Author Topic: Anyone following the Walmart Unionization in Canada? (Read 3683 times)

Lizking · « **Reply #60 on:** February 10, 2005, 07:57:42 PM »

Airhead, of the 35,000 SKU's that we carry as an ACE Hardware, Walmart carries around 20,000 of the same SKU; a Lowes or Home Depot will have close to 30,000 of the same SKU. Of course one of our advantages is that we have greater depth in each product line, but what allows us to grow is service, knowledge and good business practices. We took the hardware store over, for instance, from an actual Mom and Pop who were losing their bellybutton because they did not provide service, their pricing was way too high, and they paid too little attention to the product mix.

Walmart-1.4 miles away, Lowes-.5 miles away, and sales are up 10% over last year, 20% over 2 years ago and 30% over 3 years ago.

edit-population of the town is 5-6,000, BTW.

ygsmilo · « **Reply #61 on:** February 10, 2005, 08:04:37 PM »

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Originally posted by rpm
Nuke, the problem is WalMart is a preditory retailer. They are almost singlehandedly responsable for the destruction of small town America. Let's take my local WalMart SuperCenter as an example.

Prior to WalMart, there were dry goods, hardware and stationary stores in 4 small towns in my county. Then WalMart moved in. They undercut the prices of the small Mom & Pop's and drove them out of business. All the while running "Buy American and save American jobs" ad campaign. Now there is no choice in these 4 small towns except to drive to the county seat and buy from WalMart who has raised their prices because there is no competition. They also have stopped buying American to save American jobs.

What happened to these former Mom & Pop small business owners? They are now working as greeters at miminum wage for WalMart, adding insult to injury.

Before WalMart, if you had a problem with an item you could return it with no problem. Now with WalMart, if you return too many items, you are blacklisted and they will not accept any returns fom you. Nevermind if the items are made poorly in Sri Lanka or China. You take what they give you and live with it.
Did I mention they search your basket on the way out, automaticly assuming you are a thief?

Granted, this is only the story of what has happened in my county. But it is repeated over and over again across America. WalMart is evil, pure and simple. WalMart.

Crap, I can't hardly stand it, RPM and I agree on something.

I have seen Walmart destroy small business western Kansas. And the one thing that really tells the strory is when WalMart began selling gasoline. Its a loss leader to them. Not only has it hurt the mom and pop stores but the local conveinece store is in the middle now.

I have been rereading alot of Adam Smith lately, kind of makes ya wonder.

Nash · « **Reply #62 on:** February 10, 2005, 08:07:51 PM »

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Originally posted by Lizking
edit-population of the town is 5-6,000, BTW.

Holy! I bet there's the odd time that you go entire days without seeing anyone at all. At least that's how I picture it. Anyways...

I can't believe people are actually defending Walmart.

For one thing... Only with the relative anonymity that comes with the internet will people even admit to shopping there. For two, they are arses. For three, they sell cheap crap.

It's not an attack on our beloved capitalism to call a spade a spade. They just suck, that's all.

Lizking · « **Reply #63 on:** February 10, 2005, 08:25:04 PM »

I am not defending Walmart; I don't shop there, and hate them with a passion, I am defending the ingenuity and ability of small business owners to kick their ass, or at least make a good living in their shadow.

Lizking · « **Reply #64 on:** February 10, 2005, 08:51:14 PM »

A town of 5-6,000 with a regional draw of 35,000, that is, Nash, located 60 miles North of Houston on a recreational lake. We are not a little store, either, with 10,000sqft under AC and 15,000sqft of garden center.

In San Antonio, a little 5,000sqft hardware store doubled their sales when a Home Depot opened across the street. Conversely, a 5 location chain with stores from 6 to 10,000sqft was forced out of busines when the Home Depot located in their small towns (pop. 5,000 to 15,000). It is all about how you run your business, not who you do business against.

Lizking · « **Reply #65 on:** February 10, 2005, 08:52:48 PM »

Oh yeah, FYI, we pay a little above minimum wage with no benefits other than a great working environment.

rpm · « **Reply #66 on:** February 10, 2005, 09:06:24 PM »

Lizking, you list Austin as your location. You likely have a much larger metropolitan population to draw from than the 50,000 my county has. You also say you are an ACE franchise. That's hardly Mom & Pop. You have a national chain to support your advertising and your inventory costs. I'm talking about non-franchise, non-subsidised inventory priced retailers.

You speak the truth in the fact customer service will draw a certain amount of dedicated consumers. My local WalMart has 1 isle of hardware with 1 employee to work it. They have a larger sections of paint, lighting, automotive accessories, ect. But if I need a PVC fitting I'm SOL. That's why the local lumber yards have stayed in business here. But the headline in this week's newspaper was Lowe's to announce local store opening! What was not printed in the paper was when ACE Hardware closed. Be glad you have the population to support your store, you are one of the lucky ones. WalMart is turning plenty of small towns into ghost towns.

I'd rather have 2 sisters working in a bordello than a brother that worked at WalMart.

Lizking · « **Reply #67 on:** February 10, 2005, 09:22:39 PM »

Our store is in Livingston not Austin. Of the 8 ACE stores in Austin, 6 will be out of business soon, and the other 2 are doing well. There are no more independant hardware/lumberyards, and haven't been for the last 20+ years. They all belong to one coop or another.

PVC fittings are a draw, not a money maker. For instance, we reset the PVC aisle and doubled the SKUs, same with brass. What Walmart, and to a lesser extent, Home Depot do is stock mainly "A" product, with a little "B" product. We stock "A", "B" and "C" product, which means our lines have greater depth.

It is, once again, how you do business, not who you do business against.

Airhead · « **Reply #68 on:** February 10, 2005, 09:44:14 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Lizking

It is, once again, how you do business, not who you do business against.

Truer words have never been spoken. Take this to heart, aspiring rnterprenuers.

NUKE · « **Reply #69 on:** February 10, 2005, 09:56:06 PM »

screw you Airhead....... I HATE YOU!!!

Give me a job printing chit....I wanna make BIG money and not work very hard.

Airhead · « **Reply #70 on:** February 10, 2005, 10:30:55 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by NUKE
screw you Airhead....... I HATE YOU!!!

Give me a job printing chit....I wanna make BIG money and not work very hard.

What, you think I don't work very hard? I work harder than anyone here and I gave up a very promising dancing career to persue my dreams so I hate you right back, Nuke... although I am intrigued by your offer of hugging you tightly as we speed across the desert on your motorcycle, and I imagine we could have a side car in SOB would be riding in it wearing a straight jacket and a ball gag, and there's a full moon and we can see those armadillios from a million miles away and we could play polo with them as SOB snotted his approval...

Lizking · « **Reply #71 on:** February 10, 2005, 10:32:15 PM »

The Bats! The Bats!

rpm · « **Reply #72 on:** February 10, 2005, 10:39:28 PM »

When the speedcop tries to pull you over, don't do it. It will only raise the contempt in his blood. Instead, speed up and make him give chase. This will make him respect you.

TweetyBird · « **Reply #73 on:** February 10, 2005, 10:40:22 PM »

I would like to submit this thread as the one fillled with the most oatmeal brains.

"Unions suck! baaaahhhhh"
"Unions are organized crime! bahhhhhhhh"
"Unions who needs them? Business is honest! Bahhhhhh"

You oatmeal filled sheep.

The cold war nor Reagan brought communism to it knees. Unions did you friggin morons.

Sorry to be obnoxious but I have little patience with outright stupidity.

Edit: on second thought what a better place to separate those with a basic education (i.e high school) from those without. Oh PLEASE lets get into the history, accomplishments and VICTORIES of those damn UNIONS.

FUNKED1 · « **Reply #74 on:** February 10, 2005, 11:17:38 PM »

I thought avacadotybird quit?