I mostly agree with Martin Hyde, although I would take issue with his contention about millionaire small business owners. There may be a few, but although certainly the vast majority of small businesses in small towns are simply making small livings.
I can’t remember whether I’ve seen that specific documentary, but I have been closely following the story in business publications for decades. I used to work for city government and did some graduate work in urban studies. The issues fascinate me.
The first thing you have to remember is that the documentary is pure propaganda. Even if all of its contentions are true, it’s only one side of the story. Don’t come here asking for the other side and then instantly dismiss it.
The second thing you should know is that Wal-Mart is merely a piece of an almost century-long story, not a unique evil. You can find virtually identical denunciations of every chain business since they began. Stores like Woolworth and A&P - stores that we would now find laughably small and quaint - were denounced for putting neighborhood stores out of business with their larger selections and lower prices. Barnes and Noble has been denounced for two decades for putting independent bookstores out of business, but it is now in trouble because people are turning to the Internet instead of bricks and mortar stores. It is a perpetual cycle. Businesses tend to consolidate and grow into giants that can offer more convenience. Conversely, that opens up specialty niches for businesses who can provide service or detail that the big ones can’t. The successful ones of these thrive and often grow into big ones themselves. It is part of capitalism and ineradicable.
Wal-Mart was formed at almost exactly the same time as K-Mart and Target in 1961 and 1962. They were a response to the availability of the automobile in every area of the country, even rural ones. Small town businesses were notoriously overpriced, had terrible selections, and often were violently discriminatory toward minorities. This wasn’t true of every single one, but it was generally true enough that a large, attractive store with huge selection and variety and low prices was a positive boon for the majority of people in the area. Yes, it did hurt some businesses. Yes, these businesses did tend to be congregated in central locations that were disproportionally hurt. People voted with their feet. The incumbents lost.
This still leaves the question of whether Wal-Mart in particular has business practices that are much worse than others. That’s a harder question to answer. The general answer is that no business grows to be the biggest in its industry, let alone in the world, without being utterly ruthless. That makes it a more prominent um, target. There is no doubt that activist groups target Wal-Mart more than any of its competitors simply because it is the most visible, just as the anti-globalists throw their garbage cans through the windows of Starbucks and not its competitors. It’s good business, just from the other side.
That said, Wal-Mart unquestionably has done many things that deserve condemnation. It does seem to be cleaning up its act to a certain degree in recent years. Towns and cities have found ways of fighting off Wal-Mart or requiring it to conform more to local mores. In the biggest irony of all, Wal-Mart has never been able to penetrate into New York City because of local opposition, although Target has managed that. Target is building a showplace in Harlem that expects to gross $90 million a year as compared to the $25 million of a typical store.
Wal-Mart makes for a great villain, just as banks do and the car industry and oil companies and any other concentrations of wealth and power. There’s a saying that behind every great fortune lies a great crime and my reading of history tells me that’s an absolute fact. But my reading of history also tells me that these fortunes were made because they gave more real people what they wanted than any of their competitors and we normally applaud anyone who manages that.
It’s easy to take sides, but history is never that simple. Don’t fall for the propaganda though. Both corporate PR is and activist documentaries are propaganda. You have to work hard to know what to believe and what to dismiss and few people are willing to take the time. And why should they? There are thousands of businesses and each one needs a separate study. There are villains in the corporate world and they should be condemned and made to clean up their acts.
But if you’re going to ask, listen to the answer.