i dislike wal-mart because they are hurting america. I guess its all capitalism, but i'd rather not support a company that strongarms their suppliers into selling product to them on wal-mart's terms and sometimes even below cost. Plenty of people i know say "yeah, i know i shouldn't shop there, but ITS SO CHEAP".

thats usually how terms are set aren't they? Doesn't the seller of the goods typically dictate the price? (reasonable to the market of course). I could say "i'm not paying that" and go elsewhere, but wallmart's answer seems to be "sell to us at X rate or we'll blacklist your entire brand and run you out of business"

That is a bit of myth, I work with many distribution companies and WalMart doesn't strong arm as much as they fall over themselves to discount to get WalMart to carry their products. Some companies like Proctor and Gamble refuse to discount to WalMart or even let WalMart carry products that WalMart dearly wants to.

The entire supermarket and retail industry operates on a blended cost model. About half of all products in a given grocer are at or below cost. They are there to get you to buy other, higher margin product. WalMart and their suppliers and competitors operate based on the demands and buying habits on their customers.

Walmart does dictate supply chain management standards (EDI and RFID), but that is in the long run better for the industry on whole, though Walmart in this case externalized some of the inital cost to their suppliers.

The fact of the matter is the WalMart carries below average to average products employing below average people paid below average prices (on average). Not everyone can be above average and WalMart and other discounters don't make up the majority of retail.

One way to flip the argument is do you want fewer products at higher prices employing fewer people? Or do you have more buying power today than 30 years ago? Isn't Walmart and the relative prices just a reflection of that? It is good that people can buy more ultimately. Let's put it this way, if it wasn't for the price drop of basic foods and services, I'd not be typing this message right now because all of my resources would be tied up maintain a basic level of subsistence (food and housing).

Happy Birthday, btw. Have a drink or three (lunch is a good time to start).

hmm, interesting. I've heard it spun in a much more negative tone what they've been doing, particualarly in the gallon of pickles article. there was quite a bit in there about wal mart forcing suppliers to "streamline" just to keep up with their pricing (bad for the people who get laid off, but ultimately better for the business itself) so I can see how it goes both ways a bit. still i kind of have a distaste for them anyway.

oh, i have a total distaste for them and won't shop there. but then again, i dislike starbucks and they have one of the best, if not the best, policies surrounding fair trade there is. i recognize that in the end, my dislike is more for brand, quality, and service issues, not because they are inherently evil or doing anything that is wrong economically.

the whole streamlining thing is EDI which we do a lot in. funny thing is that it may have distroyed quite a few data entry and warehouse jobs here and there, but it created a lot of tech jobs for those who sell, install and maintain those systems. in the end, it will reduce spoilage, theft, improve availabity of products and drive prices down. everyone wins in that case as the customer gets cheaper and better goods and business will see better margin allowing them to expand their business expontially to the human capital cost.