WalMart & Mobil 1

[B7800mike]

A sign at the local WM states, "Limited quantities of Mobil 1 oils available through April 2009". Looks like WM will no longer carry Mobil 1; going to have to go with some other synthetic, as I won't pay the long dollar they get for the stuff at other outlets

I work at a gm dealer and gm has told us that there is a shortage of Mobil 1 and to use an alternative untill production is back up.

 

[Scooby074]

Did an oil change today. Bought the Mobil1 at walmart and the shelves were full but i noticed that the price has increased since my last purchase.

 

[LBrown59]

Sam Walton did walk in to businesses that were hurting and bought them to make products for his stores. Yeah, he probably bought them cheap, but he kept a business alive in the US. I remember as a kid a lot of things in Walmart were made in the US.

I had a business contact that met with Sam Walton. He was told to go a to a local cafe to meet him. He got there and there were alot of "suits" there waiting. After everything was done he asked Mr Walton why meet here instead of his office. He said, "As long as I do business I will met here. If you come here you get lunch or coffee and this cafe will stay open!"

Dan

I don't remember Walmart as a kid

 

[Bedlam]

Patches,

I'm curious, did they actually say they would no longer carry it?
A year ago I wanted some rustoleum paint, and went there as I always do, and couldn't find any. The clerk there said that they weren't going to carry any rustoleum products anymore.This didn't sound right so i went to yet another store, and found they didn't have any either,And that clerk said that they weren't going to carry any oil based paints because of environment standards from California.
So there you have two different opinions as to why there wasn't any rustoleum to be had.
Now come a couple months later the shelves are fully stocked.
I will never know just was up, but it could have been just a ''lull' in the inventory, or it could have been that they couldn't reach a good price with the manufacturer.
But we now have it back which is the best thing.Could use a bit more color for variety.Not even sure if wal mart will special order colors or not like my hardware store does.
thanks

 

[CurlyDave]

Considering the obscene profits Exxon/Mobil has experienced these past quarters, they don't have to negotiate with anyone

Ah, what a great thread. We can bash both Exxon/Mobil's "obscene" profits and Wal-Mart at the same time. Somehow I thought that tractor owners were smarter and more independent than average.

Exxon/Mobil is a huge company and is going to make huge profits just because of that. Their percentage profit is just about the same as other oil companies' profits. And, they pay 4 times as much tax to the government as their profit. Ever heard anyone beside me complain about the obscene taxes Exxon/Mobil pays?

Economists who study this kind of stuff professionally have found that when Wal-Mart moves into an area the number of small businesses actually increases. The kind of small businesses changes, but the number increases. The local pharmacy can't compete and probably goes under, but a specialty muffler shop or something like that, finds that Wal-Mart attracts a bunch of new customers.

I personally know a guy who owns a tire store less than 500' from the local Wal-Mart automotive department. He sells to people who want different brands than Wal-Mart carries, people who want better service, etc. And, Wal-Mart sends their overflow business to him. Drop your car off at Wal-Mart and if they don't have time for it, their guy drives it over to his shop.

He isn't rolling in money, but he isn't going broke either. And, he is a minority in rural America. Maybe not quite the American dream, but a far cry from the American nightmare people would have us think Wal-Mart represents.

 

[CurlyDave]

And, just another thought for the day.

Those obscene taxes that Exxon/Mobil pays. Who do you think really pays them?

Any good economist will tell you that when you get right down to the bottom line, there is no such thing as a corporate tax. Oh, the corporation sends a check to the government, but then the corporation passes those taxes on to their customers in the form of higher prices.

Be careful what you wish for. If the government puts an "excess profits" tax on Exxon it is going to come right out of your pocket.

 

[jaybrad]

No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to work up even a single tear for those poor oil companies who have to pay taxes. I pay taxes, too - and at the end of the year have probably sent more to the state and federal revenue folks than I have in my savings account. Guess my taxes exceed profits, too.

I dislike WalMart because (according to many sources) they treat their employees poorly - as a result the quality of their employees is pretty poor - which means that their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, which is why I go elsewhere.

The quality of their stuff may not be great, but that's not an issue with motor oil. What is an issue is that in order for me to get to the motor oil, I have to park my car amidst thousands of shopping carts that are scattered around the lot, get past the greeter (OK, some of those folks are really quite pleasant), navigate through narrow aisles and past screaming kids to the farthest point from the door - and then stand in long lines that look like Darwin's waiting room just to pay for the stuff.

Much faster to go elsewhere.

I could go on about their ugly box stores, but there are other ugly box stores that I like (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.).

Jay

 

[Gator6x4]

And, just another thought for the day.

Those obscene taxes that Exxon/Mobil pays. Who do you think really pays them?

Any good economist will tell you that when you get right down to the bottom line, there is no such thing as a corporate tax. Oh, the corporation sends a check to the government, but then the corporation passes those taxes on to their customers in the form of higher prices.

Be careful what you wish for. If the government puts an "excess profits" tax on Exxon it is going to come right out of your pocket.

Obscene taxes paid???? I would like to be able to claim deductions like corporations do, Then give myself as the CEO a big raise an bonus, get on TV show my smiley teeth and declare how new regulations and taxes are costing my company and me. When in reality all costs, fees and tax increases are passed on to the consumer.

 

[vsteel]

Ok, here is my two cents. My wife used to work for Walmart and I have known a few people to work for Walmart and they do treat their employees pretty bad.

If you look they wave the flag but they get all they can from china and help the exodus of American jobs.

While I hear a lot about Exxon and others, last I heard they paid something around 60 billion dollars in taxes last year. Why don't people get on other companies, the oil companies make about 7 cents a dollar profit. Coke makes 22 cents a dollar, Intel makes 50 cents a dollar. The only thing the oil companies have is the volume to make their profits look larger. If Intel did the volume of business that Exxon did, they would have 7X the profits.

The one issue that I have with taxing business, is there is a point when you chase it away.

 

[Patches]

Considering the obscene profits Exxon/Mobil has experienced these past quarters, they don't have to negotiate with anyone

Ah, what a great thread. We can bash both Exxon/Mobil's "obscene" profits and Wal-Mart at the same time. Somehow I thought that tractor owners were smarter and more independent than average.

Exxon/Mobil is a huge company and is going to make huge profits just because of that. Their percentage profit is just about the same as other oil companies' profits. And, they pay 4 times as much tax to the government as their profit. Ever heard anyone beside me complain about the obscene taxes Exxon/Mobil pays?

Exxon/Mobil's profit(P-R-O-F-I-T),not gross sales,P-R-O-F-I-T, for the third quarter of 2008 was 10.4 BILLION, up 35% from the previous OBSCENE quarter You don't have to be a smart tractor owner to realize that is one h~11 of a wad of money