AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Chat Area Wal Mart Upsets Cosmic Balance of Ruins

no more so than yours...........drink up bubba

and if you doubt the bellringer story - go ask your friendly neighborhood store manager how to go about placing the SA outside the entrances during the holiday season. There's true community spirit if I ever saw it.

I'll check the bell ringers out. I'll also bet you won't buy the responce. :p

I'm feeling compelled to defend Wal-Mart here...I'm in the area of east central Florida that just got smacked by Hurricane Frances... while all the small businesses were still closed, the local Walmart opened up WITHOUT POWER (while the wind was still blowing, even!) to let people restock their food and other supplies. And trust me, it was more of a hardship than a profit-maker to open under those conditions. So we're all LOVING our local Walmart these days

Also, I work for a small non-profit sea turtle conservation group. Walmart gives us $1000 grants every year to help our efforts.

If you have ever been to a community where WalMart has literally wiped out downtown you will know why many people hold a grudge against WM. Many of the small towns close to Houston, and all over the states for that matter, were wiped out when WM moved in. There is nothing a small shop can do when WalMart offers the same product at less than what the small shop purchased the product for. The shop cannot purchase gross quantities as WalMart can and therefore cannot compete under any stretch of the imagination.

"The old hat story that they put small business out of business is a crock. The small business man puts himself out of business because he will try to compete or just say W-M is coming, I'm dead !" from immising IS completely FALSE because of the aforementioned reason.

Futher, WM proved itself as a sham when, in the beginning, they advertised
"We buy ONLY American Goods!!!"
then it was "We buy ONLY American Goods!!! (when we can)
then it was "Shop Here! We have lower prices than ANYBODY" but what they didn't say is that their products come mostly from 3rd world countries and/or countries who have no labor laws and that the person who made your cheap falling apart product is a starving diseased person who cannot afford food because they are paid such a low wage in the sweat shop they labor in 15 hours a day.

Just a thought here. Isn't it really the customers that shop Wall Mart and not the local small businesses that cause the small businesses to go out of business?

Oh YOU

If somebody said you could take a Continental flight from Houston IAH to Belize for $500, then somebody said you could take the same exact flight, except say you wouldn't get as good quality of food from Houston Hobby to Belize for $250 WHICH ONE WOULD YOU TAKE? This assumes that you live in Houston and that you always fly Continental.

AND, I am not a WM shopper. I do however shop for the lowest airfare so I guess I might as well shop at WM.

I totally agree with you bywarren.
It is the consumer who is ultimately responsible and needs to be aware and support local business.

P.S. I feel the same way about Starbucks

I am a Wal Mart boycotter, myself. I would rather pay more than support them. They are also one of the largest Republican financial contributors (while earning most of their $$ from poor Democrat slobs out of work from their factories going to China to produce cheap crap for Wal Mart to sell cheaper)

Malibug, since I don't know you or who you are, I will attempt to be as kind as I know how. But first a question or two (1) have you ever personally visited a factory that W-M buys from. I have been in hundreds of them. (2) Have you ever visited W-M Headquarters in Bentonville, Ar. I have, thousands of times. I will let you in on a little known fact about the company you DO NOT SHOP IN. It's known as the Wal-Mart Culture. Their buyers are responsible for seeing that thoes factories comply with the fair emploment policy that was established 20 years ago. They insist that the workers are paid a fair wage established by the country in which the factory is located. THEY DO NOT BUY FROM SWEAT SHOPS as you described. Belive me, it only works at W-M. Some of the "quotes" you attributed to W-M must have been created by someone who saw fit to change them around to suit their need as none of them are accurate. I stand by my comment that by changing a small business' product mix and merchandising, they can trade off the W-M near them. Most just throw up their hands and lay down. If you don't have your facts right you should be careful not to make comments as you have made here. Wal-Mart "is a good neighbor."

Barbara, I'M Shocked !!!