Understanding the Wal-Mart Effect

"I’m writing this column in West Virginia, USA having just come back from shopping in Wal-Mart, the extraordinarily successful supermarket chain that makes our own look slow and tiny — not to mention expensive! I had to keep blinking at the price labels. With my notion of prices tied to British expectations, Wal-Mart’s just look as though the staff can’t do their sums."

– John Blundell in the New Scotsman

Wal-Mart is rarely the object of such praise. To be the best is usually to be the object of scorn. Wal-Mart knows this well. They are the best, and their critics would have you believe that the mammoth retail chain earned its laurels through unfair competition, civic destruction, even third world exploitation. The stories are familiar: In order to offer such low prices (always), Wal-Mart:

– Puts Mom-n-Pop shops out of business.

– Contributes to the burgeoning of third world sweatshops.

– Degrades communities by introducing a big box aesthetic.

– Makes the Walton family and shareholders even richer.

But it’s time we looked a little deeper into what can only be called the "Wal-Mart effect."

By Max Borders

Full Story: http://remotefarm.techcentralstation.com/041105B.html

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Thanks to Paul Green for passing this along.- Russ