Re: Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!

"George" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> "Don K" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > "Dennis P. Harris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >
> > > there is no need to shop ANYTHING at walmart.  why support evil?
> >
> > Do you mean that evil store that opened up its profit-sharing
> > program to all its employees in the 70's?
> 
> 
> They were probably thinking about the evil store that drove almost all
> manufacturing (and related support companies/jobs) out of the US. I was in a
> client's office and had time to read a detailed piece about walmarts
> purchasing practices. You are a manufacturer and sell to them. Lets say you
> negotiated a one year firm price. The year is up and you advise them that
> due to higher wage, supply and energy cost that you need to get 4% more.
> They tell you that now you are 14% away from what they want to pay because
> they expect you to lower your price 10% year no matter what.
> 
> You consider that they are the now the biggest corporation in the world and
> who else you can sell to. You comply and meet their price reduction demand.
> So initially you find more efficient ways to make this all work (more
> automation, better process control etc). Next year comes and you need to
> drop your price 10%.because if you don't the world's biggest corporation
> will go somewhere else. You now start lowering wages, dropping benefits,
> hiring illegals and whatever else is necessary to keep going. Eventually you
> close your facilities and go offshore in order to stay in business.

According to Fortune magazine, most manufacturers that do buisness
with Wal-Mart will actually do better, not worse by cutting the
inefficiencies and costs, and lowering prices to the consumer.  It
says that Wal-Mart will even help these buisnesses figure out how to
be more profitable, and still maintain their people and their
productivity.
> 
> 
> >
> > The Biography Channel just did a bit on Sam Walton.
> > The ordinary worker they showed that got a $750,000 check when
> > he retired didn't think WalMart was evil.
> 
> From what I understand that level of profit sharing only applies to a very
> few original workers and is often cited to make them sound warm & fuzzy. I
> understand that current employees get a very, very small fraction of that
> amount.

Actually the profit sharing program in the company hasn't changed at
all.  The people who were in Sam Walton's first stores have larger
profit sharing checks because they have been with the company longer,
not because they made a larger percentage in profit sharing.

k