Junkman
Super Member
Many of these stores do 70% - 80% of their business between Thanksgiving and Christmas and two stores wouldn't make sense for the rest of the year....
Walmart
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jyoutz
Super Member
Some of the smaller stores have closed in my town too. K-Mart is still doing fine. I don't miss the smaller stores though - they never had any inventory in stock, so we ended up going out-of-town to buy anyway. Now after Wal-Mart we can at least find things to buy in our town.
Old_Hickory
Platinum Member
K-mart management has no one to blame but them selves for their financial woes,they became complacent and Wal-mart passed them up.
K-Mart should have been the leaders, they were here before Wal-Mart and had the groundwork laid to be a giant but K-Mart management was not innovative. They had the ball but fumbled it. IMHO
K-Mart should have been the leaders, they were here before Wal-Mart and had the groundwork laid to be a giant but K-Mart management was not innovative. They had the ball but fumbled it. IMHO
TresCrows
Elite Member
"Some of the smaller stores have closed in my town too. K-Mart is still doing fine. I don't miss the smaller stores though - they never had any inventory in stock, so we ended up going out-of-town to buy anyway. Now after Wal-Mart we can at least find things to buy in our town. "
I do miss the small merchants. Back in the good old days they did have inventory and they would also order you special items. Try and get Wal Mart to order anything special for you /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif.
I buy as little as possible from Wally World. There selection is limited and usually low end quality range. Take lawn sprinklers, Wally World only has plastic versions, Attwoods and T-supply and several independent hardware stores had the nice metal sprinklers--same company. Just all kinds of stuff Wal Mart does not carry unless they are forcing someone out of buisness, then as soon as possible they drop the items and go back to their usual low end quality range. J
I do miss the small merchants. Back in the good old days they did have inventory and they would also order you special items. Try and get Wal Mart to order anything special for you /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif.
I buy as little as possible from Wally World. There selection is limited and usually low end quality range. Take lawn sprinklers, Wally World only has plastic versions, Attwoods and T-supply and several independent hardware stores had the nice metal sprinklers--same company. Just all kinds of stuff Wal Mart does not carry unless they are forcing someone out of buisness, then as soon as possible they drop the items and go back to their usual low end quality range. J
gerard
Veteran Member
kind or surprised there hasn't been an unfair labor's practice or anti trust action yet. They had no problem going after microsoft and walmarts practices seem pretty similar to the old Standard Oil practices that started anto trust legislation in the first place. Certainly sounds like dealing with them as a supplier is making a Faustian deal. After all what's the sense in selling a lot of product if you can't make a profit???
Junkman
Super Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( kind or surprised there hasn't been an unfair labor's practice or anti trust action yet. They had no problem going after microsoft and walmarts practices seem pretty similar to the old Standard Oil practices that started anto trust legislation in the first place. Certainly sounds like dealing with them as a supplier is making a Faustian deal. After all what's the sense in selling a lot of product if you can't make a profit??? )</font>
Could it be that they have a friend in the Justice Department??
Could it be that they have a friend in the Justice Department??
Growing up, my brother always needed a fan to fall asleep. To this day, that is still the case. Last winter he became very ill. He went to the hospital and underwent surgery to repair a ruptured bowel.
They put him in a recovery room and there he lay listening to Wheel of Fortune with the volume turned up to 11 by his roomate who can't hear, and sweltering in the heat that the hospital provides for the fossilized low blood pressure corpses that whine "I'm cold" all day long.
I set out to get him a little bedside (6"ish) fan. I went to two local homegrown stores that I thought might have some old inventory from last summer. I found nothing. I even tried K-Mart to no avail. I went to Wal-Mart. They had a half dozen different 6" fans. Not a half donen fans!,... a half done 6" fans! AMAZING. I could choose colors! I could choose mounting types! And not a one was over 10 bucks!
My brother was much relieved by the gentle hum of the fan. He slept better and it cooled him a bit to help him recover.
Forever I have listened to those who lambasted me for buying a Honda or Toyota (even if it was made in Ohio), only to watch them buy an American car, but Chinese EVERYTHING ELSE! I have always felt that you should first look for the best quality, then price shop for the best deal. I agree that American workers are suffering, but it is not Walmart that is solely to blame, it is those who would buy cheap imported garbage when quality American made product was available. Now it is hard to even find an American made product.
Wanna help American workers? Check out Filson products... "Oh, those coats are too expensive!" Then clam up and go to Walmart!
Great article though... a lot of good points.. My favorite was "We want clean air, clear water, good living conditions, the best health care in the world--yet we aren't willing to pay for anything manufactured under those restrictions."
They put him in a recovery room and there he lay listening to Wheel of Fortune with the volume turned up to 11 by his roomate who can't hear, and sweltering in the heat that the hospital provides for the fossilized low blood pressure corpses that whine "I'm cold" all day long.
I set out to get him a little bedside (6"ish) fan. I went to two local homegrown stores that I thought might have some old inventory from last summer. I found nothing. I even tried K-Mart to no avail. I went to Wal-Mart. They had a half dozen different 6" fans. Not a half donen fans!,... a half done 6" fans! AMAZING. I could choose colors! I could choose mounting types! And not a one was over 10 bucks!
My brother was much relieved by the gentle hum of the fan. He slept better and it cooled him a bit to help him recover.
Forever I have listened to those who lambasted me for buying a Honda or Toyota (even if it was made in Ohio), only to watch them buy an American car, but Chinese EVERYTHING ELSE! I have always felt that you should first look for the best quality, then price shop for the best deal. I agree that American workers are suffering, but it is not Walmart that is solely to blame, it is those who would buy cheap imported garbage when quality American made product was available. Now it is hard to even find an American made product.
Wanna help American workers? Check out Filson products... "Oh, those coats are too expensive!" Then clam up and go to Walmart!
Great article though... a lot of good points.. My favorite was "We want clean air, clear water, good living conditions, the best health care in the world--yet we aren't willing to pay for anything manufactured under those restrictions."
TresCrows
Elite Member
"Wanna help American workers? Check out Filson products... "Oh, those coats are too expensive!" Then clam up and go to Walmart!"
I am not so much brand loyal but I would in fact pay more for a nice coat or whatever and I own no cloths from Wal Mart, no watch from Wal Mart, no shoes, no socks, no nothing and no cheapo fans either. The place is low end and as long as that is all someone wants I guess it is OK but I still prefer quality and I will on occasion pay for it. Wal Mart is not a cause, it is a symptom of something deeper. As to American companies going under, if they would put their money into product innovation and quality rather than stock dividends and downsizing, outsourcing themselves out of existence a few more of them would still be around. I would pay more for better quality/function but I darn sure am not going to pay more for less quality/function. Does anyone remember Argus cameras, Admiral TV's--were those products really the best they could do? They were selling antiques against a Nikon or a Sony--give me a break /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. I have an Argus C3 35MM camera, so beautifully art deco and soooooooo useless /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. J
I am not so much brand loyal but I would in fact pay more for a nice coat or whatever and I own no cloths from Wal Mart, no watch from Wal Mart, no shoes, no socks, no nothing and no cheapo fans either. The place is low end and as long as that is all someone wants I guess it is OK but I still prefer quality and I will on occasion pay for it. Wal Mart is not a cause, it is a symptom of something deeper. As to American companies going under, if they would put their money into product innovation and quality rather than stock dividends and downsizing, outsourcing themselves out of existence a few more of them would still be around. I would pay more for better quality/function but I darn sure am not going to pay more for less quality/function. Does anyone remember Argus cameras, Admiral TV's--were those products really the best they could do? They were selling antiques against a Nikon or a Sony--give me a break /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. I have an Argus C3 35MM camera, so beautifully art deco and soooooooo useless /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. J
I don't know how many of you out there have kids, but I can tell you that it is nearly impossible to buy a toy made in the USA. I got one of the last American made etch a sketches. I can't believe the Asian fleet of toys my kids have. What's a kid to do? You gotta have toys.
BTW - I needed that fan Trescrow,... I'd have bought it from the Devil himself, and I'd have paid $1000 if that's what it took. I looked at it as disposable (short term need).
BTW - I needed that fan Trescrow,... I'd have bought it from the Devil himself, and I'd have paid $1000 if that's what it took. I looked at it as disposable (short term need).
BB_TX
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Let's face it. We all want high wages, great benefits, and low prices. Those just are not compatible. Yes you can say there are a lot of people making minimum wage. But the average is much higher than minimum. And the wages paid oversees is a mere fraction of that and with little benefits, but those people are thrilled to get it.
Walmart is an example of an extremely well run company. But it is certainly not the only one doing that kind of business, just the most visible and the most targeted by critics. The larger a company gets the more buying power it has, and the more it will use that power to get low prices.
Yes Walmart (and others) has caused many a small mom & pop operation to close and that is sad. But that is the consumer's fault, not Walmart or Kmart or Home Depot, or Lowes or "you name it". The way they are growing, TSC is probably moving that same direction. We are the ones who flocked to the big stores for the cheap prices. They are simply supplying the demand. And while they have caused the loss of jobs to the small businesses, they have supplied 10s of thousands of jobs in their stores.
I am not a particular fan of the big stores either, but let's put the blame on where it belongs. We want a large selection of merchandise and we want to buy it cheap, and they supply that demand. The blame rest squarely on our shoulders. We are the reason of the success of the big stores and the demise of the mom & pop operations.
Walmart is an example of an extremely well run company. But it is certainly not the only one doing that kind of business, just the most visible and the most targeted by critics. The larger a company gets the more buying power it has, and the more it will use that power to get low prices.
Yes Walmart (and others) has caused many a small mom & pop operation to close and that is sad. But that is the consumer's fault, not Walmart or Kmart or Home Depot, or Lowes or "you name it". The way they are growing, TSC is probably moving that same direction. We are the ones who flocked to the big stores for the cheap prices. They are simply supplying the demand. And while they have caused the loss of jobs to the small businesses, they have supplied 10s of thousands of jobs in their stores.
I am not a particular fan of the big stores either, but let's put the blame on where it belongs. We want a large selection of merchandise and we want to buy it cheap, and they supply that demand. The blame rest squarely on our shoulders. We are the reason of the success of the big stores and the demise of the mom & pop operations.
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