CSNbbs

The proper way to arouse a libertarian is of course invoke Coolidge.

Number of businesses destroyed:
Department of Defense 10,000 All in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
People's Liberation Army 100,000 All in US
Walmart 200,000 All in US

(10-17-2019 10:52 AM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]Number of businesses destroyed:
Department of Defense 10,000 All in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
People's Liberation Army 100,000 All in US
Walmart 200,000 All in US

It's not a zero sum game. It's possible to be enormous and wildly successful AND lead to the creation of more overall jobs.

(10-17-2019 05:31 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-17-2019 10:52 AM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]Number of businesses destroyed:
Department of Defense 10,000 All in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
People's Liberation Army 100,000 All in US
Walmart 200,000 All in US

It's not a zero sum game. It's possible to be enormous and wildly successful AND lead to the creation of more overall jobs.

Walmart has destroyed a lot of small towns by wiping out the entrepeneurial class.

(10-17-2019 07:21 PM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-17-2019 05:31 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-17-2019 10:52 AM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]Number of businesses destroyed:
Department of Defense 10,000 All in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
People's Liberation Army 100,000 All in US
Walmart 200,000 All in US

It's not a zero sum game. It's possible to be enormous and wildly successful AND lead to the creation of more overall jobs.

Walmart has destroyed a lot of small towns by wiping out the entrepeneurial class.

I disagree. It has destroyed the opportunity for sub standard entrepreneurs to stay in business but has caused several other to get better. Start up retail had a horrible survival rate before Walmart. The only segment I will definitely give you is small grocers, but even with that, and despite the fact that we have Walmarts everywhere here, our small, regional chain is still doing quite well. Not everyone wants to big box it to grocery shop.

(10-17-2019 07:34 PM)banker Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-17-2019 07:21 PM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-17-2019 05:31 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-17-2019 10:52 AM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]Number of businesses destroyed:
Department of Defense 10,000 All in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
People's Liberation Army 100,000 All in US
Walmart 200,000 All in US

It's not a zero sum game. It's possible to be enormous and wildly successful AND lead to the creation of more overall jobs.

Walmart has destroyed a lot of small towns by wiping out the entrepeneurial class.

I disagree. It has destroyed the opportunity for sub standard entrepreneurs to stay in business but has caused several other to get better. Start up retail had a horrible survival rate before Walmart. The only segment I will definitely give you is small grocers, but even with that, and despite the fact that we have Walmarts everywhere here, our small, regional chain is still doing quite well. Not everyone wants to big box it to grocery shop.

My Dad used to work with those entrepreneurs. You have the giant big box locating in town A and destroying most of the small local retail businesses in towns B, C and D that were thriving for years or even decades. And wipes out the small retail businesses in town A. The only businesses that survive specialize in something that Walmart doesn't do like arts and crafts. Net result is that people who want to start their own business can't do anything but restaurants. So talented, ambitious people leave the small towns, accelerating a decline that has been going on for a while. You've got a single Walmart manager and mostly a bunch of minimum wage jobs.

(10-17-2019 07:38 PM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]My Dad used to work with those entrepreneurs. You have the giant big box locating in town A and destroying most of the small local retail businesses in towns B, C and D that were thriving for years or even decades. And wipes out the small retail businesses in town A. The only businesses that survive specialize in something that Walmart doesn't do like arts and crafts. Net result is that people who want to start their own business can't do anything but restaurants. So talented, ambitious people leave the small towns, accelerating a decline that has been going on for a while. You've got a single Walmart manager and mostly a bunch of minimum wage jobs.

I disagree unless we're talking about tiny towns where Wal-Mart is practically the only store (that would be a small minority of stores). And it's not like Wal-Mart doesn't have competition in this space. If you're talking about servicing the sticks Dollar General is right there fighting for it too as is Food Lion. I bolded the part where I thought your brush was so wide it was impossible to stay between the lines. I straight up call shenanigans on the bold part.

(10-18-2019 04:40 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-17-2019 07:38 PM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]My Dad used to work with those entrepreneurs. You have the giant big box locating in town A and destroying most of the small local retail businesses in towns B, C and D that were thriving for years or even decades. And wipes out the small retail businesses in town A. The only businesses that survive specialize in something that Walmart doesn't do like arts and crafts. Net result is that people who want to start their own business can't do anything but restaurants. So talented, ambitious people leave the small towns, accelerating a decline that has been going on for a while. You've got a single Walmart manager and mostly a bunch of minimum wage jobs.

I disagree unless we're talking about tiny towns where Wal-Mart is practically the only store (that would be a small minority of stores). And it's not like Wal-Mart doesn't have competition in this space. If you're talking about servicing the sticks Dollar General is right there fighting for it too as is Food Lion. I bolded the part where I thought your brush was so wide it was impossible to stay between the lines. I straight up call shenanigans on the bold part.

That would be all of Georgia except for Atlanta, Macon, Columbus, Savannah and Augusta. And all of central Texas between Houston, Dallas, Waco, Austin, San Antonio and Corpus Christi (with maybe the exception of Victoria and Bryan).

Walmart is a retail killer.

(10-18-2019 04:45 PM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-18-2019 04:40 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-17-2019 07:38 PM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]My Dad used to work with those entrepreneurs. You have the giant big box locating in town A and destroying most of the small local retail businesses in towns B, C and D that were thriving for years or even decades. And wipes out the small retail businesses in town A. The only businesses that survive specialize in something that Walmart doesn't do like arts and crafts. Net result is that people who want to start their own business can't do anything but restaurants. So talented, ambitious people leave the small towns, accelerating a decline that has been going on for a while. You've got a single Walmart manager and mostly a bunch of minimum wage jobs.

I disagree unless we're talking about tiny towns where Wal-Mart is practically the only store (that would be a small minority of stores). And it's not like Wal-Mart doesn't have competition in this space. If you're talking about servicing the sticks Dollar General is right there fighting for it too as is Food Lion. I bolded the part where I thought your brush was so wide it was impossible to stay between the lines. I straight up call shenanigans on the bold part.

That would be all of Georgia except for Atlanta, Macon, Columbus, Savannah and Augusta. And all of central Texas between Houston, Dallas, Waco, Austin, San Antonio and Corpus Christi (with maybe the exception of Victoria and Bryan).

Walmart is a retail killer.

We disagree wildly on the scope of a small town in the sticks. I genuinely mean a town that had almost no retail before Wal-Mart arrived. Laurens, SC. Brevard, NC. Waynesville, NC. Places that tend to ultimately welcome Wal-Mart because Wally World carries items they need that nobody else was willing to carry locally before. I chose those three locations based on the actual Wally World map. I don't think you were going to find some amazing Mom and Pop tapestry quilt of retail in Laurens or Waynesville before Wally World got there. To make it more GA-ish for you and also keep the Wally World location bit going: Toccoa, GA. Elberton, GA. Hartwell, GA. Cleveland, GA.

Amazon is going to be a bigger retail killer than Wal-Mart in the future IMO.

Sam Walton's original Walton's Five and Dime Store in Bentonville, Arkansas, now serving as The Walmart Museum, seen in September 2006*

* Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart


At one point Walmart was a mom-and-pop store. Should Mr. Walton have stopped pursuing success once his business reached a certain size or revenue figure?

I wonder if those small mom-and-pop businesses which suffered due to Walmart's competition would have stopped their growth once they reached a certain size or annual revenue goal.

Is someone alleging that Wal-Mart engage in anti-compettive practices? Such as selling goods below cost to drive competitors out of business, then raising prices after the competitors leave? I've never heard of them doing that. The only reason Wal-Mart succeeds is because they provide customers what they want - low prices (although in my town, Wal-Mart is more expensive than the other grocers).

Sure, Wal-Mart's products are cheaply made and they're sold by people with no knowledge of the products. But that's what some people want! I don't want top-quality *everything* because I don't have enough money to afford top quality in every purchase.

Everyone wants a luxury SUV sold to them by a top-rate expert engineer who can educate you with a smile. But not everyone can afford a luxury SUV or top-level service. I'd rather have the option to buy a Kia off the rack than be forced to choose between owning a car or downsizing to a 3 bedroom house.

(10-18-2019 04:55 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: [ -> ]Amazon is going to be a bigger retail killer than Wal-Mart in the future IMO.

Maybe. But Amazon is getting killed in the grocery biz right now. They're realizing groceries is a lot harder business than they imagined, and it doesn't fit to Amazon's strengths.

Amazon is figuring out that paying $13 billion for a failing grocer (Whole Foods) is not the way to get an edge in a business where 2% margins are considered pretty good.

(10-18-2019 05:06 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]Is someone alleging that Wal-Mart engage in anti-compettive practices? Such as selling goods below cost to drive competitors out of business, then raising prices after the competitors leave? I've never heard of them doing that. The only reason Wal-Mart succeeds is because they provide customers what they want - low prices (although in my town, Wal-Mart is more expensive than the other grocers).

Sure, Wal-Mart's products are cheaply made and they're sold by people with no knowledge of the products. But that's what some people want! I don't want top-quality *everything* because I don't have enough money to afford top quality in every purchase.

Everyone wants a luxury SUV sold to them by a top-rate expert engineer who can educate you with a smile. But not everyone can afford a luxury SUV or top-level service. I'd rather have the option to buy a Kia off the rack than be forced to choose between owning a car or downsizing to a 3 bedroom house.

They don't do anything illegal that I'm aware of, but they do compete aggressively and respond immediately to retail competitors in the vicinity. I watched Rite-Aid prepare to open up next to a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. The Wally World had a pharmacy, but no drive through. Before Rite-Aid could finish framing their building Wally World knocked out a side wall redid the parking and repainted the exterior to add a pharmacy drive through and 10 new bright orange pickup spots and they painted the entire end of the building the same bright orange as the pickup color. Rite Aid never moved into the building. It's still vacant to this day despite being brand new.

(10-18-2019 05:10 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-18-2019 04:55 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: [ -> ]Amazon is going to be a bigger retail killer than Wal-Mart in the future IMO.

Maybe. But Amazon is getting killed in the grocery biz right now. They're realizing groceries is a lot harder business than they imagined, and it doesn't fit to Amazon's strengths.

Amazon is figuring out that paying $13 billion for a failing grocer (Whole Foods) is not the way to get an edge in a business where 2% margins are considered pretty good.

Walmart is now filling your grocery orders online and you just drive to the parking lot and they bring your schit out to you for free for any order over 30 bucks. They saw Amazons threat and responded pretty well IMO.

(10-18-2019 04:50 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-18-2019 04:45 PM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-18-2019 04:40 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-17-2019 07:38 PM)bullet Wrote: [ -> ]My Dad used to work with those entrepreneurs. You have the giant big box locating in town A and destroying most of the small local retail businesses in towns B, C and D that were thriving for years or even decades. And wipes out the small retail businesses in town A. The only businesses that survive specialize in something that Walmart doesn't do like arts and crafts. Net result is that people who want to start their own business can't do anything but restaurants. So talented, ambitious people leave the small towns, accelerating a decline that has been going on for a while. You've got a single Walmart manager and mostly a bunch of minimum wage jobs.

I disagree unless we're talking about tiny towns where Wal-Mart is practically the only store (that would be a small minority of stores). And it's not like Wal-Mart doesn't have competition in this space. If you're talking about servicing the sticks Dollar General is right there fighting for it too as is Food Lion. I bolded the part where I thought your brush was so wide it was impossible to stay between the lines. I straight up call shenanigans on the bold part.

That would be all of Georgia except for Atlanta, Macon, Columbus, Savannah and Augusta. And all of central Texas between Houston, Dallas, Waco, Austin, San Antonio and Corpus Christi (with maybe the exception of Victoria and Bryan).

Walmart is a retail killer.

We disagree wildly on the scope of a small town in the sticks. I genuinely mean a town that had almost no retail before Wal-Mart arrived. Laurens, SC. Brevard, NC. Waynesville, NC. Places that tend to ultimately welcome Wal-Mart because Wally World carries items they need that nobody else was willing to carry locally before. I chose those three locations based on the actual Wally World map. I don't think you were going to find some amazing Mom and Pop tapestry quilt of retail in Laurens or Waynesville before Wally World got there. To make it more GA-ish for you and also keep the Wally World location bit going: Toccoa, GA. Elberton, GA. Hartwell, GA. Cleveland, GA.

A lot of these places had locally owned 5&10s, either independent or franchised like Ben Franklin, along with the quilt shop and a gift shop. Even the local hardware stores are impacted. In Texas it would be towns like Port Lavaca, Palacios, Cuero, Gonzales, Goliad, Schulenburg, El Campo, Halletsville, Luling, Columbus. People didn't drive to Houston or Austin or San Antonio or Victoria for normal shopping.

(10-18-2019 06:52 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote: [ -> ]

(10-18-2019 05:06 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]Is someone alleging that Wal-Mart engage in anti-compettive practices? Such as selling goods below cost to drive competitors out of business, then raising prices after the competitors leave? I've never heard of them doing that. The only reason Wal-Mart succeeds is because they provide customers what they want - low prices (although in my town, Wal-Mart is more expensive than the other grocers).

Sure, Wal-Mart's products are cheaply made and they're sold by people with no knowledge of the products. But that's what some people want! I don't want top-quality *everything* because I don't have enough money to afford top quality in every purchase.

Everyone wants a luxury SUV sold to them by a top-rate expert engineer who can educate you with a smile. But not everyone can afford a luxury SUV or top-level service. I'd rather have the option to buy a Kia off the rack than be forced to choose between owning a car or downsizing to a 3 bedroom house.

They don't do anything illegal that I'm aware of, but they do compete aggressively and respond immediately to retail competitors in the vicinity. I watched Rite-Aid prepare to open up next to a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. The Wally World had a pharmacy, but no drive through. Before Rite-Aid could finish framing their building Wally World knocked out a side wall redid the parking and repainted the exterior to add a pharmacy drive through and 10 new bright orange pickup spots and they painted the entire end of the building the same bright orange as the pickup color. Rite Aid never moved into the building. It's still vacant to this day despite being brand new.

They were certainly pretty shady in certain ways. Their approach (I don't know if it still holds) is to fight every lawsuit as nasty as possible and try to outspend the other side, regardless of merit. I ran into that approach with a Walmart exec who was on the board of a different company doing illegal activities.