Wal-Mart first ever sales drop

Quote: Face

But what's the alternative? Like you said, it's all cheap garbage now. Even Craftsman I'm starting to suspect has found it cheaper to make garbage and replace it with warranty than it is to keep making quality tools (though an independent test will likely find I'm at least partially at fault for their failures =p).

I think I agree with you on Craftsman. Never top of the line line Snap-on or Mac, Craftsman still had good regular tools. Now they have some neat fancy stuff and that professional line. But the tools your dad had are just not what they were in the 1980s when I had to walk two miles each way twice in a day to get replaced the socket my dad broke with the impact wrench he borrowed from work. Them were the days when you learned to work on cars.

Meijer started the modern supercenter concept, in 1962.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meijer

Their business practices are very different from Walmart.

Quote: AZDuffman

I think I agree with you on Craftsman. Never top of the line line Snap-on or Mac, Craftsman still had good regular tools. Now they have some neat fancy stuff and that professional line. But the tools your dad had are just not what they were in the 1980s when I had to walk two miles each way twice in a day to get replaced the socket my dad broke with the impact wrench he borrowed from work. Them were the days when you learned to work on cars.

I would like to know the "why" behind that.

I have a bunch of old tools, mostly from great grandpa. I could tell em without even looking. Put it in my hand and I'll tell you mine or his. They remind me of the old railroad spikes I used to find lol. We used to find them dated back to the 30's, and the only thing wrong with them is the tie they were in rotted. You just touch it and you know "This won't last forever, but it'll take forever for it to break".

How have we f#$%ed up a simple wrench?!

Quote: beachbumbabs

How many hundreds of thousands of Walmart employees are on welfare? Ask Bernie, then ask yourself if you're willing to continue paying taxes for them, because Walmart doesn't pay them. (Not a Bernie supporter, BTW, but he's right about this).

This makes no sense. By saying this you are saying that before WMT retail jobs paid well. They never did. Retail has always been an entry-level job for unskilled people. WMT pays the same basic wage as their retail competitors (save me the speech on Costco, they are a different market with a different business plan.) Did K-Mart, Murphy Mart, Mr. Wigg, Ames, Zayer, or Grants pay "middle-class wages?" No, they did not. Historically the only retail jobs that pay above entry level would be management, commissioned sales in say menswear or appliances, and the skilled positions like auto service.

I am paying taxes because people in government have set a benefit. This has zero to do with WMT or what they pay. It does have to do with for the most part bad life choices of people who have children out of wedlock at too young an age and no skills to support themselves. They will be on welfare no matter what because of themselves, not WMT.

For all the talk about WMT driving manufacturers out of business, the line to sell to WMT goes around the block. Same with working there, look at how many people apply when they open near an inner city.

If you do not want to shop there don't. I do but not often as I just do not like the quality on many things. On other things I save quite a bit vs the local grocer. But I go to the local for other things. I do what is best for myself, same as WMT and the local place do.

Quote: kenarman

Walmart didn't invent the department store they changed the model from high end to low end.

The superstore concept was born in my
area, by a family company business called
Meijer.

"Meijer is generally credited with pioneering the superstore concept in the United States. The first Meijer Superstore opened in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1962. By contrast, Walmart didn't open its first Supercenter until 1988." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big-box_store#United_States

Wiki has the date wrong, it was 1958. The
store is still there. I think there are now 200
stores in 5 states. Before 1958, there were
no stores in the US that sold groceries,
clothes, plumbing supplies, hardware, liquor,
lumber, housewares, books, on and on,
under one roof. The concept was so new
and so radical, they half expected it to fail.
So when they built the store, the concrete
floor was made thick enough that it could
be turned into a car dealership if the store
was a failure.

It was an immediate huge success. We went
there on a regular basis and when I moved
the SoCalif in 1976, I was very disappointed
there wasn't store anywhere that sold everything
under one roof. Meijer even had a barber shop
and beauty parlor, and shoe repair shop. It
was wonderful.

Does meijer.com have it wrong too? They say 1962.
Http://newsroom.meijer.com/meijer-history

Quote: Dalex64

Does meijer.com have it wrong too? They say 1962.
Http://newsroom.meijer.com/meijer-history

I must be remembering Meijer before
it was called Thrifty Acres. I was only
8 in 1958. I probably thought it was
always called Thrifty Acres.

I know what it is. The part of the store
with the curved roof opened in 1954.
They added the rest later and called it
Thrifty Acres. I first went there in 1958.
Meijer is unique in that when they build
a new store, they own the land it's on
and the store is paid for. This means
slow growth but it makes them impervious
to recessions.

Quote: Nareed

I'll let you in on a little secret: The Walmart model was standard for supermarkets in Mexico since the 70s or even earlier.

Also, Walmart entered in a joint venture with a Mexican supermarket chain called Aurrera in the 90s. Eventually Walmart bought them out and changed the name of the corporation to Nueva Walmart de Mexico.

You must learn to read more carefully EB. I talked about the department stores in the 50's.

Quote: kenarman

You must learn to read more carefully EB. I talked about the department stores in the 50's.

What about them. Dept stores have been
around since the 1800's. But none of
them sold groceries, meat, dairy, hardware,
electrical, large appliances, lumber,
housewares, and everything else, under
one roof. And then Sam Walton stole
the idea from Meijer and ran with it.

Not sure what department stores you grew up with EB but the home grown Woodward stores in western Canada sold everything you listed above but lumber. I haven't been in a WalMart that sells lumber yet but maybe in your part of the world. What was called the food floor in Woodwards had a very good reputation as well priced and high quality place to shop. It included butchers who cut their own meat. Some of the suburban stores even had gas bars. Alas the big box stores were the end of them and they went broke and disappeared 20 or 30 years ago.