Originally posted by Meatwad
I liked shopping al Woolworths before they closed, seems like they had better variety and it wasnt cheaply made junk
you arent at all off the mark.
You know if you buy a pair of say "Levi" Jeans at a wallmart they arent the same as a pair you would get at say. "the Gap" or any other higher priced store.
they look the same. Carry the same label and style.
but they are a lessor quality version of what the other stores sell.
That is how they keep the prices down
There was a real interesting article a few years ago on "The Man who said no to Wall Mart"
I'll post the link to it but warning there is a long commercial like screen for something or other before it finally takes you to the page with the article.
so be patient
Anyway. one of the most telling snippets of the article was
Originally posted by Meatwad
I liked shopping al Woolworths before they closed, seems like they had better variety and it wasnt cheaply made junk
you arent at all off the mark.
You know if you buy a pair of say "Levi" Jeans at a wallmart they arent the same as a pair you would get at say. "the Gap" or any other higher priced store.
they look the same. Carry the same label and style.
but they are a lessor quality version of what the other stores sell.
That is how they keep the prices down
There was a real interesting article a few years ago on "The Man who said no to Wall Mart"
I'll post the link to it but warning there is a long commercial like screen for something or other before it finally takes you to the page with the article.
so be patient
Anyway. one of the most telling snippets of the article was
"
"The meeting started with the vice president of the category saying how it was clear that Lowe's was going to build their outdoor power-equipment business with the Cub Cadet brand, and how Home Depot was going to build theirs with John Deere," says Wier. "Wal-Mart wanted to build their outdoor power-equipment business around the Snapper brand. Were we prepared to go large?"
Talk about coming to the table with different agendas. Wier was in Bentonville to pull his mowers from Wal-Mart's stores. The vice president was offering a greater temptation: Let's join hands and go head-to-head against the home-improvement superstores.
Which is when Wier said no.
"As I look at the three years Snapper has been with you," he told the vice president, "every year the price has come down. Every year the content of the product has gone up. We're at a position where, first, it's still priced where it doesn't meet the needs of your clientele. For Wal-Mart, it's still too high-priced. I think you'd agree with that.
"Now, at the price I'm selling to you today, I'm not making any money on it. And if we do what you want next year, I'll lose money. I could do that and not go out of business. But we have this independent-dealer channel. And 80% of our business is over here with them. And I can't put them at a competitive disadvantage. If I do that, I lose everything. So this just isn't a compatible fit."
The Wal-Mart vice president responded with strategy and argument. Snapper is the sort of high-quality nameplate, like Levi Strauss, that Wal-Mart hopes can ultimately make it more Target-like. He suggested that Snapper find a lower-cost contract manufacturer.
He suggested producing a separate, lesser-quality line with the Snapper nameplate just for Wal-Mart. Just like Levi did." "My response was, we would take a look at that," says Wier. "The reason I gave that response was, it was a legitimate question. In my own mind, I knew where I'd go with that"--no thanks--"but at that kind of meeting you at least have to be willing to say, I'll investigate." And that was it. "The tone at the end was, We're not going forward as a supplier."
Anyway. Here is the lin to the article if anyone is interested
The Man who Said No to Wall Mart
