On Fri, 28 Nov 2003, Dave Thompson wrote:
In each case
when Wal-Mart/Sam's Club, Costco, Home Depot or Lowe's came to town all the
small INEFFICIENT retails sang songs of woe. In every case, those retailers
who studies their markets and offered selection and service survived and
prospered. Those who had been lazy and grossly overcharging their customers
promptly went out of business; deservedly so.

Well said.

What also isn't mentioned is that those small inefficient retailers which
gouge their customers often pay their employees LESS than Wal*Mart. Most
pay minimum wage and expect their employees to put in unpaid overtime.
When a Wal*Mart begins construction the first thing the employees at the
dinky little stores do is fill out job applications at Wal*Mart.

A Wal*Mart is opening locally next year. I can predict which local
retailers will die and which ones will survive. None of the doomed ones
will be missed.

In the case of one particular business, I will cheer when it closes its
doors. The owner offended me to the point that I will drive 30+ miles to
get to (what is now) the nearest Wal*Mart rather than buy from there, even
if the cost of the gas is more than the price savings. Needless to say,
that individual is one of the head cheerleaders of the anti-Wal*Mart
group (which just lost their final appeal).

As for the ones that will survive... They're the ones which, when I ask
about something they don't carry, say "We can order that for you, and if
you're in a hurry I can have it fedex'ed here tommorrow." They're the
ones who want to sell me the products that I want to buy (as opposed to
the products they want to sell).

-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.