Today, I shopped at WalMart. I have to say it again to convince myself. . . Today, I shopped at WalMart. As long as I tried to stay away, I couldn't. Their low low prices and convenience got the best of me.
The reason why I dread going to WalMart so much is not because their warehouses are located in China or because I can never seem to get through a checkout line in under 15 minutes; moreover, it is because WalMart treats their employees terribly and is driving a lot of small business out of the market. I recently watched a documentary that showed a WalMart manager teaching an employee how to file for Welfare. He was doing this because pressure from administrators forced him to encourage employees to apply for Welfare so that their wages could be held low. That is pretty screwed up. I love Adam Smith as much as the next guy and I believe that the minimum wage is a price floor that may be unfair to some employers. However, what I saw in this case is crossing the line. There are things that corporations just can't do and that, in my opinion, is one of them.
So, I did go to WalMart today. Over the past few hours I have come up with a few excueses why:
1) WalMart is operating under all established business laws and regulations. Sure, they are doing some pretty shady stuff, but it is all legal. I think if enough people had a problem with what WalMart is doing (they should) then they would pressure their representatives to make "anti Sam Walton" legislation
2) Small businesses and start-up retailers are not adapting. The greatest asset to a small company is its ability to change and adapt rapidly. Small businesses can fill a niche that WalMart cannot and still be profitable. There are many things that WalMart does badly - not offering premium products, excellent service, and personability to name a few- thus allowing a small business to take care of these societal needs.
3) A lot of people need WalMart, including me. Being a college student, I don't have a lot of money. I can go to walmart and get what I need while paying at least $20 less than I would have paid at Wegmans or McLanahan's and $10 less than I would have paid at Giant or Weiss. That is money that I can keep and spend on other necessities.
Yeah, I went to WalMart today. And I am finally ok with it.
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I almost feel guilty when I shop at Wal-mart. But I totally agree with you. It is not our fault as consumers that we shop at Wal-mart. They have the best prices and it is an easy one stop shop. I am willing to support small businesses as much as possible, but I do not want to compromise price or easy shopping. It is almost as if we are forced to shop there. But we have to remember, any small business could have been ambitious enough to acheive the success that Wal-mart has.
ReplyDeleteI'm taking a retail engineering class and apparently one of the reasons that Walmart has such low prices is because of their excellent supply chain management. Their supply chain is so good that, my professor says, it lowers their cost on average by over 10%.
ReplyDeleteWe all know they are excellent at driving out small businesses, but as you said these businesses might not be adapting as quickly as they need to be. It is very difficult to achieve a supply chain as efficient as Walmarts and small stores just might not be able to hack it.