Help me with Wal Mart?????

[hammersley]

I have heard a lot of rumors about Wal Mart, I mean their supposed treatment of employees. I'm not sure if it's rumor or BS. For example I've heard folks say that they use almost exclusively part-time folks so they don't have to pay any benefits - i. e. employees don't get any vacation, sick leave etc. Is this a bunch of Wal Mart bashing or what?

 

[Briar Hopper]

I don't know about WalMart, but that tactic is a national trend these days... the factory where I work hires a lot of temps through an agency, lays them off when we experience slowdowns in production due to reduced orders... .

It's something a lot of companies are doing. But our temps are treated well, and have a better chance of gaining full-time employment than a random applicant off the street.

 

[ZEEEW]

I have info on Walmart distribution centers and can say that they do have insurance and benefits. They put money in your 401k even if you dont, and any stock you buy they add 15%, fully vested from the start. "Fulltime" is 28 hours I believe, for benefits. You have a hard time finding parttime there. You can get STO or scheduled time off without getting in trouble, as long as you only take a day here and there. There are a few paid holidays, sick leave, and vacation. Can only assume the stores are similar. They are actually a pretty highly rated place to work.



Eric

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I for one refuse to buy anything at walmart and my wife doesn't either. One of walmarts success tactics is to move into a small town and sell product at an extremely low profit margin (some say below cost) until all the small mom and pop shops are put out of business and then they raise the cost. I saw this happen personally in two towns that I lived in.

 

[Fireman Dave]

Well, if we're bashing, then....

What I don't like about Walmart is all of the crap in the aisles. You can barely walk through that store - especially with a cart. I rarely go into one for this reason - unless I have no choice. Shopping experience is just as important to me as price.

 

[radixr]

Three Cheers For Walmart!

I suppose if you want to pay more for products/services at a "mom and pop" establishment, then more power to you. I, for one, don't like to be price-gouged and love the competition that Walmart provides. Just because you are in a "mom and pop" place does not automatically mean you are getting the best shopping experience/value for your money.



I wish Walmart sold appliance parts!

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Radixr - I would agree IF they had the same prices before they put the others out of business as after. IMHO, it is unfair business practices for a large corporation to move into a town and then set their prices so low (below their usual prices) that noone can stay in business and then once those business are gone to raise their prices back to normal.



-Steve

 

[QRTRHRS]

Re: Well, if we're bashing, then....

Originally posted by Fireman Dave

What I don't like about Walmart is all of the crap in the aisles. You can barely walk through that store - especially with a cart. I rarely go into one for this reason - unless I have no choice. Shopping experience is just as important to me as price.

I agree, that and the aisles are barely wide enough to start with. I also agree that Walmart not only bullies other stores out of business but bullies their way into the neighborhood even when clearly not wanted.



They get zero dollars from me.

 

[NVR FNSH]

Wasn't WalMart a mom & pop store originally... ...



Brian

 

[radixr]

Steve,



In the examples you cite, did you document that Walmart's prices after mom and pop left town were higher than mom and pop's prices before Walmart moved in?

 

[baby.driver]

I just wish less merchandise was made in commie China.

But anymore all the stores are that way.



Jay

 

[Mad Bomber]

Walmart

My wife works at wally world

 

[Champane Flight]

Sign of the times.

I have a neighbor wuo has been with Wal-mart for the last eight years. She likes it and has been full time for as long as she has worked there. She told me they have there share of seasonal and temporary employees for inventorys,Christmas,ect. However,it is hard to find people to fill their positions.



I also know of a truckdriver who was with them from the beginning. He had been getting his 401k and stock statements for years and never really paid attention to them. He had his 27 years with them and wanted to find out when he could retire. He was 59 and wanted to retire at 62. After taking all his latest statments down to a local accountant. He found he was a millionare!To be exact 3. 2 million!Needless to say he retired a little early. He had taken advantage of the a 1 to 1 stock plan that Wal-mart had for its early employees and it paid big.



Wal-mart has a bad name for its union busting and the treatment of its employees in some areas. This is a sign of the times anymore. They came into our town and build a regular store ten years ago. Within eight years build a super store. They just left the old store vacant. We now have three old vacant stores on the outskirts of town. A Osco drug,Gibsons,and Wal-mart.

 

[rob10858]

the old saying holds true, if you dont like the way a company does business, dont shop there. don't shoot the messenger. we've all helped these mass merchandisers, walmart, home depot, etc . run the local outfits out of business. are you willing to pay 15% more for the same products sold by your smaller retailer? it's as simple as that. they dont get the mass quanity discounts that the mega companies do, so they have to pass the costs to you. sam walton's theory was to put them out of business, then hire them to work at his stores. if folks today feel that is the ultimate insult, welcome to the new age {and the old} of retailing in america.

 

[QRTRHRS]

You may be saving 15% over what Mom & Pop charged but is that still in your pocket? What has happened to the "cohesiveness" of our lives? Sure, we can go buy anything we can imagine. What does it cost in taxes to support the infrastructure that goes with these "superstores"? Made in China? Competition would not have anything to do with that would it? Do these people working at the big stores take the time to ask how "so and so is doing"?



Everything changes, no doubt, but something has been lost along the way.

 

[RJOL]

Originally posted by Steve St. Laurent

I for one refuse to buy anything at walmart and my wife doesn't either. One of walmarts success tactics is to move into a small town and sell product at an extremely low profit margin (some say below cost) until all the small mom and pop shops are put out of business and then they raise the cost. I saw this happen personally in two towns that I lived in.

Steve... your 100% correct... . they just put that "mom & pop" K-Mart into chapter 11...