5 thoughts on “The Reality”

  1. That’s actually a rather cautionary tale about Bentonville when one considers the scores of small communities that had the life sucked out of them by Walmart’s predatory pricing practices in the 80’s and 90’s. Bentonville’s gain was a disaster for places like Brookfield, MO and Morganton, NC.

    • I was living in a small Missouri town in the 1980’s and everybody was really excited when Walmart arrived along with a large grocery store that was part of a regional chain.

      Nobody that I knew was sorry to see the old and dirty town grocery with sky-high prices disappear. Ditto for the poorly-operated local pharmacy. Before Walmart, most people were driving an hour or so to a larger neighboring city for much better selection and lower prices.

      You don’t have to be a large retailer to engage in damaging pricing strategies.

      • Simple test:

        How many employees did the local business pay? How much.
        How many employees did Walmart and the chain grocery pay? How much.

        How many people in town stopped going afield to shop?

        “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.”

        • No comparison on employee treatment by Walmart vs. local retailers. Walmart was much, much better.

          In addition, there was a future for those who worked at Walmart. They could get promotions. One of the people who started at the bottom ended up as a store manager in a nearby town. He was making far more than any non-Walmart retail employee or owner in either town.

          The Walmart pharmacist also earned far more than any other pharmacy owner or employee in town.

          Plus, the employees who exercised their Walmart stock options ended up with much better retirement prospects than anyone in any other retail business around.

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