I hate Walmart haters.
Walmart is no different than Target or Kmart. They just got bigger faster and 'won'. If Kmart or Target could have 5000 stores, they would do. You think apple is gonna say "We are reaching 50% of the smart phone market, we should stop selling phones, we dont want to get to big".
no one complains about Star Bucks 5000 stores.
Everyone just likes picking on the big dog. Exxon, Walmart.. and now Apple, your turn will come. Biggest = target on your back.
I hate the people who say WAlmart doesn't pay a living wage. First off their avg pay is like $10-13 hour, which is way above MIN WAGE. OH, what's min wage? That's the govt mandated MIN WAGE. Even if they paid that, that's legal. Stocking shelves and saying "welcome to walmart" isn't a $60K/yr job. And what about Mcdonalds, Target, Subway and 50000 other companies that actually pay min wage? Hello?
Next, why do people think everyone should have a 200K house and 2 new cars in the driveway? If you make min wage $20, a burger would cost $20 and everyone else would get the equal raise and the $20/hour employee would be in the same boat.
The reality is that everyone who earns above min wage is actually competing in a 'free market' for their salary and the employer chooses to pay more to get/keep you. If your at min wage, your at a price floor. If your making 60K/yr, its cuz of your skills and you have to EARN the 60K vs just being given min wage for being a warm body.
My next fav saying "Walmart makes billions, they should...."
Walmart's market capitalization is X billion (lets say 100 billion for argument). That means investors choose to hold the share at X value. For a company that has X billion invested in it, it has to return 10%, or say "10 billion/yr" or why else would people invest in it? U can earn 5% in a safe govt bond, so a business has to make more for the risk. People talk about "oh they make billions, so they should spend more $ on X". Well what about the investors? They are risking their money for a return. The employee is just there for a job, they dont own the company.
Companies exist for the investors, not for the employees to get rich. If u dont like it, open up your own company and pay everyone 400K/yr, and see how that goes. No one has a right to a job. People invested their own money to start these companies.
Also, when u see 78 yr old Bertha working at walmart as a greeter, who else would give her a job? She's able to work flexible hours and supplement her social security income. No one else would give her a job.
This is the sanest post I've read regard the knee-jerk hatred of WalMart.
It's capitalism. Get used to it. "Minimum wage" is meant for high school/college kids, retirees, or homemakers to earn some extra scratch part-time. It should NEVER be considered a "living wage" for a single adult, let alone a family. If you actually intended minimum wage to provide for a family, it would have to be $40-50k per year in most places. That would be $19-24/hour. What do you think labor costs like that would do to the consumer price index?
If you are trying to feed a family on minimum wage, then you need to get vocational training ASAP to get a better paying position. It also bears repeating that NO ONE IS EVER FORCED TO TAKE A WALMART JOB. Don't like the wages? Quit or walk out of the interview. Are they the only company hiring in your community? Then move, start your own business, or take the WalMart position until something better comes along or until you can finish some 18 month vocational training course. They do NOT owe you a "living wage." WalMart doesn't owe you ANYTHING. You take the job, you accept the conditions of employment.
FWIW, the WalMart I occasionally shop at has excellent parking lot security--two guards in a well-marked security vehicle circle the parking lot like sharks every second the place is open. So I call BS on the claim that WalMarts are "dangerous". That assertion feeds an elitist, racist stereotype.
WalMart is efficient and uses economy of scale to defeat competition. There is no indication that they "jack up" prices once the Mom & Pops have bit the dust. They continue delivering a huge volume of cheap consumer goods for the lowest possible price. If Mom & Pop can't offer better service, a competitive selection, or any other compelling reason for someone to shop with them, then they're toast. Sorry. So were the buggy whip manufacturers once Henry Ford's contraptions began filling the roads.
By the way, Mom & Pop are pretty much toast if KMart or Target come to town as well.
I am GLAD Apple is selling their line at WalMart. More money for Apple = more cash for R&D and design = better products for me. Also, if a lower income person wants to save his hard earned cash after seeing an iPhone 4 at his local WalMart, that's great as well. I would want everyone to have the great utility, productivity, and sheer enjoyment of using an Apple product.
Steve Jobs may be very left of center politically, but at least he understands free market capitalism, which is more than I can say for the vast majority of lefties I have ever spoken with (or read posts from @ MR). Apple is a company, and the most noble thing it can do as a corporate entity is MAKE MONEY--for its shareholders, for its employees, for its R&D/design professionals, and for Uncle Sam (in the form of taxes)--and selling one of their finest products through a retail partner who has 5,000+ outlets and second-to-none supply chain logistics is in EVERYONE'S best interest.
