The Walmartization Of America

[jimntx]

There's a great book called "Nickeled and Dimed". I can't recall the author's name, but she went 'under cover" to some of low-paying jobs. The last chapter, and her worst experience was at Wal Mart. I highly recommend giving it a read.

Dea

[post="176096"][/post]​

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America -- by Barbara Ehrenreich; It's available at Amazon.com for about $10.50. Excellent book. Ms. Ehrenreich who is a prize-winning essayist and cultural critic spent several months in Florida, Maine, and Minnesota working at various minimum wage (and less) jobs.

 

[jimntx]

I know it's well after the fact, and impossible to check, but I'd be willing to bet that the sale-priced 12-/24-roll packs were the 'double' rolls (with twice the number of sheets per roll), while the regular-priced four-roll pack was not.
That's the only way this scenario makes any sense, as in my vast TP-buying experience the bigger packs are always a better buy, even if not on sale.

I didn't even think they still sold TP in four-roll packages! I've got over 40 'double' rolls in my closet right now (3 12-roll packs plus a few!)
B)

[post="176112"][/post]​

I am not an idiot. Did I not say (with emphasis) that it was the exact same product? I'm sorry that it doesn't make sense to you. The truth is that if you look carefully in Wal-Mart, you will find multiple examples--laundry detergent is another--where they tout the mega-sizes as a bargain when in fact the unit cost of the larger sizes is higher.

They also do this on name brand products to make their house brands which have a much higher profit margin seem attractive. Vitamins, for instance.

Or lower quality goods--sandals, for instance--prominently displayed in the aisles with big sale signs, but if you look in the racks you find better quality products from name brand companies at a lower price.

 

[KCFlyer]

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America -- by Barbara Ehrenreich; It's available at Amazon.com for about $10.50. Excellent book. Ms. Ehrenreich who is a prize-winning essayist and cultural critic spent several months in Florida, Maine, and Minnesota working at various minimum wage (and less) jobs.

[post="176134"][/post]​

Another good (couple of) books is by Jim Hightower called "if the gods had meant to vote they'd have given us candidates" and "Thieves in high places". These are equal opportunity books...if you hate Clinton, read the first. If you don't care for Bush, read the second. In both books, he devotes a lot of time to Walmart and their suppliers.

 

[Singleflyer]

Jimntx,

I am sure you are exactly right. And it is not just walmart that prices products that way. Walmart just happens to be an expert on margin mix pricing. They also know most consumers don't actually stop to think what is the best deal. It looks good, and they grab it. They know most people today cannot do math in their heads. But the perception is they have low prices. And they do on a few select items that remain in peoples head. I rarely shop, I am on the road all the time, therefore I rely on my wife to know what is a good buy or not. But I am sure I have been suckered by wall mart and other because of my lack of educationin pricing.

Don't blame wal mart. They did not invent this type of pricing on merchandiding. They have just exploited to consumers who can't do math in their heads, or are too lazy to figure it out themselves.

As anothe poster said, make sure your kids get a good education, and they have a grat knowledge of the basic school subjects.

When I am at a store,or fast food and purchase something, I always try to minimize my change, Makes it easier for TSA. But most of the employees can't count change, and don't know how to give change other than what the POS terminal told them. One morning I stopped progress at Micky Ds when I gave the clerk $3.02 for a $2.77 meal. She did not know what to do, and had to ask others. To me it was simple, just give me a quarter in change, not a handful of dimes and pennies. And she was no teenager, she was well over fifty.

I am not a big fan of wal mart, but they have only taken advantage of the "dumbing in america"

And this mentality of paying customer service squat, has gone to all industries, and unfortunatly to the airline industry as well.

 

[bofie]

Jimntx,


Don't blame wal mart. They did not invent this type of pricing on merchandiding.

[post="176146"][/post]​

By this logic we shouldn't blame Lee Harvey Oswald for killing JFK because John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln first.

Just cause they perfected exploitation of the system and are not the first company to have no conscience does not absolve them.

 

[TWAnr]

Sounds interesting, but it requires an AOL logon to read it.

[post="176071"][/post]​

Like you, I am not an AOL subscriber; however, I did a Google search for the phrase "The Walmartization Of America" and this was the most popular of the top ten hits:

http://www.laane.org/pressroom/stories/wal...thesetimes.html

 

[TWAnr]

Mission told them "fine...anything over 50,000 square feet has to be on two levels". That nixed the plan...multistory Walmarts just don't cut it.

[post="176095"][/post]​

I have not been there, since I refuse to shop there, but the Walmart at the Panorama Mall in the San Fernando Valley is a two levels store. I believe that was their very first store in the Los Angeles area.

 

[KCFlyer]

I have not been there, since I refuse to shop there

[post="176152"][/post]​

And THAT's what we all need to do.

I can't help but think of an article a few months back about Costco. Costco is the polar opposite of Sam's Club (Walmart)...they showed a profit, but Wall Street was critical of them because they paid their employees a decent wage (cashiers who have been there a while make $25 an hour), and their medical coverage is excellent. WalMart is a Wall Street darling, but they were critical of Costco, saying that they could show stronger profits if they didn't treat their employees so well. That did it for me...I cut up the Sam's card and joined Costco.

 

[wings396]

Maybe they are happy because they were down so long, Wal Mart looks up to them. The employment of last resort.

I think if any employee any where is paid so little working full-time they qualify for government assistance, tax payers should be irate!

There's a great book called "Nickeled and Dimed". I can't recall the author's name, but she went 'under cover" to some of low-paying jobs. The last chapter, and her worst experience was at Wal Mart. I highly recommend giving it a read.

Dea

[post="176096"][/post]​

Paid so little they qualify for assistance......Can you say Mainline Express or MDA??
Because many in that classification already do qualify. Sad, but Very true.

 

[diogenes]

Yet another case of socializing risk, while privating profit. It is everywhere.

 

[sentrido]

Pay Back?

 

[AA-MCI]

This is where it leads-

Scores of slaves sustain Brazil's export market

A good and balanced article from the KC Star. Well worth registering.

 

[NWA/AMT]

Here's how we fix that; make the journalists report only happy stories!

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/06/internat...s/06brazil.html

You don't have to abridge freedom of speech or of the press if you can make them do it themselves. Problem solved!

 

[whlinder]

If the pay and benefits for workers at Wal-Mart is so poor, why do people accept jobs there? I mean, is Wal-Mart so big that they have a monopoly on hiring labor that they can supress wages?

To me, "The Wal-Martization of America" is a part of the entire question of "Where is our economy and standard of living headed?" issue that doesn't seem to be getting as much attention as it should, IMHO.

 

[jimntx]

If the pay and benefits for workers at Wal-Mart is so poor, why do people accept jobs there? I mean, is Wal-Mart so big that they have a monopoly on hiring labor that they can supress wages?

[post="176442"][/post]​

In a word, yes. For many years, Wal-Mart stayed out of big cities. (Does SWA choice of airports ring any bells?) They would go into small towns, or rather to the nearest major highway intersection from that town, and undercut all of the small, Mom-and-Pop businesses that had existed for ages in those towns. As they closed, the people that had worked for those businesses had no choice other than leave town or work at Wal-Mart.

As they had probably never had any benefits at their previous job, what little they got at Wal-Mart seemed huge. But in those days, going to a small-town doctor also cost $5.00 or $10.00.

Today, there is still a large underclass (for want of a better word) that do not have the education or the connections to aspire to something other than a Wal-Mart job. One of the members of this forum has a banner on all his/her posts that says, "I've been down so long that it all looks like up to me." And, when you are in a position that every dime you make goes to putting food on the table and a roof over your head, all of our middle-class sloganeering--Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps; You are the Captain of your destiny: and, You can always get ahead if you just put forth the effort--becomes meaningless. I would bet that those US Airways agents who have been cut to Express wages know what I am talking about. It's really easy for the country club set to sit in judgement on the Wal-Mart set (and before you ask, yes I am a member of the country club set, or was until I got really tired of their BS. I still qualify. I just don't play the game.)