I saw this Frontline documentary in the link below over 20 years ago when I had already formed opinion about Walmart since I had competed directly with them for 15 years when I was in the grocery business. I remember when Walmart used to have big signs throughout their stores that said "MADE IN THE USA" in the 80`s and very early 90`s but that went away when they turned to China for cheaper goods and more profits. Walmart single handedly has forced other companies and retailers to buy products from China manufacturers just to compete with them or go out of business. I remember them going into small towns and the small mom and pop stores and retailers that had supported those town for many years slowly closed when the locals chose to quit supporting them for lower prices. Then those same people say they miss not having the mom-and-pop stores after they close due to the locals choosing to save a few bucks and quit supporting the stores the town had relied on for so many years . So....... is Walmart really to blame or should the American people who started turning their heads on the small mom and pops and other retailers 40 years ago share the blame for making Walmart so powerful. All I know is you can`t put the toothpaste back in the tube and I don`t ever see American companies bringing back much manufacturing to the US due to regulation and the fact that the Chinese people work for almost nothing. It looks to me like we have financed China ability to rebuild its country while they try to undermine the USA around the world.


Link to video below.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/showswalmart/?


https://alextehrani.com/article/the...e-displaced-nearly-200-000-u-s-jobs/1781

Amazon is surprisingly them as we speak….

Dollar General is more of a small town mom and pop store killer than Walmart.

It's a double edge sword.

1. The mom and pops go out of business not only because of price, but the return policy of Walmart. I do miss the small town feeling of shopping with the locals.

2. Does the public deserved a lower price so they can enjoy a better life style or provide more for their kids. Not to mention that more jobs are created. I know the first comment will be they don't pay the clerks much, but I doubt the mom and pops paid their clerks much either. The price reduction allowed for more products being sold creating a need for more clerks, truck drivers, warehouse distribution personnel and managers, etc. Another thing is being able to shop on Sundays...I think we take that for granted now.

Personally I'm not on one side or the other, just looking at it from both sides.

I avoid Walmart whenever I possibly can!

“Save a penny cuz’ it’s jumbo size”

Rush liked 'em.

'Best pharmacy in Boerne. CVS and Walgreen's are awful. The Walgreen's hasn't fixed the mic on the closest drive through in a few years, so when you walk in to pick a prescription up, you have to hear the clerks over the girl leaning her head down and yelling through the drawer. It's nutz.

Walmart had some cool Reebok camo gym shorts yesterday. Made in China. I put them back on the rack.

I hope as much manufacturing comes back to the U.S. as possible. And I miss small town shops too, but, while some were great, some had terrible customer service and a crappy attitude - acting like you owe them 'cause...where else ya gonna go? If you'd like to still experience that, there's two or three places I can recommend in Junction.

Walmart, American business that hit it out of the park and folks don’t like them cause their too successful?

I think they attract some trash but I have and will continued to buy some things there.

Exactly. Many People deep down really hate successful business and people.

Life is a constant evolution. First it was trading routes, then we got mercantile shops. Then we evolved to catalog sales and chain stores, now we have Walmarts and Amazon online.

By and large, mom and pop brick and mortar stores are are an antiquated idea

yep

those mom & pop stores could and did charge any thing they wanted to, where else to go

There are two sides to every coin and this coin is more like a 20 sided dice.

As mentioned some (not all) mom and pops were the only thing in town and could charge what they wanted to make maximal profit. That isn’t good for anyone but the owners.

Made in america is good, but dont assume all stores prior to walmart were buying all their goods from us sources.

There is a benefit to paying for lower cost items, and maybe that translates to being able to buy more “made in the us” big tickets such as cars or other goods.

Food has really never been a truly “made in america” thing and having more options could mean less food deserts.

Innovation seems to drive innovation, so the advent of the giant store has spawned new options that might allow some people to get things they never could before.

The list can go on and on.


The short answer is your question has a lot of possible answers.

I do think the govt needs to mandate some stuff be made here in the US though, so we dont allow a country like china to have a corner on a specific market.

WalMart is the biggest employer in the USA

Like 2 million employees and most in USA

I knew a lady hated Walmart badly. She would speak ill of them shutting down small town shops. But she loved Home Depot that had closed up many local hardware stores.

We built China, We built Japan, We build Mexico, We are building South America and Asia.

Happened when Sam's kids took over. On a plane from Seattle to DFW, guy was a Walmart fruit buyer just coming from China. Even air freight they could sell cheaper and fresh. He just purchased 3 air freighters of strawberries.

Since leaving the metromess I’ve grown to really like Walmart…..I order online, it’s delivered free and in a fairly speedy timeframe.

Same for me. I try to buy local if they have what I want and the prices are somewhat similar, but that's a tall order for the local businesses when it comes to certain items.

How I felt 40 years ago about this has greatly evolved. I had this view that big box store bad, Mom and Pop good; my Dad sold Point of Sales systems to many Mom and Pop stores and restaurants down in South Texas in those days so he definitely had his doubts about it too. That said, the better, more adaptable outfits found their niche and continued, continuing on; the ones that were non-adaptable were the ones that went the way of the dinosaur, showing they were simply existing mostly by taking advantage of a captive clientele based on mostly, "only game in town". Nowadays I'd hate to see these rural towns like Graham, Breckenridge, Bridgeport and many others try to thrive without their beloved Walmarts serving as grocer, sporting goods store, automotive and home decor and other needs and hunting and gun shops.

I have a WalMart 5 minutes from my house, I have them deliver alot of stuff. For me anything over $35 gets free delivery and most of time it is same day, longest is 2 day by Fed Ex.

I will have them deliver my gatorade and papertowels and laundry detergent when I get low, I just don't want to bother carrying stuff like that to my vehicle.

Winter time, I have them deliver Deer Corn to my front door, Runs about $9.95 lately

I not sure how they are able to sell and deliver deer corn that cheap but works for me.

Sure makes obtaining salt for the water softener easy.

I'd surmise whether people frequent Walmart or not depends upon one's own wallet size.

Yes, walmart helped kill the small shops, and that happens when the consumers see one store with higher prices than the other, despite who owns it.

Yes, the American consumer helped make walmart a juggernaut, and helped kill the small shops.

If you are on a budget, which store will you choose overall?

You drive to a corner, you are down to 1/4 tank of gas, and you see two prices and open lanes. Which do you choose if both are easily accessible?

Addendum: I wish my wallet was really, really fat!!!

...?

Addendum II: I did not answer the question.

Is walmart good for America?

Good for the consumer...
Bad for the American worker...

...------

Mom and Pop stores do not have the buying power like Walmart or any of the big box stores, they buy truckloads direct while the small places buy from a wholesaler. Nixon just got a Tractor Supply and I can see the Nixon Feed Store may have problems with that, although Alamo Hardware is doing just fine.

I have never understood why HEB, Walmart or Home Depot do not have a some sort of a small franchise store available to put in the small towns.

It can be argued either side. Having the product availability and convenience is quite remarkable. Another positive was watching the Walmart fleet show up to NC after the floods.