How long until Walmart takes over the world?

Down with Walmart - They come into communities, close small shops offer nothing in return
Corporate Greed.

They offer low paying, part time jobs, no benefits, or security.

They offer china built garabage products, there food is over priced left overs, the clothing line made in india and God knows where else is cheap in quality but not in price.

When Walmart came to Canada - they adverised we buy as much products for our store that are made in Canada - that quickly changed and now I dare you to find aproduct made in Canada in wally mart.

I personally don't shop there - and if the majority of canadians stopped shopping there until the cleaned up the stores, offer better products, service, treat there employees better - walmart would fade away.

I go in once in while to look - the fruit is old, rotten and full of flies. As well as the veggies, the store is dirty and expensive. I was looking at the price of tires and they seemed ok until they tell you to add $20 per tire for installation - basically amking more expensive than the local tire shop

People should do there homework, go online, call ahead, shop around and you will find they are more expensive than the rest. Just like No-frills, price chopper, and Food basics - they offer crap at high prices

I am all in favor if these stores just closed down and went away - wake up people stop shopping at these stores until they close down!!!!

So Bob, as an actual employee, your comment is riddled with inaccuracies. They offer many full time positions with benefits and I am pretty secure in my position. In fact, if I feel like I want another opportunity, they will help find me one. I dont need to work at walmart because I have another job, but I enjoy their corporate leadership. I think my Walmart treats us employees pretty wonderfully. I am a happy employee and will defend them till I can no longer defend them. I was living in a small remote town and greedy mom and pop was making cash off me hands over fist and they never gave back to my community. Unlike Walmart, who constantly does raise money for charity, donates end of season clothes to various needed places and rewards employees. The beauty of this whole thing, you have a choice...and that is what walmart offers....a choice.

Well associate - you are a brain washed wally mart employee
basically you live in a small town where you didn't have 2 quaters to rub together - so along comes walmart to the rescue and brain washes the employees to think that working and support walmart is the best thing since sliced bread. I agree they raise money for charity - like any other charity they raise millions and give out pennies don't be fooled with the signage in the store - demad for proof of what was collected and what was donated.

I am sure they donate the crappy clothing - the people who accept this clothing probaly have nothing at all and anything is better than nothing - even wally mart clothing.

Like I said before - Shop around, go online to check pricing and you will find better quality for the same price - I didn't say mom and pop shops are the way to go - once again look, and shop around
you will find better. Example I purchased a gas BBQ this summer - I bought mine from a specialty BBq shop paid if $349.99 this BBQ will last me 10yrs plus not the china junk rusting in walmart's floor
If it can rust in the store imagine what it will do in the elements at home.

JUNK, JUNK, JUNK - that;s what walmart's new slogan should be - Buy Junk - Live like Crap

Sure you'll spend less - live better - they should say spend less and keep spending cause our stuff is junk

You need therapy so you can get unbrainwashed if there is even a term.

I don't know how your stores are in the US but in Canada they are the worst excuse i've seen for retail.

Then again in Canada there target customer group is the new Caandian ( from india, pakistan, and the middle east) those people came from crap and instead of changing for the better they revert back to buy crap in wally mart cause it's cheap. way to go!!!

Corporate leadership you say- you mean corporate greed!!!!!

Walmart offers cheap prices for those who have little. At the same time, their tactics are despicable in many cases. I don`t shop there. They were supposed to buy a lot of Canadian made good. That`s gone out the window.

Sad to hear people saying that Mom and Pop store are ripping them off.
If you had any idea of the costs associated with doing business, at least here in Canada, then you wouldn't have made that comment. Mom and Pops have far more cost on a percentage basis then the big box stores, without the volume to support it so therefore they need to have higher prices to make a half decent living. Considering most Mom and Pop store owners work an average of 70-90 hours a week and on top of all that behind the scenes work, they have the stress of losing their life savings, looming over their head day in and day out. Most employees contribute JACK and expect the world. The typical employee, calling in sick when they feel like it, quitting at the drop of a hat after the employer shells out hard earned money to train you and taking your time because you don’t feel like doing more. Most Mom and Pops have always been hard workers, that’s why they succeed, which you wouldn’t understand because your just some low life loser that has never had to work an honest day in his life. You enjoy your WALMART job. Keep in mind as we embrace these stores we create the vehicle for more to come and as they do, more and more jobs and small business will leave. You my friend are CREATING a box store Nation. Good luck in all your future endeavours.

Sad to hear people saying that Mom and Pop store are ripping them off.
If you had any idea of the costs associated with doing business, at least here in Canada, then you wouldn't have made that comment. Mom and Pops have far more cost on a percentage basis then the big box stores, without the volume to support it so therefore they need to have higher prices to make a half decent living. Considering most Mom and Pop store owners work an average of 70-90 hours a week and on top of all that behind the scenes work, they have the stress of losing their life savings, looming over their head day in and day out. Most employees contribute JACK and expect the world. The typical employee, calling in sick when they feel like it, quitting at the drop of a hat after the employer shells out hard earned money to train you and taking your time because you don’t feel like doing more. Most Mom and Pops have always been hard workers, that’s why they succeed, which you wouldn’t understand because your just some low life loser that has never had to work an honest day in his life. You enjoy your WALMART job. Keep in mind as we embrace these stores we create the vehicle for more to come and as they do, more and more jobs and small business will leave. You my friend are CREATING a box store Nation. Good luck in all your future endeavours.

Sad to hear people saying that Mom and Pop store are ripping them off.
If you had any idea of the costs associated with doing business, at least here in Canada, then you wouldn't have made that comment. Mom and Pops have far more cost on a percentage basis then the big box stores, without the volume to support it so therefore they need to have higher prices to make a half decent living. Considering most Mom and Pop store owners work an average of 70-90 hours a week and on top of all that behind the scenes work, they have the stress of losing their life savings, looming over their head day in and day out. Most employees contribute JACK and expect the world. The typical employee, calling in sick when they feel like it, quitting at the drop of a hat after the employer shells out hard earned money to train you and taking your time because you don’t feel like doing more. Most Mom and Pops have always been hard workers, that’s why they succeed, which you wouldn’t understand because your just some low life loser that has never had to work an honest day in his life. You enjoy your WALMART job. Keep in mind as we embrace these stores we create the vehicle for more to come and as they do, more and more jobs and small business will leave. You my friend are CREATING a box store Nation. Good luck in all your future endeavours.

I have a natural bias against american companies dropping too many roots or buying out canadian companies(even canada has it's 2% of rich idiots who don't look at the consequences) so you may think my opinion is in fact biased but it's not.
I've had 3 experiences with walmart with items i bought and in all 3 cases, despite looking shiny and new, they all fell apart in short order. My most recent purchase was a pair of slippers.....less than 8 days later the padding was falling out of them as the entire heel appeared to have literally disintegrated. Nice quality there wallymart. And i've heard stories from MANY other shoppers with similar experiences.
I may barking up the wrong conspiracy theory tree here but i smell a rat as far as why/how one of canada's oldest chains(zellers) is suddenly going under(there may be other mitigating facts i don't know in this scenario)

Mom and pop stores arent trying to rip people off, but they do cost more. As bad as you all are making Walmart out to be, its not that bad. I live in a small town where the cheapest pair of jeans i can buy are $100.00 from a mom and pop store. I can get my jeans for 28.99 at wall mart. Yes i know theyre probably not the same quality but for a low income guy like myself what the heck am i supposed to do? spend triple just to support local bussiness? not a chance. If i get my baby stuff (diapers formiula etc...) i save nearly 50% by going to wallmart. All you people that have lots of $ and can shop at all the moom and pop stores go do it. Dont come on here and wine about wallmart when low income families like mine need to shop there to make our dollar go as far as we can. Yea itd be great if wallmart paid their employees more, but hey... thats how they keep costs down. wallmart has lots of employees who dont find it that bad, why should you?
WHEN ALL YOU PEOPLE FIND A WAY TO HELP LOWER INCOME FAMILIES MAKE MORE MONEY, OR MOM AND POP STORES TO FIGURE A WAY TO CUT COSTS SO THEY CAN SELL CHEAPER, PEOPLE ARE GONNA SHOP AT WALLMART. BOTTOM LINE.

I am not sure what towns or cities many of you were living in, but where I lived Mom and Pop stores benefited primarily Mom and Pop. I worked for more than a few of them when I was young, and while they were local, they certainly did not pay high wages. In fact, they almost always paid minimum wage, offered no benefits at all, and may or may not have been good employers.

The simple fact is that Wal-Mart, and many other companies like them, have benefited consumers by reducing prices on many items that used to be marked up by insane amounts at smaller chains and independant retailers. Simple math will tell you that getting rid of Walmart would hurt a lot more people than it would benefit, but then again, most people who oppose Walmart, and large corporations in general, already know that. They simply enjoy protesting and complaining, regardless of whether or not it makes sense.

Wall Mart Sucks

Just a quick note on the charity comment..... First, make no mistake ,the money Walmart donates to charity is collected at the cash register from customers who have been solicited by Walmart emplyees. And two, Walmart recieves a full charitable tax receipt for collecting other peoples money and forwarding it on.With respect to Mom and Pop stores, remember that all those little stores were the engine of our economy before Walmart and all the money they earned supported their local communities.in the form of taxes employment etc. All the money Walmart earns leaves our country and is shuttled off to the U.S. I for one will not shop Walmart and I challenge everyone who reads this to do the same.

What bugs me is that people seem to suggest that Walmart somehow sells products that are not sold in any other stores. Yes, they do have their own brand of products, the same as many other large stores these day. But they also sell brand name products the same as are sold in many other stores and of the same quality. So saying that everything they sell is crap is based not on facts, but on emotions. So far in my community the number of stores, including smaller stores, has increased since Walmart came here. I guess it all depends on where you are and what is happening in the economy in your area.

Way back I took an economics course and Walmart was discussed then, this was before it came to Canada. It was stated that a common practise among many large stores prior to walmart was to place a large order, then cancel at least a part of it once it was ready. The manufacturer was then approached with a deal. The company would be willing to take it off his hands but only at a fraction of the cost. As a result of this, manufacturers started building in an increased profit into their costs meaning, of course, higher prices. Walmart at least started by guaranteeing what they ordered, and the price they ordered it at, would be honored. As a result they were able to negotiate better prices for many of the goods since the manufacturer could count on getting its money as agreed.

Wal-Mart accelerated the shift of wealth from the west to emerging economies, helped develop a culture of over consumption, and increased the concentration of wealth.

In my view it discourages the notion of quality and created the mindset and temporal distortion that it is always better to use and discard and buy another when needed.....(from my perspective, the abuse of poorly paid workers, underestimation of environmental costs, subsidized oil industry will eventually need to be corrected…maybe it will take a decade or two, but it will happen)

In essence it has accelerated the destabilization of the global economy and the value system our parents and their worked so hard to create.

But if everyone wants to rush to door to get that 5th crappy TV for their two bedroom shack, and watch their neighbors relegate themselves to serving cokes at the mac buried in the corner of the local Wal-Mart with no hope in site.........oh well

Too bad we bankrupted ourselves just so China could get its western economy.....just wish I could have made a buck or two as part of the process.

Everybody has an opinion, but nobody has an answer! For all you WalMart complainers, how about going out and securing investors for the bright idea of running an anti WalMart type organization and let's see how far you get with that. It is so easy to be an arm chair quarterback when you speak of things that you have no idea about. For the idiot BOB who gave a useless example of purchasing a bbq for 349.99, yet offered no equivalent at WalMart for comparison...according to your logic i should go out and buy an Apple for $2 and forgo the Orange for $1 because the Apple is of better quality and they are both fruits, so they are the same. But wait...isn't that comparing Apples to Oranges...hahaha!!! I am by no means a corporate supporter, however why are we blaming the WalMarts of the world for being greedy when they are only doing what GOVERNMENT is allowing them to do. WE the people are responsible for what is going on and we allow it by putting people in power and accepting what they say as gospel. If you truly want change then you will have to do what PEOPLE as a whole are unwilling to do and that is fight back. I suspect the BOB's of the world are not willing to give up their cushy job to join the fight, because that would be too much of a sacrifice and who would pay their bills, make sure the family is fed on their $349.99 bbq!!!! The world has changed quite a bit since i was born 42 yrs ago and you either move with the times or fight back and since i have been born there has been no real effort to fight back here in CANADA. There are unfortunately a lot of people who rely on the big box stores to survive, so unless you have a solution for the masses then your idea of not shopping their with no alternative is self serving at best...wait, i understand now...the BOB's of the world can sleep at night because they don't shop at WalMart...great solution BOB!!!!

walmart is the best, i went to shoppers a week ago to buy band aids and shampoo, it was $8.99 for the band aids and $17.99 for the shampoo, a few days later i was in walmart and saw the same box of band aids for $4.99 so i decided to look for the same shampoo and it was $10.48... why support a company that doesn't support you? also i'm sure that shoppers is a big enough company to have the same purchasing power especially when it comes to health related products but clearly they just choose to charge almost double and for what reason? there open until midnight? the walmarts in the gta are all opened until 11pm if not 24hours so? i regretted buying from shoppers especially when the walmart is 1km down the street. and be real about the cheap quality thing, there home brand might be cheap but they sell every other brand just like all the other retailers and 90% of the time walmart is cheaper but there are times when they are not, just shop around online and research your purchases, thats the best way to save and at the end of the day you gotta look out for yourself because a mom and pop wont and neither will a corporation... also people forget that walmart has the best return policy in the country and thats a big thing because when you buy from a small store, your basically married to that product unless its broken out the box and if you do get a refund they usually charge a 10-15% restocking fee and only have a 7-14 day return policy... once again walmart wins, how people hate on a company that just saves you money is beyond me, just think back to before they had a big prescence in canada, prices on EVERYTHING were alot higher. take care

Shop at Walmart all the time for most of my daily items and grocery needs. The Walmart that I shop at has already researched other store's weekly specials and instead of having to carry around all of the other stores sales flyers in order to price match(a hassle for customers behind me in the checkout line) they have already done this for me by pricing the product at the other stores sale price. I find that this makes for a simple and streamlined shopping experience. I also fill all of my prescriptions at Walmart and get a better price on the drug and dispensing fee than at a store such as Shoppers Drug Mart(a store which I refuse to frequent since their prices on the same items I purchase at Walmart are always much more expensive-a practice which my father used to refer to as the good old Canadian Ripoff. A funny experience at Walmart. I passed the back of a car in the parking lot which had a bumper sticker that read-Out of a job yet Keep buying foreign. Sounds like this is another person who says one thing with one side of his mouth(to look good in front of his friends) and then does exactly the opposite when they think nobody is watching.

I boycotted shopping at Walmart years ago. They are the most evil corporation I have ever seen. In my opinion they have accelerated the gutting out of North American manufacturing. They force there suppliers to use the cheapest labour possible i.e. China. No labour laws there. Their tactics are despicable and I refuse to further the fortunes of the Walmart empire. I haven't seem much of anything Canadian coming out of a Walmart store. They have a crap labour relation. My understanding is that when you work for Walmart you are on call at their whim and so trying to get a second job to supplement your Walmart wages is out of the question. I wish people would do their homework and look at the big picture in all of this rather than scurrying like rats to get the "Lowest Price". There is a movie out there called The High Cost of Low Prices. Check it out.

Chinamart is a corporation that Americans especially, but Canadians as well , should boycott until they fold up. All the manufacturing has headed to countries with cheap slave labor and then sold to us,posting huge profits for very few. They offer garbage jobs, selling garbage, and are contributing hugely to the demise of North America. Wake up people, keep buying the crap that the 3rd world is pumping out and we will soon be the proud grandparents of our little darling who happily secured a job as a nanny......... in china.

I have read most of these comments and WalMart is not the problem... It is the people who CHOOSE to shop there. No one puts a gun to my head and says buy WalMart, we do it of our own accord. And as for people who say they are Mom and Pop killers it is not totally true. Businesses can survive alongside a WalMart and do well the major problem it has is a lack of product knowledge and they do not specify in a particular consumer category (higher end fashion, Computers, etc). believe me when I need a camera the last place I will go is WalMart I head to the local photography shop where they know what I want and they can show me what I have missed. And finally to add I can't remember the last time I spent 1,000 dollars at WalMart but I just got a new Rebel T3i and all the stuff that comes with it and it was over 1,200 dollars at your local Mom and Pop shop :)

It's been over twelve years since I've been in a Wal-Mart store, and it will be a cold day in hell before I'll ever step into a Wal-Mart store ever again. Even if hell should freeze over you couldn't even pay me to go into one.

I knew a couple of people who once worked for them and they both said it was the worst job they've ever had, and it's one of the worst companies anyone could work for.

Wal-Mart is set up to destroy any compitition, communities, create low paying jobs. They are also extremely anti-labour. You even talk about a union they'll make your life a living hell or fire you. If a store attempts to unionize they'll close it down.

I've done a lot of research on this company and I found that Wal-Mart is nothing less than a vile lowlife parasite corporation that can go and f**k themselves.

The people on this forum who are defending Wal-Mart either work for them or knows someone who works for them, or knows nothing about what this scumbag company is about. These people need to get their heads out of their a** check up on this company and find out what their really about. Do some research on Wal-Mart, it will make you sick to see how this company really operates.

Well I believe Walmarts entry into India would be great for them all of the upcoming markets need to get used to the big corporate competitors to help bring their society up to teh world standard for getting goods from reuteable and reliable suppliers . I am sure some Mom and Pop companies will shut down but I also believe so many other people will benifit from what the giants can offer to all not just the few. It is the beginning of briniging all the world closer to equal standards for all.

wal-mart (in my city): 20 cashier stations, plus customer service
real canadian superstore: 8 self-serve stations, plus 14 (maybe more) cashier stations

1) if there are line-ups -
w-m: sucks to be you, they won't open more tills
rcss: "I can help someone on till (number here)...."

2) if you need help finding an item -
w-m: good luck finding staff who speak English
rcss: "aisle (number), it should be about halfway down, but let me call an associate from that area..." (while pulling out phone to call ahead)

3) Canadian or US made -
w-m: huh???? i think we have some maple syrup in the grocery aisle
rcss: maple leaves and/or stars & bars are everywhere

'nuff said, yes?

It's not just Wal-mart that sells cheap Chinese crap. I attended a baseball game in Seattle last month & bought 2 souvenirs - a regulation baseball & a baseball cap. Both were made in China & were sold at a Seattle Mariners game. I thought baseball was America's national pastime!! Apparently not.

you tube video, THe High Cost of Low Prices, is one way of viewing walmart. I think we vote with our wallets, ranting rarely changes other people's minds.

Wal-mart represents all that is wrong with aour ecconomy. When allow so much leverage into the hands of a few Corporate brands unfortunately the marketplace will dry up. I am a former insider of Wal-mart management and seen first hand how corporate greed takes hold within it's infastructure.
Yes, executives have to answer to shareholders but when money is dried up from the backs of workers who face minimum wage jobs mostly part time and 30 cent raises each year not to mention the denial of benefits all in the name of increased profits, something is morally wrong and our society calls this good business. Nothing makes me more upset then to see this type of exective who truly believe they are good people. Sam Walton said "Take care of your people and they will take care of you". Well Sam, sorry may God have mercy on your soul. You set the seeds of the EVIL EMPIRE.
Remember, I am a former manager, I spent entire 30 years working in the absence of unions but always mindful of if you give respect you get it back. This strategy always aided me in maintaining non union workplaces. Today's Walmart lost this somehow some way by means of a few knuckle heads whose greed replaced Sam's culture.

The culture you ask? Walmart has 3 basic beliefs and buy have they changed.

Respect for the individual - Used to be a basic respect we ask all are human and should be given basic dignity. Now it is shown by increased bonuses for top executives, denial of a even a modest income for the worker and no health care benefits. 67 year old women epected to unload trucks through restructuring. Not mention, overworked associates in tears because of cut backs

In business to serve the needs of our customers- Used to be that stores gave associates the power to solve customers issues and homeoffice gave stores the control they needed to serve their market.
Now customers are faced with few staff if any to serve them. Associates are caught up in mountain of policies and rules which literally take away any control. Stores are guided by a strict measure in merchandising by corporate who's buying team have a higher turnover rate then some stores.

Strive for exellence in all we do- Used to be that associates were mentored encouraged and rewards for excellence in their job. Today's Walmart makes each associate interchangable which means no one is better than another. Dairy associates folding towels, Toy associates as cashiers, Maintenance assiciates baking bread. There are no experts in a Walamrt. No pride, no drive.

So you ask how long till Walmart takes over the world?

Let me answer by a statement. With no moral compass to guide this company and no single power willing to stand up to them, Each one of us has to ask, do we really need that patio set. even if we are causing ill to someone else?

If inprisonment was legal and slave labour allowed, Walmart would change it's ways be the first to sign up

As a previous employee of Walmart I have to agree with Electronics Associate. Until you have been an employee of Walmart you really shouldn't point the finger and criticize. I found them to be a good employer whom paid competitive wages compared to other retail chains in my area. Like most retail chains Walmart does have a Fulltime/Parttime ratio and always promotes to fulltime from within. The benefits that they offer to their fulltime employees are excellent and they also offer stock options which can be of great benefit to those that take part.

As for the Charity aspect of Walmart, their contributions to the communities that they enter does not stop at what is "collected at the register" as someone so ignorantly pointed out. Walmart also allows organizations and charities to canvas at their locations and fully supports them in their efforts. As a parttime Avon representative I was allowed to set up a table at the front of a Walmart store in my community and raise funds for Breast Cancer during the month of October. Not only did they allow me this opportunity, but the Pharmacy department within Walmart offered me brochures on self examination and they even contacted the local Department of Health for further information that I could provide at my table. At the completion of the month long campaign, Walmart Canada from their own coffers matched dollar for dollar all donations that I took in during that time.

I would suggest that before you criticize an organization you get your facts straight!

Alright, let's do a small comparison...we have a choice of Walmart or Shoppers Drug Mart (yes Canadian, but still a large corporation who would use the same business practices as Walmart if they could). A typical shopping trip where we purchase 20 everyday items (toothpaste, razors, cereal, memory card, cosmetics, gel, some stationary, snacks, etc). The cost at Shoppers is an average of $1.00 more per item (usually more than that) which means every time I do my shoppping I am spending $20.00 more, $22.60 with hst, than I would going to Walmart. Oh, and if Shoppers has a sale, well, Walmart is more than happy to match their price...if it isn't already cheaper.

Yes, the business practice may really suck but it is a practice that is used by the majority of retailers, just on a larger scale. Do you think mom and pop care if you working part time for minimum wage? Are they going to lower their price to accomodate those on a lower income? The answer is no. I understand that they have higher prices to pay as they can't purchase in bulk, but why should I pay more of my hard earned money to line their pockets?

I like my money, I work hard for the little money that I get and I have to do additional work in my spare time just to make ends meet which I wouldn't be able to do overpaying for goods at "mom and pop stores" or smaller chains that also don't do anything for the community.

Walmart is no different than any other retailer, just much, much larger and much cheaper. Oh, and since I live on the border I also prefer to cross over to the US Walmart as typically they are even cheaper than their Canadian stores! Don't hate me cuz I'm on a limited budget, instead, try to understand how the other half lives. I'm up for taking donations from all those people who can afford to pay more money for the same products at non-Walmart stores!

I personally don't like walmart or many of the corporations today. We are all to blame for this.
Everyone points at walmart like it operates on its own and we always ignore the real problem.

We are the problem. We create these corporations and allow people to make huge profits off the sweat of the everyday working man/women.

The walmart's family wealth is estimated at 107 Billion. You don't get this rich without "ripping" someone off.

However, we the people are fine with giving 20% +/_ to the governments in taxes, and are happy creating billionaires all over the world. We are also fine, with having slave labour make our goods as long as we can save $22.60 cents.

We all know slave labour is not right, but as long as we can benefit it is okay? However, if I opened a sweatshop here, the police would be at my door and putting me in jail. Where is the difference in humanity? Just because one county doesn't have the rules we have, doesn't make it right!

Anyhow, the problem is bigger than walmart. The problem starts with us greedy humans who always try to find a ways to pay someone less, to make more for ourselves.

You know there is a serious problem, when the walmart family can afford to give everyone in the world $5.00 and still have billions left. (now add up all the billionaires and divide their fortunes - it would be suprising)

Imagine what would happen if they actually paid their employees according to the profit they bring in? The world would be a bit better, at least in my opinion.

In Thunder Bay within the next 6-12 months you won't be able to swing a dead cat around in a circle without hitting a big-box retail store. I feel like we are in the middle of an experiment with so many stores opening or already operating. Wal-mart, Zellers (leaving), Target (coming), more Wal-marts opening. In addition we have the regulars i.e. Future Shop, Chapters, Superstore, Canadian Tire etc. You can't help feel sorry for any independent retailers whether you like them or not.