Wal-Mart greeters…

[Ozz]

They provide good jobs to people in need, nobody is forcing them to work there, they provide inexpensive products people buy and use.
It is called the free market. If you don't like to shop there, go somewhere else. That is also a choice we have in a free market society.
Evil schemval

[Clemson1881]

Fair enough Ozz.

[richfaa]

quote:Originally posted by Parts Ed

Rich, your job is on my "bucket list"

\You mean you would like to work with cartoon characters and have lunch with snow white and tinker bell..It is a great job.

[junglejim]

Be honest Rich- That was on your bucket list, wasn't it, to eat lunch with Tinker Bell. Hahaha lol !

[RickW]

quote:Originally posted by DQDick

It's not just Walmart, but I beg to differ on their effect on retailers. When I was mayor Levis' wanted the small town feel for their commercials so they filmed a couple in Council Grove in front of historic buildings. They wouldn't sell their most popular jeans to our local men's store, however, because of contracts they had with Walmart, Sears, Penny's and others so then the kids bought in the big town and our men's store died. Same thing with our shoe store only that was Nike and Addis etc. Then people have to go to the big town to get men's underwear and shoes so while they're there they buy food and get their prescriptions filled and now you have to drive 40 miles one way for anything you want. Not because our local merchants were greedy or poor operators, just because the big boys forced them out.

As a fellow elected official I can tell you my allegiance is to all citizens of the community not just the ones who supported me in the last election. I have upset my share of supporters. It is even safe to call some of the former supporters. But most in the end have realized I always do what I feel is best for the whole community in end. Wal-Mart and the other retailers that followed have been positive for our community. The retailers here prior to Wal-Mart and still here today are not the same as before. Why? Because they adapt to the changing market place. Even if Wal-Mart did not come they would still not be the same retailer they were 10 years ago. We now have more citizen shopping in our community instead of spending money in a different community.

Consumers are funny. Different things drive their buying decisions. Impulse, price, quality, brand loyalty and store loyalty just to name a few. There is no magic formula. Wal-Mart has picked on that works for them but it does not attract every consumer. Personally Wal-Mart is not my first choice for most items but for a few items it is.

As for the original topic it appears the greeters are a store decision. We still have them. It was a job my grandmother loved.

[Ozz]

quote:Originally posted by Clemson1881

Fair enough Ozz.

Sorry, got a little carried away, we all look at things differently, that what makes us a diverse bunch of nomads.
Ozz

[Waynem]

Well, first, a little "lite" on the subject.

Welcome to Walmart - Todd Oliver

Second, we spent 3 years i Japan and over 90% of the stores had greeters. If it were raining, they would hand you a plastic umbrella bag. They would assist in answering questions, but we didn't speak Japanese that well and it was sometimes funny. And not only did they greet you, in Japanese when you came in, welcoming you to the store, but the also said thank you when you left the store. No exceptions. it was a nice touch.

It is the economical times that Walmart is looking at. At the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, based on a 40 hour week, and 2000 employees, that amounts to $580,000 a week, and $30,160,000 a year.

I'll miss the greeters, but I'll still shop there, and while I'm there if I see any suspicious activity I'll notify someone. However, the do have the security cameras.

[simonsrf]

quote:Originally posted by Ozz

They provide good jobs to people in need, nobody is forcing them to work there, they provide inexpensive products people buy and use.
It is called the free market. If you don't like to shop there, go somewhere else. That is also a choice we have in a free market society.
Evil schemval

I agree with Ozz here whole-heartedly. When the name brand grocery stores (Safeway, Albertsons, Kroeger, Smith etc.) can sell their products for the same price as Walmart, I'll be the first one in their checkout line. ie: today, Kraft salad dressing at Safeway was $3.46, at Walmart the exact same bottle was $1.68. I have no reason to feed the fat-cats at Safeway!

[DQDick]

I don't argue with that, but when two Walmarts went in, each forty miles away we soon lost most of our local businesses. Not just due to competition, but because our local businesses weren't allowed to buy the most popular products that Walmart had coming in under contract. If we had gotten a Walmart that would be different. We got nothing except long drives for underwear and lost property and sales tax revenue.

[simonsrf]

quote:Originally posted by DQDick

I don't argue with that, but when two Walmarts went in, each forty miles away we soon lost most of our local businesses. Not just due to competition, but because our local businesses weren't allowed to buy the most popular products that Walmart had coming in under contract. If we had gotten a Walmart that would be different. We got nothing except long drives for underwear and lost property and sales tax revenue.

Dick,

I think the double whammy of two Walmarts 40 miles apart is tough for any small town business. If they lost their businesses, most likely they refused to adapt to a changing market. I believe the last statistic says that the average distance between the Walmart stores in the US is 60 miles.

I notice new businesses springing up near Walmart stores. Seems that stores like Target don't seem to find them as competition, and they still are in business and thriving! This economy we now live in requires us all to watch our pennies.

Your local businesses could have bought under contract, they could also have moved their stores, they could sell other competitive products, or they could reduce their prices and take less profit.

Walmart management is not stupid, they are a legitimate American competitive business that works within our fair market system, they buy competitively to give their customers the very best prices. They are also the largest American employer, they employ over 2 million people (I'll miss the greeters), they are also the world's 18th largest public corporation.

From Wikipedia (Walmart)
There have been several studies on the economic impact of Walmart on small towns and local businesses, jobs, and taxpayers. In one, Kenneth Stone, a Professor of Economics at Iowa State University, found that some small towns can lose almost half of their retail trade within ten years of a Wal-Mart store opening.However, in another study, he compared the changes to what small town shops had faced in the past — including the development of the railroads, the advent of the Sears Roebuck catalog, as well as the arrival of shopping malls — and concluded that shop owners who adapt to changes in the retail market can thrive after Wal-Mart arrives. A later study in collaboration with Mississippi State University showed that there are "both positive and negative impacts on existing stores in the area where the new supercenter locates."

I don't hear any talk about how Amazon has put small business owners out of business.

[Clemson1881]

Wal-Mart can sell cheaper because the American taxpayer is paying their employees for them. I will give Wal-Mart management credit for figuring out and taking advantage of the system. But the public needs to wise up. What you pay at the register is only the beginning of the cost of doing business there. They train their in store human resource people to advise their employees that have the audicitiy of asking for above minimum wages after years of service to go down and sign up for government assistance. Now to be fair on the other end some businesses do not do try hard enough to keep costs down too. But as I said in an earlier post, all you have to do is do a little searching for the true nature of WM's business practices and you can form your opinion then. WM has lost their way, and is not an ethical business in my opinion. Happens to a lot of companies when the founders pass on sadly.

[priceml]

When I was mayor Levis' wanted the small town feel for their commercials so they filmed a couple in Council Grove in front of historic buildings. They wouldn't sell their most popular jeans to our local men's store, however, because of contracts they had with Walmart, Sears, Penny's and others so then the kids bought in the big town and our men's store died.

The W/M in my area dosen`t even sell Levi`s I thinl it`s because they are too liberal!!!

[DQDick]

I don't hear any talk about how Amazon has put small business owners out of business.
[/quote]

Buying under contract wasn't an option. I talked to executives at Nike and Levis and both confirmed that their contract with the big box stores precluded them selling to individual outlets any product that was "Hot". They could, however, buy the crap that wasn't selling.
As for Amazon, since it's an 80 mile round trip to buy anything from here, guess where the 5,000 folks in this county do most of their shopping. We shop on the net. The proof of that is that UPS has added one driver out here, Fedex didn't even used to come and now their here morning and afternoon and DHL wasn't even heard of and now comes by several times a week. You are correct, we can adapt.

[Waynem]

I have bought several things from Amazon because the price was right.

[simonsrf]

quote:Originally posted by Waynem

I have bought several things from Amazon because the price was right.

It really is hard to beat the great customer service that Amazon gives to their customers. I've had a couple of problems, but they took care of them easily with just a phone call.

I wonder if they have ever considered greeters. :-)

[ols1932]

My brother-in-law was a greeter on the graveyard shift at Wal-Mart in Decatur, TX when Wal-Mart cut back on their greeters. He was moved to the day shift. Wal-Mart has had to cut back just like the rest of us. Economy!

Orv

[DQDick]

Yes, their concerned about a drop in US sales, but here's their four quarter results: Wal-Mart posted net income of $6.06 billion, or $1.70 per share, in the quarter ended Jan. 31. That compares with $4.76 billion, or $1.25 per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 2.4% to $116.3 billion. Net sales, excluding membership and other income, increased 2.5% to $115.6 billion. Seems like if you really cared about keeping the economy moving you could have keep Grandma at the door. After all, they only made 11/4 billion a quarter more than last year!