What's With Walmart?

Glen, I just spent a little time on a search engine. Walmart is promoted by the Mormon church but I could not find where they owned stock. Nevertheless, I would bet they do.

I do know that Walmarts bleed the small stores in the areas where they are dry. I will only visit a Walmart when I am sure no one else carries what I am looking for. Even then, I really resent what they do to the small businesses which have thrived for years in small towns until Walmart invades.

 

For your entertainment purposes:
http://www.mormonstockindex.com/msi/index.shtml
Enjoy! And for more fun, try to find out the amount of land owned, esp. in "Zion".
Gina

 

Helen,
We shop at Walmart all the time. They have lower prices. My question is, if Walmart can do it, why not other stores?

 

Because they buy in enormous bulk and get special deals little guys cannot get. They also own some of their own transportation, and they buy enormous amounts from China, which is essentially slave labor.

I know it's cheaper. It's pretty expensive for the folks that are getting driven out of business, though...

 

Helen! Stop the presses! We agree!

I've found that anything I think I can find only at Wal-Mart is available on the Internet if I'm willing to wait a few days for it to arrive.

Joshua

 

We shop at Wally-world often but when my wife figures out that "Fred is giving away the store"--she'll run over there--I ain't surprised about the Morman merchandise there--betcha Wal-mart gives them a handsome "cut" on the worthless books!!

Wal-mart is a multi-billion dollar business--but I remember when it was places like "Globe's Discount", Montgemery(Monkey) Ward, Ben Franklin, and the old T G & Y!! Mark my word--in less than 50 years--people will be suckered into shopping at the newest "fadish" store--and Wal-Mart will be in Chapter Whatever(bankruptsy) just like their closest rival--K Mart!!

I've done shopped enough at Wal-Mart to know that things ain't any "cheaper" there than they are at any other place--People shop there, not because things are cheap--(indeed they are--don't go squattin' down in a pair of those cheap jeans--they'll rip right down the seams--about where the zipper starts running on past your pocket what's got your wallet in it-- before you have a chance to stand back up!!)--but they shop there because its a fad and people shop for fads!!

YOur friend,
Blackbird

 

I shop at WalMart anytime I need household supplies, or clothing for my family. I can buy there at lower prices, and I can't afford to pay more for what I buy, if you have money to pay higher prices then good, but we don't., we live on a tight budget with one income. Besides I think it's bad stewartship if I go somewhere where it costs more. As a matter of fact I buy almost everyting there except food(we don't have a supercenter yet). I was at WalMart just friday, and almost always go by the books, even thought I can't buy books at the moment, and mine didn't have the mormon books, but I will be keeping an eye out for them.

 

blackbird, not sure if you have actually compared prices or not, but as a homemaker I see it as my job to know where I can buy what for the best price, and noone around here sells my dish liquid for what wal mart does, everyone else is at least $1.50 more, plus my family wears those wal mart jeans and noone has ever had a problem with them, they carry the same brand name jeans anyone else does, unless you can afford $30. to $50. a pair and can buy clothes at Goodies, or Dawahares. Which we can not.
And I don't go for fads, I go for prices, and quality for my money spent. No other store around here has plus size clothing, and no one else has fabrics(affordable) and craft supplies( I make money crafting).

 

Katie, I'm glad that you do have a place to go that helps out your very tight budget. I would NEVER hold that against you!

But I personally also have to keep in mind to do unto others as I would have them do unto me, and to love my neighbor as myself -- and many of my neighbors in this town own some very small businesses, and I try to shop there whenever possible. The one nice thing about that, too, is that when I don't have enough money, I can go in and ask them if I can pay next week, and I have done that a couple of times! Can't imagine doing that at Walmart! Even at Long's Drugstore, I know the folks there. I bought one of the checkout girls a 'care' basket when her husband left her and she makes sure I know where the sale items are and if there is anything else that's come in she thinks I would like. We're friends! The manager knows me and my kids. At the electronics store, one of my sons tried to shoplift one time and the manager just called me up. No police involved. My son was so embarrassed he wanted to die and we both agreed that he could keep what he shoplifted if he agreed to pay it back double, just like the Bible said. He returned everything and never tried that stunt again.

When the tree trimmer is needed here, he just tells me about how much it will cost and I don't sign a thing. He knows I will pay if I tell him OK and if I can't pay him then I tell him and if he considers it critical for my trees, he does it anyway and tells me to pay him when I get my next money.

The Feed and Supply and the plant nursery will both stick you on a credit slip if they know you.

I know this, because after my husband left, we were so broke for a number of years that even the LP gas guy brought us a load of firewood to save me money and stacked it in my garage to boot!

Small businesses are people-to-people, and that can be a lifesaver for some. That's one way we keep track of each other in a small town. We know who needs help, too.

Walmart has corporate charity that they are really big in advertising, and I'm glad they get involved. But it's not the same thing.

Still, I refuse to criticize anyone on a tight budget for getting the best prices they can find.

 

Helen,
Understand, I sympathize with the small businesses. I do shop at mom & pop stores when I can. It's just that, not having a lot of money, I feel the need to conserve where I can. My wife works at a Christian bookstore and the most popular Christian books are cheaper at Walmart than the wholesale price at the bookstore where she works. Luckly, because Walmart does not carry near the variety that Christian bookstores carry, they are not actually in competition with each other. In order for small businesses to compete, they must offer something that Walmart cannot offer. They must have exceptional service and have access to items that are difficult to come by.

For example, I almost never go to Home Depot but choose instead to go to a neighborhood Ace Hardware store. Sometimes I pay 50% more, but the service and selection outweighs the price difference. Of course, if I am buying a high dollar item, it's Home Depot. It is hard to be poor and fight the globalization of businesses at the same time.

As far as the "slave labor" is concerned, I wonder if these underpaid laborers would be better off with no job rather than the jobs they get because of stores like Walmart? I have seen many documentaries about this issue but have not heard the laborers viewpoint. I guess there are no easy answers.

 

I think there is a principle which is being violated which also actually helps destroy free enterprise. In Isaiah 5:8 we read

Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you life alone in the land.

Granted this is agrarian, but this, and the fact that each family in ancient Israel was given its own land, does seem to speak of the principle of the smaller ownership being what God had in mind, and not the large conglomerates.

Especially considering that the large conglomerates drive the little guy out of business. What could be more AGAINST free enterprise than that? It is no longer free for them; only for the "giants in the land" (please excuse the expression!) who control the money and resources.

 

Terry, I fully understand what you are saying and say thank you for buying when and where you can to help your neighbors. I can't say anything against that. We all do the best we can.

Part of the problem for small businesses is involved in the need to give employees a wage that's livable AFTER what the government takes out! That's a killer. So are insurance rates.

It's really, really hard. I think that is why we are seeing more actual trade and barter coming back 'under the table' in so many ways.

 

Katie,
I see your plight, girl! My wife says she can't get Ivory soap(dish washing kind) anywhere else but Wally-world for that low, low, low price!! I don't like the idea that in their sports section--they have the firearms--rifles, shotguns--behind the glass counter--and the little lady working there don't know the difference between a 20guage and a 12--or whether its semi-automatic, pump, or single shot!! And they hesitate when I want to "check one out" just for kicks and to feel it against my shoulder looking down the barrel!! They really get the "hee-bee gee-bees" when I let my boy put his hands on it!! And they don't sell pistols!! Rats!! Double rats!!

Sorry about the clothing thing--I preached a real good sermon from Revelation 1: 4-5 on the Lord Jesus Christ being God's faithful witness, the first of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth--girl, I was feeling like Hulk Hogan after winning the "big one!"--and was trying to come back down to earth--on my way down--I thought it would be fun to say what I said about the stitching being loose on those wally-ville jeans!!

Have a good week

Your friend,
Blackbird

 

Walmart as such does not exist in Scotland. However we do have a store called "asda" which walmart bought a large share in about a year ago. I was not aware of the Morman connection but was interested to note that our local Asda recently advertised for a chaplain to be employed by them part time. Christian pastors have been encouraged to apply. This concept is not too common in Scottish supermarket shops (though there are industrial chaplains around )
yours, Jon.

 

That's fascinating, Jon. What would a chaplain DO there? What would his duties be?

 

Helen,
I agree that corporate, as well as personal,greed is indeed the problem. This is one reason I am fascinated by the hold the Republican party has on Christians. Simply because they say they are pro-life they enjoy almost total allegiance by most of the Christians I know.

Maybe the reason is because the "Christian culture" of our day is, in many instances, a mirror image of the corporate culture. Build larger churches, have larger crowds, get more money, build even larger churches, have even larger crowds, have even more money, etc. I have been in many churches in my life, and there are many differences in how they do things; one thing they seem to agree on, however, is taking up the offering (usually several times a day).

Actually, I did attend one baptist church that did not pass the offering plate. The pastor, when he came there, refused to take an offering. They had two boxes at the rear of the church for people to put their offerings in and I never heard him speak about tithing, since he did not believe it was for the church. The pastor told me that, since he had been there, the offerings had actually increased.

 

Let's see, 50 years ago, the largest retailer in the U.S. was Woolworth. But they got knocked off their perch by Sears, Roebuck & Co because Sears figured out a better, more efficient way to do business. Then about 25 years ago, Sears got knocked from the top by K-Mart because they figured out a way to operate more efficiently. That lasted until about 10 years ago, when Wal-Mart came up witha way to operate more efficiently and knocked off K-Mart. Is there a pattern here? I think so, and someday, someone will figure out a better way and knock Wal-Mart off. Until then, I feel no moral obligation to pay high prices for merchandise.