Do you believe Walmart is bad for the U.S. economy?

I retired 7 years ago and yes I was in management.Yes there was a benefit difference but not when it came to Ins.Regular employees have the same option as management to but stocks in the company.They have profit shareing they get a 10% discount on what they buy and also a 401k.I have a friend that still works there and he's only a produce clerk.I talked with him on the phone last night and I ask him what he was getting per-hour now $19.85 plus he gets 4 weeks a year vacation.Not bad for eastern North Carolina.Man don't believe everything you hear or read on SH if you have a WalMart close by just drop in and ask someone you don't have to buy a thing.We or they now know there's a lot of bad publicity and they will be glad to tell you the truth.

Great prices and lots of jobs. NO. They are not bad.

I think you are forgetting all the jobs lost as companies move overseas to manufacture the cheap crap Walmart sells or American companies just close their doors because they can't compete and sell as low as Walmart can. Walmart is one of the destroyers of the American dream.

I disagree.

You are suggesting that those who shop at Walmart should not do so, but should shop at Safeway, Whole Foods, or Penny and Macys? Now, wonder why the millions who shop at Walmart never thought of that? The food is better at Whole Foods and the clothes at Macys and Pennys are about the same but with a better selection for twice the price. Astouding that these people never thought of your new slant on the subject.

Americans are not thoughtful enough to care that they are killing American jobs with every item purchased at Walmart. I also realize that many do not have a choice as incomes are dropping, jobs are getting lost, and inflation at an actual 10%+ (not the govs BS 2%). Would most Walmart shoppers change if they could? Doubt it.

...it depends on who you are. I'm a fan of efficacy in both business and government but I also believe the estate tax needs to be reenacted.

They have destroyed millions of local family owned stores, and their emphasis on low cost over quality has put millions of US manufacturers out of business.
They are the main reason that US leaders must do what China wants.

I suppose you do your shopping at Nordstrom's and Whole Foods? Perhaps you should encourage those Walmart shoppers to do as you do. Tell them about your experiences
at these two top retailers.

I prefer my local produce shop, and haven't been to Nordys for years. I have enough good suits that I don't need any more.

Obviously you are not in touch with the needs of those who shop at Walmart out of choice for the prices there. Like Mitten and Barbie, perhaps?

300% mark up on communist china junk with nothing but commie shoppers hell yes its bringing this countries workers to their knees , But then thats where corporations want you to be and Cons love being on their knees if it saves them a dime .

They are competetive, successful, HIRING and from what I've read....they seem to be giving back to the community more and more. Half of what is on that graphic is nonsense.

Awww, the 6 Walmart heirs have a net worth equal to the bottom 30% of Americans? Good for them! Sam and James Walton took the RISKS...made the investments and the good business decisions - their heirs deserve the fruits of that labor. On the other hand, MY progenitors DIDN'T....so I have NO claim to that money and no reason to begrudge them their financial success. "Thou shalt not COVET...." remember?

As for Walmart putting the Mom & Pop stores out of business.....what makes them ANY different from the Supermarkets, big-box hardware stores, big-box electronics stores, etc.? Just the latest in a long trend of huge stores buying in bulk and putting the small neighborhood store under.

Agreed, but a lot of it was just the "changing of the times". My wife's dad owned a corner grocery for years when she was a little girl. He fought like hell to keep it open, but they opened a big Kroger and it just crushed his business. People would rather just jump in their cars and drive to where they had a huge selection and flexible hours.

I was just a kid then, so I can't remember if anyone demonized Kroger for putting a dozen mom & pops out of business the way I hear them attacking Walmart. I know for a fact I heard very little when Home Depot and Lowes came in an decimated the small hardware stores.

A generation or so ago most came to realize that variety, selection, convenience, and availability were vital in serving a clientele that had become highly mobile and demanding. Kroger/A&P;/Big Bear, etc could buy in quantities Mom and Pop couldn't even dream of. Small businesses required a whole level of "Wholesalers" to stock and distribute small quantities among many little stores. All of that was destined to come to a halt, not because of Sam Walton or Kroger, but because there was a better and more efficient way to do the business.

Indeed, small business operations have suffered greatly by the mega stores and "national retailers". That is the price of progress and civilization moving on in the eternal quest for change and perfection. I bought a pair of Italian made shoes not long ago for about $100, on sale at a major retailer, of top quality similar to shoes I paid $75 for fifty years ago that were made in the U.S. Given the relative values of money, the shoes would have cost me more than $500 were they made here in the U.S. I wish it weren't so, but reality is that we are part of a world market today and there is nothing we can do about that except adapt as necessary and enjoy the benefits we can find, like the price of shoes and other things made elsewhere.

Look, it is simple free market capitalism. People want to pay less for a product or service and those that can do so are the most successful. Innovations both in product and in service creates a a constant state of change that drives the system. Without change there can be no growth. Where would we be if we did not get beyond the the technological development of the Wright Brothers ,Bell's 1st telephone or the Model T? Walmart to some is a bane to the community, but to many more it is a boon in terms of employment and lower cost products. As long as Americans want to buy cheaper and cheaper products there will always be a Walmart.

This is a yes and no question, as the international costs of forcing people in third world countries to slave in factories to make things cheaper and cheaper is horrible. However, this wouldn't exist if people were interested in buying local, paying a little more and exclusively buying American.

Since everyone wants to pay less, save money, and get the world on a silver platter for a deal someone made a business model to cater to it. So the average person is as guilty as the person sitting in the Wal Mart CEO chair.

We demanded low prices, deals on everything, and they are simply providing a means to get that. Even given the fact Wal Mart is an evil corporation, people can choose to not to shop there as we live in a democracy.

Since everyone everywhere seems to have less and wants more, stores like this are not going away anytime soon.

Ive boycotted Wallmart for over 2 years now. They treat their workers bad, they pay their workers bad and they harm local business. Join me in boycotting wallmart!

I recognize the financial facts of Walmart as shown and...

When people not just want to but expect to pay Walmart prices for original works of art, when mom and pop shops close because they're seen as being in competition with Walmart, when you have difficulty finding products out of the mainstream Walmart appeals to because their quality is higher...this is not good. And it's not what I want either. It's often not the product I want and it's not the community I want.

Where else are some of those fat and disabled people so commonly found working at Walmart going to get work?

a Marxist Play.

I know Walmart is bad news. They have made rfid chips standard on merchandise. Now rfid chips are now everywhere. They also are partnered with the dept of homeland security which is really really bad. They have gotten all kinds of special bell and whistle technology that help the dept of homeland security gain info about you. Since you don't actually see it happening, you don't know how bad it is.

Yea the mom &pop store owners living under a bridge in a cardboard box, are off the grid now.

If you go to google and put in "Walmart and dept of homeland security" as a search a whole lot will come up.
I will gladly show you about the RFID chips and Walmart. I am scanning a page from a book you an buy. I'm sure this info can be found on the web but I have it right in the book so I don't have to go searching. Click on it to make it larger.

Huge tax incentives to the point where they pay almost as little as GE, state paid employee medical, Chinese products on every shelf, undercutting small businesses and then jacking up the price once they fail. Walmart is awful and doesn't get my business.

I am not concerned at all over what businesses pay what taxes. The more they must pay the higher their prices must be, so WE end up paying the taxes anyway.

I'd expect that most of us would rather buy American, but frankly our quality of life improves from lower prices, and many products from China are equal to American while making survival more possible. So many Americans these days are barely surviving, and higher prices make it even more difficult. So Walmart is my store because I can't afford elsewhere.

While it's true that we always pay the taxes, that isnt the point. The point is that when taxes are low for your and high for your competition, you have an unfair trade advantage and can more easily drive your competition out of business. Its the same reason the white house gives Obamacare and EPA waivers. So their buddies can destroy the competition.

Is that really happening?

Yes. Feel free to fact check it.

no thanks, why would I bother? It's not my claim.

Why would you bother? That's a sheeple reply, that's not like you. I would think that you like most libertarians I know would like to stay informed through personal research.

I never bother to check out someone else's claim, that's up to them to prove.

Your loss.

see my reply to Dan below.

Dan, here's the real deal. It has nothing to do with any certain business(es), but rather it's about government regulations giving advantages to those with the best lobbyists. Get rid of government regulating and there's no problem. Best way of doing that is getting rid of being Governed and Ruled, period.

And this is why I won't chase sources on this. We already know the root of such problems. Don't waste your time.