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are you sure!!! on your opinions???
Now, some facts: (figures are for 2008)
-The U.S. ships raw materials to China and then buys back finished products. To the tune of a $120 BILLION trade deficit (2008). One of China’s largest single customers is Wal-Mart. You would think that didn’t add to your countries financial woes?
Here’s how Wal-Mart effects the local economies of a small town/city:
-All advertising/banking for Wal-Mart is done out of Bentonville, Arkansas. Meaning that instead of a vibrant local economy in these industries a few people in Bentonville profit hugely (this is aside from what people already know…that many small retail outlets suffer when Wally moves into town)
-In the past manufacturers produced a range of products in various price ranges that they thought that retailers could sell to their customers. This was called the ‘push’ system of manufacturing.
-Wal-Mart has perfected the ‘pull’ system. They tell their manufacturers what to make…what they want to sell to you…and at what price point. It has been proven statistically that when Wal-Mart moves into an area, the choice to the consumer usually lessens.
-Wal-Mart has perfected the part time job position. In 2008 the full time wage for a Wal-Mart employee was under $10/hr. Thing is, full time at Wal-Mart is 32 hours. This allows them to legally offer fewer benefits. It also means that a Wal-Mart full time employee is making less than the accepted poverty line.
And guess what…less than a third of Wal-Mart employees are full time. So yes, they employ thousands of people. Of which a good few depend on local food banks to supplement their kitchen larders.
Yup…you can sing the praises of Wal-Mart all you wish.
But here’s the question that puts it all perspective…COULD YOU AFFORD TO WORK FOR THEM??
(I’m guessing not)if that APPLIES TO the USA then Costa Rica does not get 75% of the benefits of what I wrote
wal-mart invested that money because they are here to liberate the ticos of all their disposable income. don’t glorify them; they have only their profit margins in mind when they move into a new territory. ticos are being propagandized to spend, spend, spend and if you don’t have the cash, just put it on your charge card. ka-ching! (for wal-mart!)
I fear the Ticos are helpless against this corporate onslaught. To show people an amazing array of goods which they may not have seen before is to tempt them into the relentless consumer-debt cycle to which most of the West has succumbed.
And I fully understand the power and seductive nature of consumerism as I have been and continue to be a victim. But I can’t help feeling like I am watching a train wreck in slow motion as Costa Rica let’s this destructive system infect its culture more and more. Perhaps a world wide economic catastrophe may stop this but what a cost!I. myself, would rather pay a few extra $$ to someone working in a small family owned business in a more entrepreneurial setting that smiles while they’re helping their customer and has a positive attitude unlike most of the emotionless robots that simply are their to exist that we usually see in the Walmarts and other mega corporate entities we have to deal with here in the U.S.
Walmart will put an end to small town businesses in Costa Rica as it has in the USA and Canada. Small family business cannot compete with their purchasing power. Walmart will position their stores on the out skirts of towns and completely destroy the inner town core.
In ten years you will no longer recognize these communities. All the small business will be gone and I mean all of them.I’m no apologist for Walmart, Home Depot and the others, but I think it not quite accurate to blame them alone for the disintegration of inner town cores. Reflecting on my own observations of Michigan cities (Flint, Pontiac, Saginaw, Bay City, Midland, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor, Detroit and others), their downtown business communities were well on their way down the sewer before any of the big box stores ever established a foothold.
What I think happened instead is that the big box outfits established themselves on the peripheries to meet needs that clearly were no longer being met by the old businesses. They saw opportunities and seized upon them.
And while I, too, would prefer to deal directly with the owner of a small business, someone who really does know their business and has a stake in it, those folks are a dying breed. Not as many people as you think are willing to devote the time and effort and take the financial risks to establish or maintain retail businesses any longer.
It’s interesting . . . We bemoan the demise of the family-owned retail business and the family farm, but no one is beating the drum for the independent, family-owned oil company or even the local independent gas station. Their passings are a reflection of the maturation of their markets which is characterized by increased consolidation among a relatively few players. It’s true in health care, too. Just look at the corporate consolidation of hospitals, nursing homes, labs, suppliers, and physicians in health maintenance organizations.
I’m not defending this march to massification, but I think it important to recognize that it’s a trend throughout the economy in both hemispheres and one that’s not likely to be reversed whether we like it or not.
I’m afraid we can’t beat ’em, so we might as well join ’em.
Well said David! Like many I too prefer to buy local and independent, however those choices are often limited and becoming fewer literally by the day.
My dad was a small business owner and luckily survived the farm crisis from 78-84 but he got lucky and sold and retired before the next wave closed many independent auto parts dealers.
You are correct – it is all part of the cycle of business and it will continue to evolve. If you travel to Bentonville you will see many independent businesses surviving side by side with WalMart and you will also see a slew of luxury cars driven by long time WalMart employees. It is a very wealthy area.
While not all WalMart employees enjoy such luxury and while many of us could NOT afford to work there at below proverty levels – many people do and while I’m sure turnover is high they do at least provide a lot of jobs that keep some people off the dole. Many workes I’ve talked to are retired, spouse has a good job, just need supplemental income, ect.
I prefer Target but then I live in Minneapolis and I’m sure if the layers were peeled back it would not be much different.:D
very good points David and John but there is a chink in your armuot
Home depot is bleeding money and so is Lowes the 2005-2006 revolution on flipping houses has foreclosed 1 in 6 houses in Florida, Nevada and California
and John; Bentonville is not the same as Tampa, FL where there is a 12% unemployment rate or Detroit where there was 1.5 million people living and the last census stated 750,00 and still shrinking
and not even 5% of the Wally workers enjoy the luxery of an SUV, maybe some of the stockholders
the downturn in this economy made Wal-Mart more powerfull and it was not Wal-Mart that made this weak economy
add, substract, divide and multiply are the basics of math
800 jobs added means 800 jobs do not exist in the local economy,since they have been absorbed from the workforce
PS: I have a son working for Wal-Mart and it ain’t pretty
Consolidation of wealth is not a good thing in any way. Mammoth businesses become way too powerful and end up taking everything away from societies and focusing the wealth and power into a few hands.
This consolidation of wealth and power is the chief evil in the world today. And I don’t believe people have evolved or ever will evolve into creatures who thrive in mega sized communities. Our species developed in small cooperative groups, packs, if you will, where each member knew every other member.
What other mammal forms societies consisting of millions of members? How is it even possible to feel a part of a group when you do not and cannot know more than a fraction of a fraction of a percentage point of the other members?
Walmarts, Exon and the U.S. government are examples of insane and dysfunctional organizations. I conclude that a belief that things are going well for humanity has to the result of brainwashing.
Well—it will ALL be over in December 2012 so no use dwelling on what a ROTTEN world we live in much longer…:lol:
[quote=”maravilla”]the world is rotten to the core. it won’t matter who is in office.[/quote]
I was referring to the Mayan calender and the end of the world in 2012…not “who’s in office” :lol::lol::lol:
The first time my wife and I were in Costa Rica was 5 years ago, as we traveled from community to community we were reminded of North American retail communities of the 1950’s and 60’s. One day I said to my wife do you know what would destroy these communities and she said without hesitation ‘Walmart’ and I said exactly.
Yes David I agree with you that it was more than Walmart that caused the demise to small retail in towns throughout North America but I think Costa Rica is different today.
Walmart is a well oiled, finely tuned corporate machine with unlimited finances. I think that if we did a comparison we would find that Walmarts gross sales in North American would exceed Costa Rica’s GNP.
The poor unsuspecting Costa Rican retailers are about to be steam rolled by corporate USA and they won’t even know what hit them.
The 800 jobs that Walmart creates are but a small fraction of the jobs that will disappear as business after business closes there doors.
When a small business owner makes a profit the funds stay in the community, when Walmart makes a profit the funds go back to corporate America.
What disturbs me is the thought of small communities like Turrialba, Puriscal and San Isidro to name a few. I try to envision them ten years from now with a Walmart sitting on their outskirts. When the central commercial core of a community dies so does the social aspect as well.
Maybe Scott will archive these posts on Walmart and we can re visit them ten years from now.in my small town in colorado, wal-mart and home depot single-handedly put at least a dozen long-standing, family-owned businesses out of business, thus changing the entire landscape of our community. they will do the same thing here. soon it won’t matter where on the planet we live — there will be the same anchor stores. ugh
Just in case the primitive Mayan calendar means nothing and we find ourselves still doing business as usual, which is to say, becoming further enslaved and otherwise dominated by the wealthy few, I think it is a good idea to be aware of who the enemy is and what tools they are employing to their evil ends.
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