What stores sell Cathes Fitness Line

judilicious said:
What is it about Walmart's practices that turns you off? I only go there to buy the Sam's club brand of water, so I don't shop there that often
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Where to start... they pay their employees next to nothing. They control their employees hours so that they don't get full-time hours. That way, they don't have to pay benefits. Because of this, many of their employees qualify for welfare, food stamps, and Medicaid. This means that we as taxpayers get to pay the cost as opposed to Wal Mart.For several classes of employees, they require the employees to do overtime but don't pay them overtime - the employee is expected to clock out and work several more hours off the clock. How do they keep their prices so low? They force their suppliers to lower the price charged to Wal Mart. Why do the manufacturers do it? Because Wal Mart is HUGE and the sales are a huge part of their bottom line. Wal Mart threatens to pull all business if they don't meet the price. Several US companies have gone out of business or moved their manufacturing plants overseas to meet Wal Mart's price demands. There is a whole other piece about keeping unions out of Wal Mart by closing entire divisions or firing employees that are seen as instigators.

And then there's the blight on the community when a store closes. Wal Mart owns the land and refuses to sell to another discount department store (i.e. Target) so cities are left with empty concrete monstrosities.

Oh dear, did I go off on a tangent there? Sorry!

Carrie
 
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A great book to read that deals with some of these issues is Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. It came out a few years ago, but is still definitely relevant to today's economy. The last chapter talks about her experience working at a Wal-Mart, and the ways in which the company treats its employees. In it, Eherenreich talks directly about some of the issues that Carrie mentioned.

The documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is another good resource.

It's obviously a difficult situation since so many folks can't afford to buy things at more expensive stores. I feel fortunate that I can afford to spend a bit more money so that I can shop somewhere like Target (where the company pays their employees a more livable wage and offers health care benefits even for part-time employees), but I know that many others can't.:(
 
The other way Walmart passes on costs to the taxpayers is when they go into a city/town to open a new store, they negotiate all sorts of tax breaks, which ultimately have to be made up somewhere. It makes the playing field with the mom & pops less even, because of course they have no power to negotiate any kind of tax break, and then over the years, the city loses out of that tax revenue Walmart pockets as profits.

-Beth
 
carres1973 said:
How do they keep their prices so low? They force their suppliers to lower the price charged to Wal Mart. Why do the manufacturers do it? Because Wal Mart is HUGE and the sales are a huge part of their bottom line. Wal Mart threatens to pull all business if they don't meet the price. Several US companies have gone out of business or moved their manufacturing plants overseas to meet Wal Mart's price demands.
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Sadly, this is so true. I work for a packaging and display company. We are watching our entire industry deteriorate in part because of Wal-mart. They are pretty much forcing the majority of our major customers to take their businesses overseas where they can make products cheap enough to sell to Wal-mart. So of course, the products are getting packaged overseas now which is causing a huge crunch on us. Wal-mart is also a VERY demanding customer as well (we do do business with them too). You can't afford to not do business with them, but meeting all of their demands and selling to them at their price is enough to put you out of business. I try very hard to not buy anything there, but I do not have a lot of options where I live and Target is a good 45 minutes away. When we can, we make the trip, but on other days, I suck it up and make the 10 minute trip to Wal-mart. :(

Here is a jib jab that pretty much sums up the problems with Wal-mart. It is SO true!

http://www.jibjab.com/originals/big_box_mart
 
I do not make big shopping trips to Walmart b/c in my opinion I can get a lower sale price at my local Kroger, Target and Meijer. Actually when I do go to Walmart (about once a month) it's for two items: Naturally More PB and Joseph's Lavash Bread. Walmart is the only store that sells these two products in my area. I've searched every other store countless times with no luck. Honestly I dread Walmart trips even for two items but I'm not willing to give up my PB and the Lavash bread is a must for me especially since I haven't eaten sliced bread since I discovered it...it's yummy :)

Chastity

ETA: Liann, thanks for sharing that Jib Jab, very clever and yes very true!
 
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I am not sticking up for Walmart and may get in trouble for saying this but......
I have held a lot of bad retail jobs in my life (flexible hours while in school) so I have a good idea of what different places pay and how they treat their employees. In general most big retail places treat their employees the same (crappy). I think Walmart takes a lot of the negative press because obviously they are the biggest and have the most power. However whether you are talking about clothing retail (Kohl's, JcPenny's ect), home improvement (Home Depot ect) or big box places like Walmart they will pay you the absolute lowest wage they can get away with and the health benefits, if they offer anything, are poor. Your only hope of earning a decent living at those sort of places is get in with the right people so you can move your way up to management. If most of the other retail organizations had the power to do what Walmart does I am sure they would all be doing it. I am generalizing and I realize there are some exceptions. My friends sister in law actually makes a decent living and enjoys working at Walmart. I believe Sheetz gas stations get some positive press for paying their employees a fair wage. However most of those sort of places are not nice places to work. I do not know what can be done really except try to buy local if/when you can afford it.
 
ITA - if you want to make a decent living, retail usually isn't the way to go. I don't only have a problem with Wal Mart's lousy treatment of their employees. If that was the case, I wouldn't work where I do:D. Their "whole package" of business is poor. You may be right - if the other big companies could get away with it, they probably would do it as well.

I do find it interesting that the Wal Marts in China have unions:eek:.

Carrie
 
Another one who does not like Walmart. The local store is very dumpy and only half stocked and does not carry half the brands I use. The main reason I do not like them is because 2 years ago I purchased a Nintendo DS from their .com divison and when my son opened it up on Christmas the screen was cracked internally. I took it back to the store and because the purchase was over 15 days old( bought it 22 days before Christmas) they wanted to refuse exchanging it. I threw a big enough fit that I was not returning it because I did not want it but because it was damaged that after having to call Coporate they exchanged it. What a joke of a return/exchange policy! At least our local store has HORRIBLE/RUDE customer service.
 
I honestly hate going into the store. I mumble obscenetes every time I walk in there. I will have to find another brand of water that I like as much. My boss thinks that they are trying to tell their employees whom to vote for. I had no idea that the company was this bad.
 
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