I am tired of buying shotty merchandise from walmart

[redpython]

There is also a lot of technology behind walmart as well. They (use to at least) have the largest private trucking fleet in the U.S. They have the most advanced retail software and the distribution center's are ran very efficiently.

Their logistics is part of the equation to why they can offer things cheaper as well. When hurricane katrina hit, our transportation office sent trucks to New Orleans. We would've been in there the next day with over 20 truck loads of goods for the victims, but the US govt held us up. We literally had trucks sitting and waiting for clearance.

They also give a lot back to communities. I personally got almost $4000 donated to my local herp society from walmart in a three year period.

[jnite]

I don't like Wal Mart at all, but do occasionally buy things there, usually just sterilite tubs.
The one thing I don't really like about them up here(Alberta) is when they wanted to come to our town they wanted the town to pay $80K for them to come in......WTF is up with that, no family owned businesses get that so why should they????? At least our town was smart and said Hell NO!!!!!!

[withonor]

But anyhow, most of these "local" businesses don't want to change with the times. And then they can't keep up with the pace of the current trends, they go out of business and blame walmart. When in fact they need to take a look at their business practices and make some changes instead of crying about walmart.

Current trends... This is a funny topic I think regarding big box retailers. I think these "trends" are created by the supplier, not the consumer.

Having sold doors and windows a long time I noticed something because of questions that customers would ask. In stock we had two types of interior doors. Flush and one with some panels. People would look at the panel door and not like it and ask, "Who puts these in their house?" My answer is that it's what we have and most people come in and buy what's on the shelf, looking for a cheap upgrade to fix up and flip a house or something cheap that looks nicer than flat doors. Then I would show them special order styles and there is always one they prefer over the in stock one. They cost nearly double and take a couple weeks to get in. That would immediately convert a lot of people to the in stock one. Some would go home and think about and decide later that the in stock was a better choice for whatever reason. Only a few paid more for the individuality of something different than the "trend".

Low skilled jobs aren't a good thing and most of the time the people in those jobs are way over qualified. The only people who really need low skilled jobs are teenagers. Again, this isn't something we asked them to do, it's just what they're providing us with and so with no other choice or an assortment of bad choices, we are stuck with it.

But hey, let's keep all of the production jobs over seas and offer the people of the U.S. lower and lower paying jobs. A consumer nation that continually has less and less to spend on consumption sounds like a great plan to me. Might back fire on us one day... Oh wait...

[redpython]

Low skilled jobs aren't a good thing and most of the time the people in those jobs are way over qualified. The only people who really need low skilled jobs are teenagers. Again, this isn't something we asked them to do, it's just what they're providing us with and so with no other choice or an assortment of bad choices, we are stuck with it..

not only teenagers, but retired folks who can't make over a certain amount of money, college students, etc.

I went to college as i worked at walmart. i also bought a $27,000 car, a house (that one isn't paid for yet) and traveled the country w/ my vacation time.

i had no plans of staying at walmart, but it was such a good job i stayed there for 4 years after college. I had a graphic design degree from purdue university but i was doing better than my fellow graduates. I was honestly burnt out because it's not what i wanted with my life. I had bigger plans w/ life. But i wouldn't leave due to the pay, benefits and job security.

Thankfully a situation worked out and i was able to leave w/ severance pay. But i did have the option to stay. but my heart was no longer w/ walmart so i left.

[temec]

I don't like Wal Mart at all, but do occasionally buy things there, usually just sterilite tubs.
The one thing I don't really like about them up here(Alberta) is when they wanted to come to our town they wanted the town to pay $80K for them to come in......WTF is up with that, no family owned businesses get that so why should they????? At least our town was smart and said Hell NO!!!!!!

Thats called subsidizing (not sure if i spelled it right)... but it is a common thing in america.. for big chain stores at least