Wal-Mart

[Raerae]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shimmer Another article on WM's business practices and how detrimental they can be.

Interesting article, and it explains a little more of what I didn't already assume.

I agree with this part, but it's not always enough, sadly,

"But not every industry analyst agreed with thechains. Sandra Skrovan of Retail Forward hasstudied the impact of Wal-Mart on the supermar-ket industry and argued: “[The three chains] cantalk about lowering wages and lowering prices,but that doesn’t do any thing to help them bettercompete with Wal-Mart. They need to competewith Wal-Mart on something other than price"

Your article got cut off at page 29 though, right when it was about to talk about Costco just when it was getting good hehe.

Thanks for the read though, gave me something to look at while eating breakfast

 

[quandolak]

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[quandolak]

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[Professor Fate]

wal mart = devil

 

[Raerae]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Professor Fate wal mart = devil

Not possible. Everyone knows the devil wears Prada, and they do not sell Prada at Walmart!!

 

[Professor Fate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raerae Not possible. Everyone knows the devil wears Prada, and they do not sell Prada at Walmart!!

wrong,the devil wears pleated khakis.

 

[meagannn]

omg

I dnt know much about the economics and all that BS of wal-marts pricing and such, but i do know that IN MY EXPERIENCE some their employment practices have been very unfair. Ugh.

I dont know about the majory of WM stores, but the three that I have worked at have had very, very sexist male management and unfair work practices.

for one example, some employees got full time status (meaning you get offered benefits at 180 days) and got part-time hours; others (like myself) got part time status (meaning benefits at 2 years) and full time hours.

the rule now is, if you are "part time" status then you are not allowed to be schedualed 40 hours a week for more than three consecutive weeks without them bumping you automaticcally to full time (meaning you get your benefits faster than your original part timers) So In a typical month I would work
week A- 40 hours
week B- 40 hours
week C- 32 hours
week D- 40 hours

etc.. so that they didn't have to offer me fulltime benefits. I got screwed on that deal. I put up with their bullshit for 4 1/2 months (this last time haha) untill one afternoon I was manning the main-WM phone and had to use the bathroom... i called management for 3 effing hours and could not get a relief to go to the bathroom, and i had customers everywhere....
so i never returned. i had had enough. I realize that i am dispensible there (besides being overqualified haha) so i felt my skills were suited better elsewhere.

 

[Shimmer]

that sounds just like wal-mart in my experience. :/

 

[giz2000]

We have several Wal-Marts in my area, along with Targets, K-Marts, m&ps, etc. I almost never go to Wal-Mart...why? When I was doing Employee Assistance Program counseling, they were one of our client companies. I used to hear horror stories from the employees. 99% of the time, they were non-English speaking immigrants - some illegal- that were being taken advantage of, or being unfairly treated. That's nothing new re: Walmart.

 

[Shimmer]

meagannn's point about the sexist atmosphere is another one that should be taken seriously. :/
Ugh.
I hate that place. Blah.

 

[meagannn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shimmer meagannn's point about the sexist atmosphere is another one that should be taken seriously. :/ Ugh. I hate that place. Blah.

Yes, in my experience it was very discriminatory. When i was 18 I worked at Walmart in Lubbock, Texas. At the time I didn't find anything wrong with the things they did, but two of the ladies there who had been long-time employees (20+ years) were part of the class-action lawsuit against Walmart Corporation for sexual discrimination. I always wondered why, because at 18, i didn't see anything wrong.
But now that I just left from there again, a little older and a little more mature, I know I felt the same way. I could not get transferred to another position, I couldn't get a promotion, I barely got a raise (and I believe thats only because my direct supervisor was female. ) not to mention some of the heinous comments my "big" boss made to me. I couldn't go anywhere for a few months without him making some off color remark. I finally said something to him that was not-so-nice and he totally began to ignore me from then on. It seemed like if I didn't take his shit or kiss his ass he wasn't going to have anything to do with me.

 

[Shimmer]

How many female store managers do you see? District? Not many.
Of course the CSMs are generally female, it's a shit detail that most men don't want to do. *shrug*

 

[Beauty Mark]

I'm concerned about the Wal-Mart situation for all of the reasons listed above. Sometimes, it's hard to believe it, but you (or a group of many people) can at least prevent Wal-Mart from taking over completely.

Besides monitoring your own spending (I can't jump out of the screen and tell you whether or not you can afford to shop somewhere else; you should be honest with yourself), you can start groups working against Wal-Mart adding onto already existing buildings or simply coming to town. You usually have to come up with more localized arguments than national/international ones, but I've seen it work.

Encourage big businesses in your area to set up some sort of discount plan if you get your prescription filled at the local place. My college did that. I don't know how it worked (except I was on college insurance), but the medicine was incredibly cheap and it encouraged business at the place.

Similarly, I know many companies and organizations use Wal-Mart, because they receive some sort of discount. If you're a part of one of those, see if you can receive a similar discount at another place.

Furthmore, while I believe most people can afford to shop elsewhere, don't condemn those who truly cannot. I've known people who are "poor" but blow $50 easily on a whim to buy some fad skirt and can still vacation somewhere. However, there are people who live in the ghetto, and every cent does count for them; I've known them as well, and I can't in good conscious be upset with them for shopping at Wal-Mart or working there.

 

[meagannn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty Mark I'm concerned about the Wal-Mart situation for all of the reasons listed above. Sometimes, it's hard to believe it, but you (or a group of many people) can at least prevent Wal-Mart from taking over completely. Besides monitoring your own spending (I can't jump out of the screen and tell you whether or not you can afford to shop somewhere else; you should be honest with yourself), you can start groups working against Wal-Mart adding onto already existing buildings or simply coming to town. You usually have to come up with more localized arguments than national/international ones, but I've seen it work. Encourage big businesses in your area to set up some sort of discount plan if you get your prescription filled at the local place. My college did that. I don't know how it worked (except I was on college insurance), but the medicine was incredibly cheap and it encouraged business at the place. Similarly, I know many companies and organizations use Wal-Mart, because they receive some sort of discount. If you're a part of one of those, see if you can receive a similar discount at another place. Furthmore, while I believe most people can afford to shop elsewhere, don't condemn those who truly cannot. I've known people who are "poor" but blow $50 easily on a whim to buy some fad skirt and can still vacation somewhere. However, there are people who live in the ghetto, and every cent does count for them; I've known them as well, and I can't in good conscious be upset with them for shopping at Wal-Mart or working there.

Well said! I agree with you. I dont think I truly understood the reality of the situation with big box retailers untill recently.

 

[meagannn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shimmer How many female store managers do you see? District? Not many. Of course the CSMs are generally female, it's a shit detail that most men don't want to do. *shrug*

Hardly any! Our regional manager was a woman though. Which was odd. She flew in from Bentonville for 15 minutes one day and had all the men shaking in their boots, which I appreciated. (haha) but other than that, nobody with "a seat" in management is a female.

ugh. and thats true. At all three of the stores I've worked at, all the CSMs are female. I think I have known two male CSMs, ever, and that wasn't directly.

 

[Shimmer]

I've known ONE. Ever. Good guy, really, but he worked at walmart for YEARS...
Oh, and I LOVE how you can work there for literally over two decades and not break ten dollars an hour.

 

[Beauty Mark]

I've had plenty of friends work for them. They didn't hate it, but I don't know if they realized what was wrong with this situation. I always feel like Wal-Mart really takes advantage of people without resources. I've also liked how they hire the elderly and mentally retarded, but I wonder if they just do it because of good PR and those people aren't in positions to really fight Wal-Mart.