Wal-Mart haters, what have you done lately?

The BBQ Pit
1

I’m not even pitting those of you that have a blinding-rage hatred of the company. It’s somewhat a GQ, but with the topic, it’ll end up here anyway.

Go ahead and give all the cites you want of the poor, hapless clown that didn’t have the common sense to know Federal law doesn’t allow for unpaid overtime.

Go ahead and give me the cite where workers were locked in overnight. (Cites taken based on people too stupid to know that fire exits can’t be locked from the outside.)

Gimme cites of people forced to work with hazardous chemicals without protection that they wanted.
Now before you hit submit, link to the corporate policy saying this is how it’s to be done. Can’t? Maybe it’s the managers of each store deserving the pittings. But I digress.
So, Wallyworld haters, what have you done to prevent EVIL STORE[sup]TM[/sup] from turning your city into a dry husk?

Has your city lost all small businesses? Are there any independant stores left? How many new independants have opened since the Corporate Greed[sup]TM[/sup] infected your town? Just thoughts, no need for answers if you don’t want to give them.

Now, what have you done about this rotten scourge on the small business owner?

If it’s really a national concern, which Representatives and Senators have you lobbied? What have they said about it?

If it’s a state concern, whom have you contacted?

If it’s county-based, how many meetings did you show up at to block the expansion?

Down to your city, you have a big chance of making your point to keep Satan himself out of the city limits. What have you done on this front?

So there it is. You’re convinced Wal-Mart is going to lead to the fall of the republic. What have you done to stop the spread of eeeevvvviiiilllll?

2

OOOh Ooooh wait!!! (holds hand high) I remember this one, it was in “A Few Good Men”. Kevin asks the Marine to point to the part in “the book” where it commands the marines to give “Code Reds” to wayward fellow Marines.

Boycotted them, but if you’ve got some better ideas, I’m ALL for them.

3

Well, you’ve missed the point of the OP. (Don’t worry, many will)

Other than boycotting them, what have you done to stop them from being a drain on your city? Boycotting is rather passive. And if Wal-Mart is truly a force that wants to kill your town, it seems you might have taken a more proactive stand.

Other than posting to a board, what are you doing to drive them out of your town? Don’t you even care about the mom-and-pop shops that are, as we speak, shutting down because of the scourge?

4

No, it was an honest question. Like a lot of people, I’m not cognizant of all the little political ins ans outs that it takes in order to accomplish something of that magnitude. Your question, or challenge rather, is a good one, I just think you’ll find a lot of people like me, those that have the desire, but not the know how.

Although, I"m not a rabid Walmart hater, I’m merely of the “vote with my pocketbook” school of thought. However, if I knew of a way to “drive them out” as you say, I honestly would give some energy to that end.

5

I minimize my use of WalMart. Walmart itself helps me in my quest to minimize my shopping there.

I work 11-7. WalMart is open all night,presumably to restock. So how come they didn’t have something as common as an 18" wiper blade in stock at 7:15 a.m.?

I had to stay up past 8 a.m. to go get one at O’Reilly’s. They were cheaper by a buck than Wally’s would have been had they bothered to stock one.

Wally’s grocery department is crap. Lots of square footage but no selection:

  1. One brand of yogurt other than the store brand.

  2. Only 4 flavors of jelly. Only 2 brands other than store brand.

  3. As the aggressive owner of my local favorite grocery–No Frills-- points out in his meat ads, Wally’s chickens are up to 20% added brine; ditto their ground beef.

  4. Name brand pop, which tastes better than Sam’s Choice, almost never goes on sale at Wally’s.

  5. Target beats them on paper towels, T.P., and cat food. And No frills has started carrying ferret food at the same price as Wally’s, so I don’t have to either hold my nose and do business with Wally’s or drive 6 miles to Petco.

I think that once Wally’s kills a Kmart, as they did in my little burg, they get sloppy and complacent. The shelves used to be neater, fuller, and there used to be a better selection of goods.

Finally, I bought my last car battery from a local guy who, for Wally’s price, not only installed the battery for me but replaced a bad cable end for free.

6

Well, the Wal-Mart here doesn’t have a grocery section. So it seems more a store problem than a corporate problem.

If Target beats Wallyworld on price, well that tells me is that Target is getting the stock at a cheaper price. (Even though Wal-Mart is bullying suppliers into poverty prices) What the hell is Target doing? :eek:

And a car battery? From a discount “big box” store? Anyone buying that deserves the worst. You don’t trust your car’s dependability to anyone that can’t find a distributor cap.

7

And, of course, I was sucked into the attempts of deflecting my OP questions.

I’ll sit back and see if anyone has the balls to do something about their hatred of the company.

Again, what have you done to try to stop the spread of evil.

8

What, are you waiting to hear from someone who burns down Wal-Marts? :rolleyes:
Sorry if all those haters don’t have enough balls for you, duffer.

9

Read the OP again, dummy. I’m asking Wal-Mart haters what they have done to prevent the evilness from invading thier communities.

In fact, I also asked what Wallyworld haters have done to pressure US representatives and Senators from thier districts to do about the pure evil the company is doing.

You, in your infinite wisdom, have offered a roll-eyes smilie on a message board.

Way to stand up for your convivtions.

:non-winking Wally:

10

You may or may not have noticed that we are, for the most part, essentially powerless against the likes of this company. Short of boycotting what do you suggest? Violence? If you honestly think that elected officials, in general, will go to bat for you against a major corporate then you know bugger all about the political process (which is apparent from your posts anyway).

11

Yeah, I read it. And again. I still don’t get the point.

It seems to me that someone who doesn’t want Wal-Mart to further expand only has two rational and effective means to fight.

  1. By not shopping there.
  2. By encouraging others to not shop there.

You know as well as any Wal-Mart “hater” that other than not patronizing Wal-Mart, and trying to expose unethical business practices (that seem to be pervasive in Wal-Marts regardless of a lack of written corporate policy) there isn’t much a person can do about it that will be effective and not criminal. I recall some court challeneges by small towns to keep Wal-Mart out, but I’m fairly certain that went no where. Wal-Mart does have the legal rights to set up shop anywhere they can buy land and get zoned for a large commercial building.

You mentioned contacting one’s representitive. I’ve encouraged my state rep. to vote yes on increasing the minimum wage in my state, but that’s not specifically directed at Wal-Mart at all. There isn’t anything my state rep can do about Wal-Mart, if they’re within the bounds of the law. When they’re not, isn’t that a job for the state Attorney General?

I :rolleyes:'d because your OP really looks like baiting. When I passed it through the dufferfilter™ it came out as: “Here are two rational and effective means of opposing a large comercial entity. Other than those things, tell me about what else you might do so I can make fun of you.” I apologize if I’m mistaken, but do you have any suggestions that you wouldn’t dismiss as ineffective or the usual liberal stuff you like to make fun of?

12

This is the last time I’ll try to clarify. Read the thread title. If you hate Wal-Mart, I want to know what you’re done about the company. These stores aren’t just built because someone feels like laying some concrete. There are government agencies that have to give approval.

In the bigger sense, being such an evil company, your congresspeople have oversight of the company. What have you done, i.e., which Representatives and Senators have you raised your concerns to?

Violence? Where did I mention that?

Grasp all the straws you want. When you finish, come back and let me know what you’ve tried to do to stop the Great Satan.

Don’t worry, I don’t expect anything to come of it. Though there’s a high percentage of Dopers railing against them, it’s still a small percentage of the populave overall.

I just hope that some of the more ardent Dopers, and especially those slamming me for defending them, have the conviction to at least pay lip service to it. But bitching on a board is so much easier than taking a stand.

13

But if you don’t try, you won’t ever know if your elected officials are the ones that will go to bat or not.

http://www.sprawl-busters.com/index.html for many more stories like it.

14

And you may never get it

Well, no, I guess I don’t “know” it. The horror stories I’ve read are so far beyond anything I’ve ever witnessed or heard about that it seems more a problem with those few people in charge of those stores. Can’t cite corporate policy? Don’t tell me it’s coporate policy, then. See? Kinda simple. Like you.

Wait, you recall court challenges, can’t remember the outcome, and bring it up anyway? OK. And yes, Wal-Mart, like any other person or company, can set up shop if they get the zoning permits. Commercial, residential or industrial. Your point?

Well, yeah, it was in my OP, or wasn’t that clear?

Well, minimum wage applies to any business in a given jurisdiction. Hardly germaine to the OP, but let’s play along. This is kind of fun. State rep, US Attorney General, whatever. I’m asking whom you’ve complained to about this law-breaking corporation?

Yes. Yes you are wrong. Nice try in weaseling out by calling me a dirty conservative though. Point given to you. :rolleyes:

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15

Well in Jonquiere Quebec they managed to get rid of the Great Satan as you put it by deciding to unionize. Walmart didn’t like it and closed shop. Now why would Walmart all of a sudden do that? They cite unreasonable demands from the union however I think it’s more like sending a message to all the other employees at all the other stores.

16

Good for them! I mean it. They had the balls to stand up and actually do something about it. Hope they’re doing well. :slight_smile:

17

You’re snarky today, duf.

Okay, I’m wrong. Do you have any suggestions of an way a person can oppose a large commercial entity that is both effective and legal?

18

Just speaking for myself, but I am not a Wal*Mart ‘Hater’ to the point where I desire to bring the company down, and I don’t absolutely refuse to shop there; OTOH I don’t much care for the range of goods and the overall experience they offer and I just prefer to use alternative sources for consumer goods when I can.

My apologies to duffer for not being able to assist him in his quest to identify and attack what he apparently deems to be a nest of hypocrites on this board.

19

No, he doesn’t. I’d suggest he knows more than you do. If the issue is a big enough deal to enough of the politician’s constituents then that politician will absolutely go to bat for you against anyone who comes along. There’s nothing a politician loves more than looking like a populist hero with tons of grassroots support.

20

In spirit, I support the folks in my community who are actively fighting the placement of a second Wal-Mart in the city I work in. There is an ongoing debate about the way the city handled zoning the proposed construction site(s), how it will ruin the economy and drive small business under, how it will ruin the feel of the neighborhood and property values, all the usual complaints.

I’m an employee of our state’s environmental agency. Until any environmental issues are resolved and my agency is no longer involved in any way, I think it is prudent for me to not get involved directly on either side of the issue. I’m entitled to a personal opinion but don’t want people to think that clouds my professional judgment in any way, so I keep my mouth shut in public.

In practice, I personally boycott Wal-Mart and support local business to the extent possible.