Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Local Town Rejects Wal-Mart Expansion
Antioch council rejects Wal-Mart expansion.
Good for them. Now if they could just vote to kick Wal-Mart out of town too. At least Antioch is big enough and close enough to other towns that people can shop at other places fairly easily.
Tags: Wal-Mart, WalMart, Antioch, expansion, rejected
The Wal-Mart Effect
Good for them. Now if they could just vote to kick Wal-Mart out of town too. At least Antioch is big enough and close enough to other towns that people can shop at other places fairly easily.
Tags: Wal-Mart, WalMart, Antioch, expansion, rejected
Del.icio.us It
Digg It!The Wal-Mart Effect
Fishman presents ‘Wal-Mart Effect’ and, rather than harp on the giant for its shortcomings, he illustrates just how deep and wide its reach really goes and presents options for those who do want to spend their money at a more ethical business. He uses the example of the bankrupting of Vlasic Pickles by the supply chain bullying of Wal-Mart. What it comes down to is Vlasic had to sell their pickles at a loss or Wal-Mart would drop them and they'd go out of business anyway. Rock and a hard place indeed, or maybe its more appropriate to call it a deal with the devil, just delaying the harvest. But Charles Fishman presents some ideas that you can or cannot think about implementing. He recognizes that people might not have the means to shop elsewhere, that cold hard economics may require patronizing Wal-Mart. But if you can, why not try other stores. Why not go to Target or KMart or some of the others, or the local toy store, if you can afford it.
And who can these days?
I understand that its hard to make the decision to not buy things as cheaply as possible, we're trained to do it. That way we can have more stuff. And stuff is good. I crave stuff just like the rest of the world.
But what if the stuff you crave and buy from Wal-Mart helps Wal-Mart avoid taxes or suck up some additional healthcare and you end up paying more for it in the long run.
Shop locally, spend your money on businesses that will keep the money as local as possible. Shopping at Wal-Mart is like making a deposit at the Bank of China ATM. Only thing is that we will not be making any withdrawals, maybe ever.
Shopping at your local hardware store, grocery store, whatever, is a good thing to do.
By the way, did you know Wal-Mart is the world's biggest grocery store as well as retail schlock? I didn't until this article in the University of Wisconsin student paper.
Tags: Wal-Mart, WalMart, Charles Fishman, Vlasic, bankruptcy, options
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Square Business Models and Round Internet Tubes
And who can these days?
I understand that its hard to make the decision to not buy things as cheaply as possible, we're trained to do it. That way we can have more stuff. And stuff is good. I crave stuff just like the rest of the world.
But what if the stuff you crave and buy from Wal-Mart helps Wal-Mart avoid taxes or suck up some additional healthcare and you end up paying more for it in the long run.
Shop locally, spend your money on businesses that will keep the money as local as possible. Shopping at Wal-Mart is like making a deposit at the Bank of China ATM. Only thing is that we will not be making any withdrawals, maybe ever.
Shopping at your local hardware store, grocery store, whatever, is a good thing to do.
By the way, did you know Wal-Mart is the world's biggest grocery store as well as retail schlock? I didn't until this article in the University of Wisconsin student paper.
Tags: Wal-Mart, WalMart, Charles Fishman, Vlasic, bankruptcy, options
Labels: bankrupt, vlasic, wal-mart
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Square Business Models and Round Internet Tubes
Wal-Mart online service misfires, as iTunes readies video for Europe
Bad grammar and misspellings aside, this is a good examination of what's wrong with Wal-Mart's plans to sell movies online.
They only want PC's and Microsoft browsers and its US only. Which I can sort of understand, appealling to the majority and all and avoiding the copyright implications and expense of selling into foreign markets with the thorny DRM.
Bad pricing, bad implementation, clearly just a decision driven by greed and not smart marketing. But this is what we have come to expect for Wal-Mart. Bad copycat business done in a half-assed kind of lame way, its just enough to get by. Maybe that's what annoys me most about Wal-Mart, that its the lowest common denominator, its crap that is just good enough, its a store for unachievement.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Yet Another Way Wal-Mart is Screwing All of Us
Bad grammar and misspellings aside, this is a good examination of what's wrong with Wal-Mart's plans to sell movies online.
They only want PC's and Microsoft browsers and its US only. Which I can sort of understand, appealling to the majority and all and avoiding the copyright implications and expense of selling into foreign markets with the thorny DRM.
Bad pricing, bad implementation, clearly just a decision driven by greed and not smart marketing. But this is what we have come to expect for Wal-Mart. Bad copycat business done in a half-assed kind of lame way, its just enough to get by. Maybe that's what annoys me most about Wal-Mart, that its the lowest common denominator, its crap that is just good enough, its a store for unachievement.
Labels: online, wal-mart, walmart
Friday, February 02, 2007
Yet Another Way Wal-Mart is Screwing All of Us
The Raw Story reports that Wal-Mart pays itself rent, gets large tax breaks
The Always Low Prices line they use doesn't take into account all the costs they pass along to the localities and states that they suck on. Make no mistake, Wal-Mart has nobody's but their own interests at heart. Its not like Wal-Mart can't afford to pay their fair share of taxes, they just do whatever they can to dodge as much as they can for as long as they can. If they could get away with using slave labor, they would (oops, they do, but its overseas and well out of our sight). Shop at Wal-Mart and you are directly contributing to and condoning their business model and practices. Is saving thirty cents on a bottle of soda worth aiding the erosion of our country? I don't think so.
Tags: Wal-Mart, WalMart, rent scheme, $350 million, deceit
Wal-Mart, the nation's largest employer and the world's biggest retailer, is regularly paying itself rent and using the transaction to decrease the taxes it pays to state governments, according to a report in this morning's Wall Street Journal.That's $350 million dollars that they didn't pay, so the rest of us had to. Nice, eh?
In one four-year period, Wal-Mart avoided $350 million in taxes using this strategy, which was developed by the accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP.
The Always Low Prices line they use doesn't take into account all the costs they pass along to the localities and states that they suck on. Make no mistake, Wal-Mart has nobody's but their own interests at heart. Its not like Wal-Mart can't afford to pay their fair share of taxes, they just do whatever they can to dodge as much as they can for as long as they can. If they could get away with using slave labor, they would (oops, they do, but its overseas and well out of our sight). Shop at Wal-Mart and you are directly contributing to and condoning their business model and practices. Is saving thirty cents on a bottle of soda worth aiding the erosion of our country? I don't think so.
Tags: Wal-Mart, WalMart, rent scheme, $350 million, deceit
Labels: despicable, rent scheme, wal-mart, walmart