Even though I am not a fan of Walmart, I don't think that I would have manufacturing done in the United States either. The unions would be all over them. I actually think that is one of the main reasons they don't manufacture here....union pressure. I mean come on, just think how rich and powerful the unions would be if they nabbed walmart? So for that reason I don't blame walmart.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Even though I am not a fan of Walmart, I don't think that I would have manufacturing done in the United States either. The unions would be all over them. I actually think that is one of the main reasons they don't manufacture here....union pressure. I mean come on, just think how rich and powerful the unions would be if they nabbed walmart? So for that reason I don't blame walmart.
The unions "would be all over them" to make sure employees were treated fairly, produced products met standards and that there weren't any safety hazards ... 3 things WalMart cares nothing about.
And I trust the following is of no suprise to anyone.
Wal-Mart Ranks Lowest Among Discounters in Survey (Update2)
By Tim Catts
Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ranked lowest among U.S. discounters and department store chains in an annual survey of customer satisfaction as shoppers said they found less value in the world's largest retailer's prices.
Wal-Mart fell to 68 from 72 last year on a scale of 1 to 100, according to the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, released today. Minneapolis-based Target Corp., the second-largest discounter, held steady at 77. The average score for department and discount stores was 73, the lowest since 2001.
Customers may be increasingly dissatisfied with the goods Wal-Mart is carrying, said Claes Fornell, the professor who led the study. Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott has turned the company's focus back to groceries and household items after an ill-fated attempt to boost sales by luring fashion-conscious shoppers with silk camisoles and distressed jeans.
``It's perceived by the customers that quality is declining but price is not coming down correspondingly,'' Fornell said. Wal-Mart's score for customer service was also the lowest among discounters and department stores, Fornell said.
Scott discounted more items earlier in the holiday season to drum up revenue last year. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer's sales at stores open at least a year rose 1.7 percent during the fourth quarter, outpacing Target for the first time in 3 1/2 years.
Wal-Mart renovated more than half its stores over the past two years and cut inventory to reduce clutter. The company's quarterly surveys of about 2 million customers show that shoppers are pleased with the ``faster, friendlier and cleaner stores,'' spokesman John Simley said.
`Customer Service'
``Certainly with about 140 million Americans shopping at our stores every week, Wal-Mart remains the most popular shopping destination in the country, and our attention to customer service is an important reason why.''
Fourth-quarter profit rose 4 percent to $4.1 billion, or $1.02 a share, compared with $3.94 billion, or 95 cents a share, a year earlier, the retailer said today. Revenue climbed to $107.4 billion.
Wal-Mart rose 22 cents to $49.66 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares gained 2.9 percent in New York trading last year.
Target said Feb. 7 that fourth-quarter same-store sales rose 0.2 percent.
Bargains Vs. Service
Growing customer dissatisfaction probably will have less impact at Wal-Mart than other retailers because shoppers visit its stores for bargains, not service, said George Whalin, president of Retail Management Consultants in Carlsbad, California. Consumers have trimmed spending in the face of falling U.S. home values and rising food and energy prices.
``The customer just doesn't stop at Wal-Mart because they know they're going to get this great Neiman-Marcus experience,'' Whalin said. ``They're going to get a big selection and low prices and they're going to get in and out of there.'' Whalin isn't affiliated with the University of Michigan survey.
Consumers in the survey gave Nordstrom Inc. a score of 80, placing it first in customer satisfaction among discount and department stores. Wal-Mart's grocery business tied with Winn- Dixie Stores Inc. for last place among supermarkets, with a score of 71, up from 69 a year earlier.
Wal-Mart has been at the bottom of the supermarket category in all of the four years that the university has tracked its performance in that area. In the year ended Jan. 31, 2007, groceries comprised 31 percent of the discounter's sales, according to its annual report.
The survey analyzes data from interviews with at least 250 customers at each of about 200 companies studied. The University of Michigan surveys about 65,000 shoppers every year, according to its Web site.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Catts in New York at tcatts@bloomberg.net
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
As we 'collect crap' for our dens/nests, do we prioritize??? According to the subprime issue, stock market and the free printing of US money by the Fed--the resounding answer would be NO!!!!.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Walmart does have it's place in our economic society, obviously. But when it comes to Walmart being a supermarket...I don't know. I just can't even bring myself to buy any perishable product from a walmart. Especially meat! Just can't do it!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Cant buy food where the underwear are hanging the next aisle over......I still think supermakets have gone too far too, with added crap in the aisles.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Norma Kamali to Design Collection for Wal-Mart Renata Espinosa February 27th, 2008
Norma Kamali, a fashion designer known for innovative designs like her sleeping bag coat, her use of silk parachutes as fabric and fashion-forward take on jersey sportswear, will design a collection for Wal-Mart, in the latest mass merchant-meets-fashion designer collaboration.
The collection, to be produced via a licensing agreement with Cherokee Inc., Norma Kamali and Wal-Mart, will be offered in select Wal-Mart stores beginning in fall 2008.
Kamali is no stranger to partnerships with mass retailers, however – in 2006 she joined forces with sportswear brand Everlast and Spiegel to bring her brand of multifunctional, mix-and-match style to a wider audience of women.
As with the collections she's created for Everlast and Spiegel – offered at lower price points than her namesake Norma Kamali Collection – Kamali said in a phone interview on Wednesday, Feb. 27, that she will carry the Wal-Mart collection in her store on 56th Street in New York. (Currently, there are no Wal-Mart stores in Manhattan).
"It's a great opportunity to do what I love to do," said Kamali, which ultimately for her is to help women look and feel great through well-designed clothes.
"It's solving the problem that women all have with self-esteem – there are always a couple of days a month where we don't feel so great," she said.
In the case of her partnership with Wal-Mart, she'll be able to offer a self-esteem boost for her biggest audience yet, specifically targeting style-conscious people on a budget – students, for example, or women who have a family to take care of, she said.
"It's about good value at a good price," she said. "We're all looking for great prices."
For Kamali's collection for Wal-Mart, she said that you'll be able to build a full wardrobe with every collection, but emphasized that it will consist of "concepts, not pieces" that Kamali said will have a timeless quality." She said they'll look of-the-moment, but they'll still work five years from now and "not be boring."
In other words, they'll make the wearer feel good, stylish, and fashionable without looking like a fashion victim.
"Products should be timeless," she said. "It's components that create style, rather than fashion that creates style."
The Wal-Mart collection by Norma Kamali will be an ongoing collaboration. And why partner with Wal-Mart? Beyond the obvious advantage of reaching a huge number of women, she said the partnership actually came about from a series of coincidences and "it just worked."
"It was not a hot pursuit," she explained, "but it started to sound so exciting, with all the possibilities."
More from China? What about the unemployed seamstresses in this country?
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Wal-Mart Executive Appointed To Health Commission THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008 3:34 PM CST IN BUSINESS By The Morning News
Linda Dillman, executive vice president of benefits and risk management at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., today was appointed to a Washington, D.C.-based commission to examine health issues.
The Commission to Build a Healthier America will examine factors outside the health care system and identify non-medical, evidence-based strategies to improve the health of Americans. The group will investigate how factors, such as education, environment, income and housing, shape and affect behavioral choices.
The commission members include private and public sector experts in health issues, including U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Allan Golston, U.S. Program President, the Gates Foundation; and Katherine Baicker, professor of health economics, Harvard University.
The 14 commissioners will base their work at the George Washington University's School of Public Health and health Services in Washington, D.C. for two years.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a Princeton, N.J.-based philanthropic organization, formed the commission to identify solutions to health issues outside of the health care system. The foundation makes all appointments to the commission.
Dillman is credited for leading Wal-Mart's efforts in changing its health care benefits. She has been named to Fortune Magazine's "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" list for the past five years.
Wow, how ironic that the person who was in charge of health care and benefits for Walmart is now appointed to a Washington position to examine health issues in this country. Well, we know that means only one thing....GOVERNMENT FUNDED HEALTH CARE!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
After we all get to 'pay' in the form of a 'FREE' tax for our 'FREE' health care....the corporations will still hop skip and jump to other countries......
SHOW ME THE MONEY TRAIL AND.......
DONT TREAD ON ME...... >
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Wal-Mart Tinkers With Home Furnishings Line BY KATHY SHWIFF
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. introduced its new Canopy home-furnishings brand at a tough time for retailers in general and for sales of items related to the home in particular.
Wal-Mart launched Canopy with several products for sale in select stores nationwide and online. Canopy will offer more products in stores and online this summer and fall.
That should be a sight in the stores. All kinds of home furnishings falling apart like the current furniture on display is falling apart.
Next thing will be their own line of appliances, it breaks--no service provided.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Wow, how ironic that the person who was in charge of health care and benefits for Walmart is now appointed to a Washington position to examine health issues in this country. Well, we know that means only one thing....GOVERNMENT FUNDED HEALTH CARE!!
Right on there!
Anything to take such respnosbility off the billion dollar companies that have the financial wherewithal to provide it -- because they are too cheap -- and put the burden on the taxpayers
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Anything to take such respnosbility off the billion dollar companies that have the financial wherewithal to provide it -- because they are too cheap -- and put the burden on the taxpayers
Exactly!!! The government turning to Walmart for health care advise! Poppycock!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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