Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 16:28:43 +0000, RJ wrote:

Don White wrote:

Tell Wenger & Victorinox that they don't manufacture anything. Why is
'Made
in Switzerland' stamped on my Swiss Army watch?

Okay, that's two. Might not be enought for a GDP.

We went by a building one day and my friend said "they make plastic bags
there".
At first I thought "geez, that's pretty trivial", but then I started
thinking
about how many people use plastic bags. Even at $.01 per bag, that might
add up
to quite an empire.

Anybody know how many "Swiss army knives" are sold each year?

I'm guessing that although there's few "big ticket items" from
Switzerland,
there's quite a few little things, and they can add up...

Lloyd

http://www.eda.admin.ch/london_emb/e...eco/about.html

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

On 29 Nov 2003 16:13:39 GMT, (Karl Denninger)
wrote:


In article ,
Doug Kanter wrote:
"Gene Seibel" wrote in message
.com...
You want to pay high prices while everyone else pays low prices? Go
ahead and be a Wal-Martyr if you want.

If you do most of your grocery shopping at Wal Mart, have you ever taken the
register tape to a real supermarket and compared the prices, being sure to
average them over a 4-6 week period? If you try it, be sure to compare
equivalent items, meaning specific brands. And, you can't compare meat
because WM sells inferior quality stuff and treats them with a chemical
that's clearly marked on the label. Stick with packaged stuff and dairy.

You'll never go back to WM if you do this.

Nonsense.

Shopping for groceries at WM, ex-meat (which I do not buy there); all
packaged products from major manufacturers - the same as in any other store
- saves me EASILY $20 weekly on groceries.

And to get within that $20 at the local grocer, I have to use my "reward
card" and let them link my purchase to my name, address and phone number.

If I don't use the card the difference is more like $30 weekly.

--


You miss the point. Sure, you can get groceries at wally-world a bit
cheaper..... and we've noticed this with seafood.... they'll beat
the local market, pricewise, but they can't come close with respect to
freshness.

If your only criteria is money, wally-world is your best choice. If
you really care what the food tastes like..... you *can* do better.

Your choice.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Who's the twit?
http://www.about.ch/economy/index.html#CH_Eco_Sectors

Looks like they have a metal and machine industry plus the watch,
pocketknife and textile industries.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"RJ" wrote in message
m...


That's what's so odd: There IS no concept at Wal Mart. :-) If you
believe
there is, can you describe or name it?

A store with most of the mundane things you need day to day to run your
household. One stop to buy a wide variety of things. Open late, as
much as 24/7. How is that not a concept?

Any decent supermarket chain carries all those things. They'll charge you a
bit more for Rubbermaid storage containers, but in return, they'll have
produce that wasn't driven over by the truck.


Is many small towns, they WERE the demise of smaller stores. In large
markets, supermarkets did them in, unless they offered something
special.
Many still do.

I grew up in a time and place when the only shopping was the little
stores on Main Street. The predominant characteristics of shopping that
way were (1) limited choices, (2) high prices, (3) no returns (You have
a problem, see the manufacturer.) The discounters that came before
WalMart killed off main street.

I'm focusing on groceries for now. Many of the "main street" stores probably
didn't offer anything of value. We (Rochester NY, population about 600,000)
still have some stores which began as delis and now have grown into small
groceries. Each has something which differentiates them from a store which
was bulldozed. One near me has the best beef and homemade Italian meatballs
I've ever tasted. A few other markets carry Italian specialties.


Of course! But Wal Mart makes virtually no contribution, unless you
think
the presence of salsa and chips on their shelves has great meaning to
your
average Hispanic customer.

When a new supermarket chain builds new stores in a city where they
haven't been before, is that a contribution? Do you have to make a
contribution to compete?

I think you have to differentiate your store somehow, unless you put the
store in a place that's much more convenient than your competitors. I don't
know where you live, but if you're in the Northeast, visit www.wegmans.com,
and make a point of seeing one of their stores if possible. You'll say
"Oh...now I get it". Wherever they open a store, they succeed.


If you really think about it, Wal Mart serves NO special function as
a
grocery supplier, unless you're still under their advertising spell
and
you
think your groceries cost less there. They have no more leverage,
and
often
less than the 20 largest grocery chains & wholesalers.

Then they're not a major competitor. What are you worried about?

I don't worry! :-) I'm simply saying that it's amazing how they suck
people
in for absolutely no benefit whatsoever, at least in the grocery sector.

You sound worried.

Well, today's news mentioned that in a WM store in Florida, a woman was
injured when she was trampelled by a crowd rushing to grab DVD players that
were on sale. I worry when consumers are so price-driven that quality (or
presence) or life becomes unimportant.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"-v-" wrote in message
...

"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote in message
...
-v-,
Somebody else opening a store at that point is like trying to go
into
the car business today,

Walmart did it to Kmart. Toyota did it to GM
Somebody else will come along one day and do it to Walmart.
If the government stays out of it and lets the market work.



Keep an eye on K-Mart. I think they're now out to grab a segment Wal Mart
doesn't care about.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Doug Kanter wrote:

"RJ" wrote in message
m...


That's what's so odd: There IS no concept at Wal Mart. :-) If you
believe
there is, can you describe or name it?

A store with most of the mundane things you need day to day to run your
household. One stop to buy a wide variety of things. Open late, as
much as 24/7. How is that not a concept?

Any decent supermarket chain carries all those things.

They have plumbing supplies, tools, and clothing like WM?

They'll charge you a
bit more for Rubbermaid storage containers, but in return, they'll have
produce that wasn't driven over by the truck.

You have a real hard-on for Walmart.


Is many small towns, they WERE the demise of smaller stores. In large
markets, supermarkets did them in, unless they offered something
special.
Many still do.

I grew up in a time and place when the only shopping was the little
stores on Main Street. The predominant characteristics of shopping that
way were (1) limited choices, (2) high prices, (3) no returns (You have
a problem, see the manufacturer.) The discounters that came before
WalMart killed off main street.

I'm focusing on groceries for now.

Then we are talking at cross purposes.

Of course! But Wal Mart makes virtually no contribution, unless you
think
the presence of salsa and chips on their shelves has great meaning to
your
average Hispanic customer.

When a new supermarket chain builds new stores in a city where they
haven't been before, is that a contribution? Do you have to make a
contribution to compete?

I think you have to differentiate your store somehow, unless you put the
store in a place that's much more convenient than your competitors. I don't
know where you live, but if you're in the Northeast, visit www.wegmans.com,
and make a point of seeing one of their stores if possible. You'll say
"Oh...now I get it". Wherever they open a store, they succeed.

I've been in Wegmans. I've been in lots of other stores equally nice
across the country.

Well, today's news mentioned that in a WM store in Florida, a woman was
injured when she was trampelled by a crowd rushing to grab DVD players that
were on sale. I worry when consumers are so price-driven that quality (or
presence) or life becomes unimportant.

I thought you were discussing only food markets. You need to work on
focus a little.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Don White wrote:

Who's the twit?

You.

http://www.about.ch/economy/index.html#CH_Eco_Sectors

Looks like they have a metal and machine industry plus the watch,
pocketknife and textile industries.

They are not primarily a manufacturing economy.
Services account for nearly double the value of
"industry", and not all of the "industry" category is
manufacturing.

http://www.indexmundi.com/switzerlan...by_sector.html

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 19:25:20 -0500, thunder
wrote:

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 20:55:20 +0000, Steven Shelikoff wrote:


Did you know that Hillary Clinton is a former lawyer for Walmart? That
she was on their board of directors for 8 years and that in 1999 15% of
the Clinton’s net worth is estimated to come from WalMart shares? Talk
about a conflict of interest!

And the conflict would be where?

FYI, the sky is blue.

Steve

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Former Swiss customer of mine was one of the largest newspaper typesetting
equipment suppliers in Europe.
Bill

"Jonathan Ball" wrote in message
link.net...
Don White wrote:

Who's the twit?

You.

http://www.about.ch/economy/index.html#CH_Eco_Sectors

Looks like they have a metal and machine industry plus the watch,
pocketknife and textile industries.

They are not primarily a manufacturing economy.
Services account for nearly double the value of
"industry", and not all of the "industry" category is
manufacturing.

http://www.indexmundi.com/switzerlan...by_sector.html

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

I guess Wal-mart is falling on hard times. The business report for sales on
Friday for the Country was an amazing $7.5 Billion. A record. Wal-mart
only took in $1.5 Billion is sales. About 1/7 of all the Xmas shopping done
the day after Thanksgiving.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"RJ" wrote in message
m...


That's what's so odd: There IS no concept at Wal Mart. :-) If you
believe
there is, can you describe or name it?

A store with most of the mundane things you need day to day to run your
household. One stop to buy a wide variety of things. Open late, as
much as 24/7. How is that not a concept?

Any decent supermarket chain carries all those things. They'll charge you
a
bit more for Rubbermaid storage containers, but in return, they'll have
produce that wasn't driven over by the truck.


Is many small towns, they WERE the demise of smaller stores. In large
markets, supermarkets did them in, unless they offered something
special.
Many still do.

I grew up in a time and place when the only shopping was the little
stores on Main Street. The predominant characteristics of shopping that
way were (1) limited choices, (2) high prices, (3) no returns (You have
a problem, see the manufacturer.) The discounters that came before
WalMart killed off main street.

I'm focusing on groceries for now. Many of the "main street" stores
probably
didn't offer anything of value. We (Rochester NY, population about
600,000)
still have some stores which began as delis and now have grown into small
groceries. Each has something which differentiates them from a store which
was bulldozed. One near me has the best beef and homemade Italian
meatballs
I've ever tasted. A few other markets carry Italian specialties.


Of course! But Wal Mart makes virtually no contribution, unless you
think
the presence of salsa and chips on their shelves has great meaning to
your
average Hispanic customer.

When a new supermarket chain builds new stores in a city where they
haven't been before, is that a contribution? Do you have to make a
contribution to compete?

I think you have to differentiate your store somehow, unless you put the
store in a place that's much more convenient than your competitors. I
don't
know where you live, but if you're in the Northeast, visit
www.wegmans.com,
and make a point of seeing one of their stores if possible. You'll say
"Oh...now I get it". Wherever they open a store, they succeed.


If you really think about it, Wal Mart serves NO special function
as
a
grocery supplier, unless you're still under their advertising
spell
and
you
think your groceries cost less there. They have no more leverage,
and
often
less than the 20 largest grocery chains & wholesalers.

Then they're not a major competitor. What are you worried about?

I don't worry! :-) I'm simply saying that it's amazing how they suck
people
in for absolutely no benefit whatsoever, at least in the grocery
sector.

You sound worried.

Well, today's news mentioned that in a WM store in Florida, a woman was
injured when she was trampelled by a crowd rushing to grab DVD players
that
were on sale. I worry when consumers are so price-driven that quality (or
presence) or life becomes unimportant.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Calif Bill wrote:

Former Swiss customer of mine was one of the largest newspaper typesetting
equipment suppliers in Europe.

That's nice.

Look at the numbers: services accounts for about
double the percentage of "industry" in the Swiss
economy, and a substantial part of "industry" is
service anyway.

Bill

"Jonathan Ball" wrote in message
link.net...

Don White wrote:


Who's the twit?

You.


http://www.about.ch/economy/index.html#CH_Eco_Sectors

Looks like they have a metal and machine industry plus the watch,
pocketknife and textile industries.

They are not primarily a manufacturing economy.
Services account for nearly double the value of
"industry", and not all of the "industry" category is
manufacturing.

http://www.indexmundi.com/switzerlan...by_sector.html

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Geee, they need to try harder, you'd think if they are as evil as people
here claim, they should have 7/7 of the market rather than a measly 1/7...


"Calif Bill" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I guess Wal-mart is falling on hard times. The business report for sales
on
Friday for the Country was an amazing $7.5 Billion. A record. Wal-mart
only took in $1.5 Billion is sales. About 1/7 of all the Xmas shopping
done
the day after Thanksgiving.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

I guess Wal-mart is falling on hard times. The business report for sales on
Friday for the Country was an amazing $7.5 Billion. A record. Wal-mart
only took in $1.5 Billion is sales. About 1/7 of all the Xmas shopping done
the day after Thanksgiving.

That report indicates business at WalMart is up.

WalMart has been taking in 1/8 of all non-automotive retail dollars spent in
the US. Moving up to 1/7 is "progress" :-(

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 05:35:01 +0000, Jonathan Ball wrote:

Calif Bill wrote:

Former Swiss customer of mine was one of the largest newspaper
typesetting equipment suppliers in Europe.

That's nice.

Look at the numbers: services accounts for about double the percentage of
"industry" in the Swiss economy, and a substantial part of "industry" is
service anyway.

I would suggest that does make them a manufacturing economy. That
breakdown is equivalent to Germany's, and only slightly less than Japan's.
We on the other hand are a service economy.

Germany:
industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999)

Japan:
agricultu 1.4% industry: 30.9% services: 67.7% (2001 est.)

USA:
agricultu 2% industry: 18% services: 80% (2002)

Numbers taken from CIA Factbook:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

In article ,
says...

Geee, they need to try harder, you'd think if they are as evil as people
here claim, they should have 7/7 of the market rather than a measly 1/7...

You eager to live in the a Communist country? Would you like to work
for Walmart too? Not me.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

In article .net,
says...
Don White wrote:

Tell Wenger & Victorinox that they don't manufacture anything.
Why is 'Made in Switzerland' stamped on my Swiss Army watch?

Don't be a twit. I didn't say they didn't manufacture
anything. What percentage of their economy depends on
manufacturing, and what major things do they
manufacture? You don't seriously believe they enjoy
one of the highest living standards in the world based
on the export pocketknives, do you?

No, when they run out of money to float the fake, incredibly inflated
economy they run in Switzerland, they pry open another unclaimed vault
of gold yanked from Jews teeth.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

In article .net,
says...

I have lived there, for a year, and I've visited
several times. It's an outstanding place.

What happened, couldn't afford to live there? Outstanding it may be but
it's economy is way inflated. Poverty is $50K a year there.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

jps wrote:

In article .net,
says...
Don White wrote:

Tell Wenger & Victorinox that they don't manufacture anything.
Why is 'Made in Switzerland' stamped on my Swiss Army watch?

Don't be a twit. I didn't say they didn't manufacture
anything. What percentage of their economy depends on
manufacturing, and what major things do they
manufacture? You don't seriously believe they enjoy
one of the highest living standards in the world based
on the export pocketknives, do you?

No, when they run out of money to float the fake, incredibly inflated
economy they run in Switzerland, they pry open another unclaimed vault
of gold yanked from Jews teeth.



Yeouch! I was thinking that, but you had the cojones to say it, as it
were. You're absolutely right, of course...a good deal of what is modern
Switzerland is built upon what was stolen from Jews by the Germans and
hidden in the land of wris****ches and chocolate with the complicity of
Swiss bankers. And much of it is still hidden by the Swiss bankers.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"RJ" wrote in message
m...


A store with most of the mundane things you need day to day to run
your
household. One stop to buy a wide variety of things. Open late, as
much as 24/7. How is that not a concept?

Any decent supermarket chain carries all those things.

They have plumbing supplies, tools, and clothing like WM?

I'd venture a guess that most folks don't buy hardware on every shopping
trip, unless they're in the middle of a project. And, it seems we have
different definitions of "the mundane things". To me, that meant "things I
buy every single week". Yeah...if you're fixing your sink, hardware is
mundane, compared to a Rolex watch.


They'll charge you a
bit more for Rubbermaid storage containers, but in return, they'll have
produce that wasn't driven over by the truck.

You have a real hard-on for Walmart.

Uh oh. This sounds like a discussion of politics. Man sees something ugly,
reports it, other man figures it was a false report because first man had an
attitude. So: I walk into WM and find I can't buy lettuce because everything
they have looks like lettuce you'd left in your own refrigerator for too
long. I go to a grocery store and find 4 kinds of lettuce, 95% of it in
really nice condition. I'm hallucinating???

Handle winter squash roughly and it'll survive. Do the same with tender
vegetables and the product is worthless except as compost. Based on what I
see, WM doesn't train its people to handle produce correctly. In a perfect
world, only gardeners would be hired to work with produce. Until then,
stores have to train their people.

Finally, I notice in two WM stores here that about 1/3 of the groceries
don't have unit pricing stickers on the shelves. That's another reason
customers think they're getting a low price. Unless you walk around with a
calculator, it's tricky to compare two jars of salsa, on of which contains
17.38 oz and the other 32.50 oz. Real grocery stores here have unit pricing
on everything, and it's NOT required by law in this county.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I guess Wal-mart is falling on hard times. The business report for sales
on
Friday for the Country was an amazing $7.5 Billion. A record. Wal-mart
only took in $1.5 Billion is sales. About 1/7 of all the Xmas shopping
done
the day after Thanksgiving.

I'm not disputing the fact that they sell a lot. I'm saying that for many
products, they are NOT cheaper. They've just created an image. Tell me this:
Faced with a 5 mile commercial strip packed with weekend traffic, are you
going to go back and forth between WM and two supermarkets to determine
whether you're getting the best prices? Of course not. This is what WM
counts on.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...


You miss the point. Sure, you can get groceries at wally-world a bit
cheaper..... and we've noticed this with seafood.... they'll beat
the local market, pricewise, but they can't come close with respect to
freshness.

If your only criteria is money, wally-world is your best choice. If
you really care what the food tastes like..... you *can* do better.

Your choice.

With respect to seafood, it all depends on your definition. Any store can
sell what I like to call the "Red Lobster Assortment", the stuff that's
frozen and flown all over the planet, like shrimp and lobster tails.
However, at the WM stores here, we never see the small batches of seasonal
stuff that you can find in any small fish market along the coast, like
flounder, bluefish & striped bass. For those things, I get an email from
Wegman's alerting me to the fact that those products are arriving.

Even if WM carried things like that here, I wouldn't trust it. If they can't
properly handle vegetables, why assume they can properly handle fish?

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...


You're comparing tiny Switzerland to the United States? Now there's a
giggle for you. Besides, nearly half of the Swiss economy is based upon
manufacturing.

From the CIA World Factbook - Switzerland: services 69.1%, industry 26.3%,
agriculture 4.6% (1998)
Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments
Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (2001)
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...s/sz.html#Econ

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"thunder" wrote in message
...
I would suggest that does make them a manufacturing economy. That
breakdown is equivalent to Germany's, and only slightly less than Japan's.
We on the other hand are a service economy.

Germany:
industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999)

Japan:
agricultu 1.4% industry: 30.9% services: 67.7% (2001 est.)

USA:
agricultu 2% industry: 18% services: 80% (2002)

Numbers taken from CIA Factbook:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
That is the same place I went for my numbers. They pull
together information from numerous sources so I can
get the info there instead of searching all over the internet.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Doug Kanter wrote:

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...


You're comparing tiny Switzerland to the United States? Now there's a
giggle for you. Besides, nearly half of the Swiss economy is based upon
manufacturing.

From the CIA World Factbook - Switzerland: services 69.1%, industry 26.3%,
agriculture 4.6% (1998)
Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments
Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (2001)
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...s/sz.html#Econ



Probably right...but, sheesh, the CIA Handbook?

--
Email sent to is never read.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I guess Wal-mart is falling on hard times. The business report for sales
on
Friday for the Country was an amazing $7.5 Billion. A record. Wal-mart
only took in $1.5 Billion is sales. About 1/7 of all the Xmas shopping
done
the day after Thanksgiving.
That would be 1/5, not 1/7.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Doug Kanter wrote:

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...


You miss the point. Sure, you can get groceries at wally-world a bit
cheaper..... and we've noticed this with seafood.... they'll beat
the local market, pricewise, but they can't come close with respect to
freshness.

If your only criteria is money, wally-world is your best choice. If
you really care what the food tastes like..... you *can* do better.

Your choice.

With respect to seafood, it all depends on your definition. Any store can
sell what I like to call the "Red Lobster Assortment", the stuff that's
frozen and flown all over the planet, like shrimp and lobster tails.
However, at the WM stores here, we never see the small batches of seasonal
stuff that you can find in any small fish market along the coast, like
flounder, bluefish & striped bass. For those things, I get an email from
Wegman's alerting me to the fact that those products are arriving.

Even if WM carried things like that here, I wouldn't trust it. If they can't
properly handle vegetables, why assume they can properly handle fish?


I wouldn't trust any foodstuffs or anything else ingestible bought at
Wal-Mart, and that includes the stuff dispensed in its pharmacies.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...


You're comparing tiny Switzerland to the United States? Now there's a
giggle for you. Besides, nearly half of the Swiss economy is based upon
manufacturing.

From the CIA World Factbook - Switzerland: services 69.1%, industry
26.3%,
agriculture 4.6% (1998)
Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision
instruments
Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (2001)
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...s/sz.html#Econ



Probably right...but, sheesh, the CIA Handbook?


Quick & easy, as long as you don't need a ton of detail.

A ****load of people at the CIA have extremely boring jobs.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...


I'm waiting for an interesting expose on Wal-Mart's pharmacies.


A guess: They're dealing through Canada. :-)

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Doug Kanter wrote:

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...


I'm waiting for an interesting expose on Wal-Mart's pharmacies.


A guess: They're dealing through Canada. :-)



Oh, that would be ok. I don't blame anyone for doing that. But with
Wal-Mart, I'd be more concerned about its buying drugs from third-world
countries, or having its underpaid and untrained clerks filling the
little bottles with the wrong stuff, even though they are not supposed
to be doing that at all. It is Wal-Mart, after all.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Doug Kanter wrote:

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...


You're comparing tiny Switzerland to the United States? Now there's a
giggle for you. Besides, nearly half of the Swiss economy is based upon
manufacturing.

From the CIA World Factbook - Switzerland: services 69.1%, industry
26.3%,
agriculture 4.6% (1998)
Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision
instruments
Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (2001)
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...s/sz.html#Econ



Probably right...but, sheesh, the CIA Handbook?


Quick & easy, as long as you don't need a ton of detail.

A ****load of people at the CIA have extremely boring jobs.



I didn't mean that...I meant trusting anything presented by the CIA.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

I'd be more concerned about its buying drugs from third-world
countries, or having its underpaid and untrained clerks filling the
little bottles with the wrong stuff, even though they are not supposed
to be doing that at all. It is Wal-Mart, after all.

--
Email sent to is never read.


At the end of a 92-hour work week, even a pharmacist can make a mistake. "It's
a Wonderful Life."

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...


Probably right...but, sheesh, the CIA Handbook?


Quick & easy, as long as you don't need a ton of detail.

A ****load of people at the CIA have extremely boring jobs.



I didn't mean that...I meant trusting anything presented by the CIA.

I guess I've chosen to believe that they're not going to spin information
that can be confirmed elsewhere in the web with just a few keystrokes.

Besides, the present chimp in chief and his crew make the CIA look like a
bunch of Mr. Spocks. You know: Vulcans who are unable to lie. :-)

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 16:59:48 +0000, Gould 0738 wrote:

Arrogant Worms have a sketch about a Mountie getting accosted by US tourists:

"Where do you keep all those guns?"
"In our tank."
"You have a tank??"
"We didn't WALK here!"
"Where did you get a tank?"
"Wal-Mart"

("The Mountie Song" from Live Bait)

Lloyd Sumpter

Oh oh. There's a career killer for Arrogant Worms. Sheryl Crow CD's were
banished from WalMart for a time due to a similar, one-line reference to the
chain.


He He...First, it's funny to see "career" and "Arrogant Worms" in the same
sentence. But more seriously, WalMart doesn't have the impact here in Canada
that is does in the US. A news story saying WalMart is refusing to carry an
Arrogant Worms CD would probably be a major boost in their "career".

Now, of Sams, or A&B Sound, or even Superstore or Costco refused, that would be
a different story...

Lloyd - (just bought 3 DVDs at Superstore)

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

I wonder if there would be any interest nationally in boycotting those
companies that are exporting American jobs to places like India.


None. People substitute their wallets for their brains as it is, no hope that
they'll avoid making the same substitution (in large numbers) for their social
consciences.

I learned an interesting thing about human nature several years ago. Seattle is
a pretty liberal place, with a lot of greenies.
Back in the early 90's I offered electric cars for sale on my used car lot. A
local co-op built "kit cars" and installed electric motors and batteries. They
releid on me to sell them. I used to drive one back and forth to work, and on
company errands. Great little vehicles for 20-30 mile, round-town runners.
"There will be a lot of interest in these," I thought. I was right!

I must have had 600 greenies on the lot in just a few months. Every time I
showed the electric cars, the conversation when something like this.

"Wow, dude! This is way cool that you've decided to offer these electric cars.
We got that hole in the ozone, all this pollution, people getting sick on fumes
everywhere, and we're going to run out petroleum some day. This is just
bitchin!
Everybody ought to buy one!"

When we 'd get around to asking for the order, the conversation always went
from
"everybody ought to buy one" to "everybody except me ought to buy one. I've got
some special personal reason why I'm forced to continue to drive my gasoline
car- but the rest of the world? They ought to get with the program and go
electric!"

Sigh.

We all have a long list of social goals we'd like to see accomplished, if only
*everybody else* will make the sacrifices we're unwilling to make ourselves.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Doug Kanter wrote:

I'm not disputing the fact that they sell a lot. I'm saying that for many
products, they are NOT cheaper. They've just created an image. Tell me this:
Faced with a 5 mile commercial strip packed with weekend traffic, are you
going to go back and forth between WM and two supermarkets to determine
whether you're getting the best prices? Of course not. This is what WM
counts on.

That's what supermarkets counted on, too, when they added lots of 'store
within the store' operations to the basic foodstuffs. Going further
back, the supermarket counted on convenience to compete with delis,
bakeries, butchers, and the like.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"RJ" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:

I'm not disputing the fact that they sell a lot. I'm saying that for
many
products, they are NOT cheaper. They've just created an image. Tell me
this:
Faced with a 5 mile commercial strip packed with weekend traffic, are
you
going to go back and forth between WM and two supermarkets to determine
whether you're getting the best prices? Of course not. This is what WM
counts on.

That's what supermarkets counted on, too, when they added lots of 'store
within the store' operations to the basic foodstuffs. Going further
back, the supermarket counted on convenience to compete with delis,
bakeries, butchers, and the like.

And yet, many of these places still survive, some of them in highly unlikely
locations. They do so by offering something different, not just the same old
white bread.

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

Doug Kanter wrote:

"RJ" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:

I'm not disputing the fact that they sell a lot. I'm saying that for
many
products, they are NOT cheaper. They've just created an image. Tell me
this:
Faced with a 5 mile commercial strip packed with weekend traffic, are
you
going to go back and forth between WM and two supermarkets to determine
whether you're getting the best prices? Of course not. This is what WM
counts on.

That's what supermarkets counted on, too, when they added lots of 'store
within the store' operations to the basic foodstuffs. Going further
back, the supermarket counted on convenience to compete with delis,
bakeries, butchers, and the like.

And yet, many of these places still survive, some of them in highly unlikely
locations. They do so by offering something different, not just the same old
white bread.

Not nearly as many today as there were in, say, 1960 (per capita).

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"Calif Bill" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I guess Wal-mart is falling on hard times. The business report for
sales
on
Friday for the Country was an amazing $7.5 Billion. A record. Wal-mart
only took in $1.5 Billion is sales. About 1/7 of all the Xmas shopping
done
the day after Thanksgiving.

I'm not disputing the fact that they sell a lot. I'm saying that for many
products, they are NOT cheaper. They've just created an image. Tell me
this:
Faced with a 5 mile commercial strip packed with weekend traffic, are you
going to go back and forth between WM and two supermarkets to determine
whether you're getting the best prices? Of course not. This is what WM
counts on.

Around here, WalMarts will match any price of any product advertised by any
other store with exceptions of coupons or buy 1 get 1 free items. Most of
the time they will match the "special card" prices also.
Ed

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

| Finally, I notice in two WM stores here that about 1/3 of the groceries
| don't have unit pricing stickers on the shelves. That's another reason
| customers think they're getting a low price. Unless you walk around with a
| calculator, it's tricky to compare two jars of salsa, on of which contains
| 17.38 oz and the other 32.50 oz. Real grocery stores here have unit
pricing
| on everything, and it's NOT required by law in this county.

Wal-mart does not have an exclusive on that option. Last we were in
Houston we visited a high end market (they have a self proclaimed 'three
star' restaurant on site). Unit price on any number of various size jars
and packages was 'per each'

Say NO NO NO to Wal-Mart!!!
 

thunder wrote:

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 05:35:01 +0000, Jonathan Ball wrote:


Calif Bill wrote:


Former Swiss customer of mine was one of the largest newspaper
typesetting equipment suppliers in Europe.

That's nice.

Look at the numbers: services accounts for about double the percentage of
"industry" in the Swiss economy, and a substantial part of "industry" is
service anyway.


I would suggest that does make them a manufacturing economy.

I would suggest you have an undefined, incoherently
imagined dividing line. Did you not read that
Switzerland's service sector is DOUBLE the size of
their "industry" sector? Furthermore, most of what's
included in "manufacturing" is actually services, as
the experience of General Motors in acquiring EDS and
them moving all of their IT staff to it demonstrates.
At the stroke of a pen, those employees suddenly were
reclassified as "service" employees. The same number
of cars were still being manufactured, but the
"manufacturing" sector, as measured by number of
employees, shrank, while the "service" sector grew.

That
breakdown is equivalent to Germany's, and only slightly less than Japan's.
We on the other hand are a service economy.

Switzerland, Germany and Japan also are service
economies; the weighting is roughly 2:1 in favor of
services.


Germany:
industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999)

Japan:
agricultu 1.4% industry: 30.9% services: 67.7% (2001 est.)

USA:
agricultu 2% industry: 18% services: 80% (2002)

Numbers taken from CIA Factbook:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/