GAH.

[kuangning]

Download the Factsheet (PDF)

Wal-Mart sales clerks made an average of $8.23 an hour—or $13,861 a year—in 2001. That's nearly $800 below the federal poverty line for a family of three. (Source: Business Week)

In Georgia, Wal-Mart employees are six times more likely to rely on state-provided health care for their children than are employees of any other large company. (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Reliance on public assistance programs in California by Wal-Mart workers costs the state's taxpayers an estimated $86 million annually. (Source: UC Berkeley Study)

In the first decade after Wal-Mart arrived in Iowa, the state lost 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building supply stores, 161 variety stores, 158 women's apparel stores, 153 shoe stores, 116 drugstores, and 111 men's and boys' apparel stores. (Source: Iowa State University Study)

Every year Wal-Mart purchases $15 billion worth of products from China. (Source: Washington Post)

Today Wal-Mart uses over 3,000 Chinese factories to produce its goods—almost as many factories as it has stores in the U.S. (3,600). (Source: L.A. Times)

All else being equal, U.S. counties where new Wal-Mart stores were built between 1987 and 1998 experienced higher poverty rates than other U.S. counties. (Source: Pennsylvania State University Study)

Wal-Mart laid down rules regarding labor conditions in its foreign suppliers' factories, but unlike almost every other retailer, it refuses to allow those factories to be inspected, so how well the rules are being followed is anybody's guess. (Source: LA Times)


I know that Wal-Mart's prices are low; I see it over and over again in communities that deal with getting by when you haven't got much money. But what all of the above add up to is that saving that dollar or two on bleach or bread or the toy or book you want is costing you much, much more in other areas. You saved five dollars on your groceries but you're paying through the nose for the Medicaid program the clerk's kids are on, because she can barely afford rent on what they pay her, let alone make the insurance premiums, low though they might be. Doesn't sound like a bargain to me. The only ones who win when people shop Wal-Mart -- is Wal-Mart. They tout how much they "give back", but what they give back doesn't begin to compensate for what's lost when they move into an area and dominate it. I'd like to see folks stop recommending Wal-Mart as an option for buying anything. If no-one shopped there, they'd be forced to change their business practices to win customers back.

Comments

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I had a discussion about this today with okoshun. I think it went something like this:

Her: I want to hit up Wal-Mart for an air purifier.
Me: Do we have to buy it from Wal-Mart? They really are utter evil.
Her: Where else could we go?
Me: Sears? Costco? Anywhere else, really?
Her: Yeah, I suppose. It'll be cheaper at Wal-Mart.
Me: Sometimes I'd rather have principles than $5.
Her: You have a point.

(We ended up finding a nice air purifier at Home Depot.)

[kuangning]

Nowhere in here did I say anyone shopping at Wal-Mart was either irresponsible or ignorant. They aim to give the lowest prices, and oftentimes they do. That's tempting. I'm just saying that what you save there, you pay out in other ways. Such as when other places feel compelled to slash their workers' pay and benefits to stay competitive with Wal-Mart, who are the biggest company in the world right now, and that ripple effect makes the average pay in those areas bottom out so it's harder to find a job that pays enough. You were the one educating me about the effect a certain ice-cream company has on the dairy farmers they do business with, so I know you understand that the ramifications are the same. That doesn't mean if you shop at Wal-Mart anyway you're a bad person. It just means that Wal-Mart ain't really no bargain.

[kuangning]

Yay. :) David and I have opted out of several businesses lately. Wal-Mart tops the list.

[midnightfae.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I'm just... edgy right now. And it has absolutely nothing to do with what you've said here. Truthfully, were I not so damned sensitive at the moment, I probably wouldn't have blinked, which I why I deleted the comment right after I wrote it.

The real reason for my bitterness is spending all goddamned day re-writing a lab report that I shouldn't have had to rewrite and realizing that I may very well get it back again, because my lab TA is a condescending bastard.

I really shouldn't have taken it out on you, and I really do appologize for that. This damned lab is incredibly aggravating, and its making me a bitch to be around. :(

Like I said, I'm really sorry I snapped and grumbled at you. It seems right now my little red button can be trigged by a feather.

[secretslip.livejournal.com]

Walmart is really cool because they have their own satellite network and a very efficient distribution process.

Walmart isn't cool because they enable people to buy crap. Walmart isn't evil itself, it's the people who "need" all kinds of junk. I stay home and play on the computer or go to the library. I guess I use shampoo. I can't really think of a reason to even go to Walmart. What actually pisses me off is the materialism.

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

I'm almost to the point of Trauma about this, I swear. Saw that report a few weeks ago (or one very similar) and decided I didn't want to shop there. But while I live with my parents, I have to face the fact that 90% of the stuff they buy comes from Wal-Mart, and I can't do anything about it.

Part of me wants to renegotiate my agreement, give up some time and do some more of the housework for a rent cut and take the extra money to a decent store, but when it's not really going to put a dent in THEIR consumerism I pessimistically wonder if it matters.