Some good comments are flowing in as a response to my Wal-Mart article. One commenter says:
My sister left Target corporation(company of elites) to work for Walmart, and has been promoted five times in less than three years. Her boss started out as a stock-girl, and moved up the ladder over 25 years to be my sister’s boss(My sister makes a 6-figure income now, and has a college degree).
What I’ve learned about Walmart is this: Their entire business model is: SERVE THE CUSTOMER, STUPID.
My sister flies coach on buying trips(to save for the customer). She gets a $25 a day stipend on those trips(to save the customer). She has to SHARE a hotel room on the road(to save for the customer).
I do think it is worth emphasizing what Wal-Mart does for its customers. Wal-Mart often gets criticized for its anti-union position, but in many senses it does function as a union on behalf of consumers. By having 5,000 stores, Wal-Mart is essentially collectively bargaining with manufacturers. A single mom-and-pop store can’t negotiate the price of razor blades with Gillette or the price of toilet paper with Procter & Gamble. In fact, as a friend of mine whose father was in the discount drugstore business emphasized to me recently, before discounters came along, retailers would often collude with manufacturers to keep prices artificially high. Wal-Mart is notoriously a brutal negotiator with suppliers so that it can secure the lowest price for its customers.
Just for what its worth, a study commissioned by Wal-Mart estimated that the company has saved consumers $263 billion through 2004.
The Wal-Mart column was great. A couple of comments:
Isn’t it strange that high (gas) prices are “bad” but low (retail) prices can also be “bad”? Perhaps, however, it is only a matter of time before ARCO and other low-price filling stations treated as Wal-Mart are bludgeoned by liberals.
The San Francisco Bay Area has been unsuccessful in keeping out Wal-Mart stores, but not without considerable agitation from the unions (even the Teachers Union, which asked parents of school children to boycott them). Most recently, when one store opened and made several hundred positions available, there were supposedly over 11 thousand applicants. Why? (a) Wal-Mart pays better and has better benefits than many retail shops, and (b) the unions have obviously been unsuccessful in providing jobs.
Keep up the good work!