Forum Post: The Irony of Wal-Mart

I have never seen a retailer that receives so much ridicule and scorn as Wal-Mart and I never quite understood why. I do understand that they are big and that some businesses go out when they move into town. I can understand how that makes them seem evil. When I read the history of Wal-Mart it seems they are everything you would want from a retailer.

Sam Walton started with one store in Arkansas. Whenever he got a good deal on merchandise rather than hang on to the profit he would pass that on to the customer. Word spread and his store grew and he eventually opened a second store and a third… As he opened more stores he got better deals since he was buying large quantities. All the while he kept passing those savings on to the customer. Over time, it was his lack of greed that made his company so big.

So now we are upset because they charge less than other stores and sometimes put them out of business. Does that mean we want them to charge more?

Another thing people claim that everything in Wal-Mart is from China. Well I took a look when I was there and I found that a lot of the items were from the US. There were items from China and Singapore like play stations games, TVs, toys, iPads however these things are made in China no matter where you buy them.

I have also heard that they are not good to their employees. I checked their web site and their benefits look quite good.

1. Consumer-directed health plans including
2. No lifetime maximum
3. 100% coverage for eligible preventive care when you use a network provider
4. Coverage for dependents up to age 26
5. No pre-existing condition limits for anyone under age 19
6. $4 co-pay on more than 2,000 eligible generic drugs
7. Ask Mayo Clinic Nurse Line - speak to a registered nurse 24/7
8. Life with Baby Maternity Program - your own personal support network before, during and after pregnancy
9. Quit Tobacco program
10. Dental Insurance
11. Resources For Living® -- confidential counseling and health information service free to all associates 24/7
12. Company-paid life insurance
13. Optional and dependent life insurance
14. Accidental death & dismemberment insurance (AD&D)
15. Critical illness and accident insurance
16. Short- and long-term disability insurance
17. Illness protection (sick time)
18. Associate Eyewear Program
19. Matching contributions to your 401(k) up to 6%
20. Associate Stock Purchase Plan with a company match of 15% up to the first $1,800 purchased each Plan year
21. Associate Discount Card for Walmart associates, spouses and dependents for 10% discount on regular priced general merchandise and fresh produce purchased at a Walmart store.
22. Sam’s Club memberships for Sam’s Club associates
23. Discounts travel, entertainment and more
24. Military differential pay
25. Paid time-off including: holidays, vacation, personal, bereavement and jury duty

So why do we hate them so much?

To mee the irony is that we hate them for passing the savings to the customer and becoming big because of that.