Frontline recently aired an interesting documentary,
Is Wal-Mart Good for America? It was sad to see how Wal-Mart treats small businesses. If businesses won't sell to Wal-Mart at rock-bottom prices, Wal-Mart won't carry their products. Consumers may get a cheaper deal, but businesses can't cover their own costs. This leads to lost jobs. Wal-Mart is also more interested in creating jobs in China than America.
Wal-Mart is a necessary evil, and I feel torn between Wal-Mart and small business. There are some small companies that make great products, and I'll go out of my way or pay more to get them. For basics like a big bottle of Tylenol, I can't justify paying $2 more at the local grocery when I can get it cheaper at Wal-Mart. Until I win the lottery, I have to watch costs. That may mean shopping at Wal-Mart for the best price.
I can't knock the Walton family for what they've done. They developed a unique concept and ran with it. I'd like to see other businesses do the same. I love the "Super" Target in Eau Claire. I'm interested to see if Sears can make the supercenter concept work. Conveinence and price drive commerce, and if other companies can't match Wal-Mart prices, perhaps they can up their level of service to compete. There are a lot of things irritating about Wal-Mart like lack of service, messy and crowded stores, lack of quality items and inconvenient hours (our Wal-Mart closes at 10:00 pm). There is definitely room for a competitor to step in and improve on these things!
The
Frontline website has an excellet review of the documentary... highly worth checking out.
