How many towns have you seen where everything shuts down except WM? Around here, most of the local stores get more customers because more people are coming to town to go to WM. And when a new WM comes in, they put a little shopping center with other stores and restaurants because of the increased customer traffic.
There are always the exceptions to the rule though, and some stores suffer. But that's how business is. What stores in the area suffered, even a little, when the little town store was opened back in 1950?

It mystifies me to see people bash WM so bad, when every other retail store does the same exact thing.

This JibJab skit sums it up quite well, a favorite of mine..

BigBox MART


SD




[edit on 1-6-2008 by SD-JH543]

more wal-mart unfacts.



lets see, IT IS AGAINST company policy to work off the clock, indeed you can be fired for doing it.

we make about the same wages as every other retailer, go figure

we have a GOOD health benifit program.

we DO NOT sponge off the government to get more money, heck i make to much to qualify for any help. so do my co-workers.

anti union van, cameras ect, you wish, we don't even have enough security to stop the major shoplifting that occurs (millions/year in shrinkage/store in a lot of cases.)

illegal immigrants cleaning the store? sure provided they have decent fake documents they can. but most i have ever seen are black and white people, with only a few immigrants even there.

wal-mart DOES try to buy what they can localy/north american, but then again not much is actualy made here anyway, all it has to be is packaged and mabe final assembly to qualify as north american. most electronics are made overseas no matter what the package says. as mentioned you find the exact SAME manufacturer/products in most stores, you just get to pay more for it. if you want more actualnorth american made products you need to get north american manufactures to COMPETE with the import stuff,(partialy fault of unions and government). i wish it was differant but (shug) what can you do when the government lets the market be flooded with foren made stuff without a par export/import rule. heck even a good chunk of "north american"cars are bought dirrectly from toyota, nissan,mazda, suzuki, mitubishi and kia, with a sticker that says ford,chystler or gm on them take a look arround on the road and you will see that.

YES wal-mart is extreemly anti-union everyone knows that but then again most companies are, especialy the unionmized ones

that does not make wal-mart evil unless of course you considder ALL retail evil.

reply to post by DionDCatRpr


I don't know where you live but here in Connecticut, Walmart is being sued by our attorney general for useing our state taxpayer funded benefits for they're workers. They don't allow full time workers other than a skeleton crew of managers. and only the top two get bennies. The rest are sent to special reps to fill out paper work to get taxpayer funded healthcare. They don't even offer health care bennies here to the workers to pay for themselves. They totaly rely on state funded programs.

Zindo

I rarely go to Wal Mart, I stopped after buying bad meats there, hotdogs with white worms in them and hamburger with bone fragments all chopped up in it. Bought an air conditioner there, for 69.00, it stopped working after 3 months, of course the store would not assist in replacing it. My niece worked there, she was required to be 10 min early for shifts but not paid for it. She figured after a year that would be about 500.00 per year of free time worked. She brought this up at a meeting and was fired the next day, for 'inablitly to perform the job for which she was hired'. Wal Mart sucks.

Originally posted by space cadet
I rarely go to Wal Mart, I stopped after buying bad meats there, hotdogs with white worms in them and hamburger with bone fragments all chopped up in it.

Hey I'm actually a Wal-Mart supporter but I have to back you up on this one.

My Youngest daughter worked at Wal-Mart in the meat department. Some of the stories she told me curled my hair. Meat is probably the only thing I wouldn't buy from Wal-Mart, but rest assured I'd go hungry before I'd eat meat from them.

Originally posted by DionDCatRpr
Do some real reseach and see how the stores you frequent stack up. Stop rehashing this stuff as gospel, when its nothing but half-truths from another company that wants it's annual profits to increase by 100's of millions of dollars. The Unions.

Well said. The union in this case is just as much to blame as the corporation is regarding the dysfunctional entity that Wal-Mart has become.

You can't resist the Wal-Mart... I mean... what about the 7 dollar machetes?

I stopped shopping at Wal-Mart two years ago and I don't care how "affordable" or "cheap" Wal-Mart prices are, I think the employees aren't treated well, I don't think employees make enough money for what they do and all they put up with, and I certainly don't trust meat and dairy products the store sells.

My son worked at Wal-Mart for nearly 3 years and left making a little over minimum wage.

I also saw the film and thought it was at the very least, intriguing and informative, and while I'm not saying I believed all of it, I do believe there's quite a bit of truth within the scope of the film and it brought up some excellent points - all which required some investigation on my part.

In the end, I made the decision not to continue shopping there. Any store that provides "rock bottom prices" at the expense of employee healthcare, unpaid overtime and substandard wages isn't getting my business.

For me, Wal-Mart is a double edged sword.

On one hand, i agree, that some employees of wal-mart get treated like crap. On the other hand, we could create 50 more threads outlining thousands of other businesses that do just the same thing

Im not condoning wal-mart, im just saying that they're not the only ones. Its very rare, anymore, to find a business that does not take advantage of its employees in this country.


Wal-Mart started out just like any other business
Someone earlier mentioned the episode of south park (great one! )
and it does a very good job of weighing in on the pro's and con's of walmart, as well as societies seemingly hypocritical stance against the retail juggernaught. (not calling anyone here a hypocrite!)

I guess what i mean over all is that most people in this country struggle and live pay check to pay check. Not everyone has the luxury of extra money to afford the finer things in life. Wal-mart offers that illusion to people and says
"here is a replica of that big furniture stores TV stand, for 75% less"

True - what they dont tell you is that its not made of oak, its not hand crafted, etc etc. But to a lot of people, that doesnt matter. (IE: they'd rather have a TV stand at 75% less because its what they can afford, and would rather do that then to set the TV on milk crates and cardboard boxes)

Wal-Mart, in my opinion, suffers because they're on top. Every other business that has ever been at the top of it's sector, has suffered the same fate.

So the real problem is:

Is it that in order to be on the top of your game, in whichever sector you choose to participate in, do you have to turn unethical and exploit loopholes in the law?

Or is it that, truely any successful business has to do this, and the reality is that all things given equal someone has to be on top, and in this case its walmart.

Or my final thought is: Could it just be that we're only critical to the big guy and choose to ignore all others to support our own beliefs?

The answers im not sure of, but i dont want to turn this into a 'mine's bigger then yers' contest ... im just speculating

reply to post by Mad_Hatter


Yes!! there is good! Someone needs to give those immigrants jobs and someone needs to be there for them!!!! Imagine this, YOU are an illegal immigrant; try finding a job- You can't, and if you do, it's rare. PLUS, Walmart is there for it's country when we are in the recession. Over half of the U.S. is middle class or lower, so where do we go when we need our food? New clothes? Well there is no better place than Walmart. You could go to some stores that have a pair of shoes for $50 OR you could spend your money wisely and go to walmart. At walmart, one could buy a pair of shoes AND STILL have money left to buy an outfit that matches. I hope you know that you are bashing Sam Walton's BEST creation and SOME people don't apprecitate it!!! And you referred to Walmart as a giant, but the ONLY reason it has grown is because the profit it's gotten. And do you know how one get' s profit?!?! They sell things that are popular for EXCELLENT PRICES!!! just a reminder.... I DON"T LIKE YOU FOR BASHING MY- AND MANY OTHER AMERICANS FAVORITE STORE!!!!!!!

Walmart is bad period and we should get people to boycott them . One day a month where no one shops there , and it would get their attention.We can't fight back alone , but there is strenght in numbers.

reply to post by Mad_Hatter


Watch the movie in full here -- Walmart the High Cost of Low Price -- from disinfo.com

topdocumentaryfilms.com...

reply to post by 888LetsRoll



Funny. The toilet paper I buy at my local Wal Mart that employs a few friends is made at the P&G factory also in my community.

Not everything sold at Wal Mart is made in China. Not everything sold at any other store is made in the U.S.

Funny how that works. As stated above it goes deeper than Wal Mart. I would say that they collect a great deal more heat than your higher priced places for it though. Some deserved some not.

Raist

Unionizing wal-mart? HA!!!! The Unions are dead, they beat the crap out of them years ago, and there's not a unionized job left in America, except teaching maybe.

[edit on 17-4-2010 by ldyserenity]

All you gotta do is watch the documentary.

Have fun kids -- the doc says it all.

Like Walmart is not really an American company but rather a Chinese company...

Maybe this docu is in order then:

topdocumentaryfilms.com...

Santa's Workshop -- see the Chinese sweatshops in action!

I bought some Dr. Scholls inserts yesterday. The company is an American one. Their product though was made in China. Might want to start blaming other companies for supporting China and not just Wal Mart.

Not that I like Wiki but here is a quote from them.

en.wikipedia.org...'s

Dr. Scholl's is a footwear and foot care brand imported from China by Schering-Plough and Brown Shoe Company. The Dr. Scholls brand covers the North America region; the Scholl brand globally is owned by SSL International who manufacture Footwear and Foot care products that are distributed under the Scholl brand.
The Dr. Scholl's brand was founded as a company by William Scholl, who was born in 1882 and graduated as a podiatrist from Illinois Medical School in 1904. Scholl and his company invented a number of foot care products, which he marketed with his company after 1906. These include the Foot Eazer, the Zino Pad, rubberless stockings, Foot Wings arch supports, and Ball-O-Foot Cushions. The first company retail store opened in 1928. William M. Scholl died in 1968 at the age of 86, leaving the company to his nephews, William H. Scholl (1920–2002) and Jack E. Scholl (1926–2006). The company made an initial public offering in 1971.
The Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine is located at Rosalind Franklin University in North Chicago, Illinois, and was established in 1912 by William Scholl. It is unaffiliated with Schering-Plough.

Of course if it is just a China made products issue you might as well stop buying most things altogether.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

The quest began in the J.C. Penney shoe department. We soon found out this was going to be no easy task: Adidas, made in China; Sketchers, made in China; Reebok, made in China or Indonesia.
We finally found some New Balance shoes and I recalled reading that the company still makes some running shoes in the United States. The first few said “Made in China,” but we then spotted three adult styles marked “Made in the USA of imported materials.”
That sounded as close as we could get, so I asked my 12-year-old which of the three he liked.
“This one,” he said, pointing to the $75 shoe he’ll likely outgrow in months.
“Let’s keep looking,” I said.
We headed to a couple of other shoe stores — Famous Footwear and Payless — and found several other styles of sneakers mostly made in China and Indonesia.
Famous Footwear had one U.S.-made New Balance sneaker on sale for $40, but my oldest didn’t like the color combination so we moved on. I guess those well-worn sneakers can last another week until this little experiment ends.

Toss out you TV, PC, phones and most every other thing in your home. I guess you should become Amish if that is the only issue.

www.cnn.com...
www.post-gazette.com...

www.cpsc.gov...

A 2007 study revealed that the value of U.S. imports from all countries of consumer products under CPSC’s jurisdiction was $614 billion in 2006.3 Of this amount, the value of U.S. imports of consumer products manufactured in China was $246 billion, comprising approximately 40% of all consumer products imported into the U.S.

Or is it that they treat employees unfairly?

www.businessweek.com...

If employees really are your company's most important asset, mass layoffs and salary freezes are a poor way to show it

I have found that where I currently work it is near impossible to reach the top pay. Those who have been there since day one still have not achieved even being close to that. Last year we were not given raises. This year we will get one but it will be no more than 1.5 percent. Last year is the most profitable year they have ever had. Previous year any raise I have gotten was subsequently dissolved by the rising cost of insurance on each check.

www.allbusiness.com...

Hooters managers scrutinize everything from employees' hair and fingernails to their skimpy uniforms, and require them to make unpaid promotional appearances, a class-action suit filed on behalf of 1,000 California restaurant workers claims

www.my3cents.com...

This guy has something to say about McDonald’s and it isn’t about Super Size Me.

www.sodahead.com...

More than 100,000 union employees at AT&T; are preparing to go on strike after the company decided upon changing their contracts.

www.iww.org...

Gross and the IWW contend that Starbucks not only discourages union activity, it also overstates the generosity of its benefits. Among other things, Gross points out that only 42% of Starbucks "partners," or employees, are covered by the company's health insurance, a figure the company confirms. That's below the 47% at Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), which has come under heavy fire for its pay and benefits (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/16/06, "Can Barack Wake Up Wal-Mart?").

I have worked at Wal Mart, it sucked, but was better than nothing. I am not defending them so much as I would rather see things across the board fixed. But I doubt it will be as it has become an American tradition to treat employees like that are nothing but numbers. And really that is what most of us are to our employers is a number. We can be replaced at the drop of a hat, especially now when so many need a job. In some cases even if a few of you can and have proven you can do any job they throw your way, you are still told by them that monkeys can do your job or you can be replaced with ease. Companies have as much if not less loyalty to employees as employees have to the company.

If you can afford to drive all over and pay more for things great for you. Glad to see you are doing so well on the top of your corporate food chain (maybe you should practice what you preach about Wal Mart on those working below you). Many of us though work to feed our families first and Wal Mart employees many within my community. Some of those products sold in Wal Mart are made right here in my community, including some that I make and are indirectly sold there through other companies.

If the not buying China thing is your issues toss your PC out now and much more stuff you use on a daily basis. Even if you do not drive a car made in another country you can bet it has some parts that are made in China in it. I bought my TV from Sears but it is still made in China. I bought my laptop at BestBuy but it is also still made in China. My car on the other hand is actually a Japanese car that was really made in Japan. My truck is an American truck that was either made in Canada or the U.S. but with some parts assembled in Mexico with other parts made in China.

Don’t fool yourself and think the problems you associate with Wal Mart are only found at Wal Mart. They are found throughout the U.S. in nearly every American company. The company I work for I see products here but the means that makes them is German. If 40% of products come from China what about the rest? So in the end that leaves what percent of products sold in the U.S. that are American made?



Raist

reply to post by generik


People that work/worked at Wal Mart do not know the evils that occur there.

I wonder where the vans were when I worked at Wal Mart. Maybe they were being driven by the illegal immigrants that I never saw hired to clean the store.

You are not doing this properly. You have to jump on the Wal Mart hate bandwagon in order to be respected on ATS. Of course secretly you can shop there or another place just as evil just do not tell anyone.


Raist

Let’s not forget that Nike was found using child labor.
www1.american.edu...
www.independent.co.uk...
library.thinkquest.org...

www.corpwatch.org...

Even Levi has been guilty of child labor.
www.levistrauss.com...

Shortly after our Terms of Engagement (TOE) were implemented, factory assessors discovered that two factories in Bangladesh were employing workers under the minimum working age. While a clear violation of the TOE, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&CO.) management found itself in a difficult situation when it came to addressing the problem.
The issue of underage labor is a complicated one in Bangladesh — a country where it is not uncommon for a child (defined in the TOE as a person younger than 15 or younger than the mandatory schooling age) to support an entire family on his or her wages. Further, many children born in Bangladesh are not issued birth certificates and due to malnutrition, many people can look younger than their age.

Oops for Apple. Who made that iPod again and where was it made?
www.huffingtonpost.com...

Apple said it found 17 "core" violations, the most serious type.
Those included three cases of underage workers being hired; eight instances of workers paying "recruitment" fees that were above the legal limits in those countries; three cases in which suppliers used non-certified vendors to dispose of hazardous waste; and three others in which the companies gave false records during the audits.
In the cases involving underage workers, Apple said three facilities had hired a total of 11 workers who were 15 years old in countries where the minimum employment age is 16. Apple noted that the workers were no longer underage or weren't working for the facilities anymore when the audits were undertaken.

Umm taste the sweet taste of chocolate child labor.
www.newint.org...

People around the world share a love of chocolate, one of the most delicious and pleasurable foods on earth. However, thousands of Africa’s children, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire, are forced to labour in the production of cocoa. They are modern-day slaves, bonded to their employers and forced against their will to work in hazardous and heartbreaking conditions. Denied access to basic education, medical care, and in many cases, the comfort and reassurance of their own families, these children have no voice and little hope for the future.

Have a Coke a dream and a bit of child labor.
www.commondreams.org...

WASHINGTON - Coca-Cola and other large businesses are indirectly benefiting from the use of child labor in sugarcane fields in El Salvador, according to a new report released here Thursday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) which is calling on the company to take more responsibility to ensure that such abuses are halted.
From 5,000 to 30,000 Salvadoran children, some as young as eight years old, are working in El Salvador's sugarcane plantations where injuries, particularly severe cuts, are common, according to the report, 'Turning a Blind Eye: Hazardous Labor in El Salvador's Sugarcane Cultivation.'

A nice article about child labor and the many companies using it.
www.globalissues.org...

Harsh labor conditions in the toy industry for people in third world countries such as China have also led to much criticism, showing “hidden costs” to popular toys such as those based on Harry Potter, Star Wars, Pokemon, Barbie, etc.

The list goes on for companies using sweatshops.
www.businessweek.com...

Again I just want to point out this is more than a Wal Mart issue. They have their problems but so do your other major players in the U.S. They got to the top by cutting costs and stepping on the people who work for them and buy their products.

Raist