Decent points all around, but I still say they big business does rub out small business. This isn't to say that big business is doing anything wrong, but rather that I understand the position of some of these smaller stores crying fowl.

Hedgemistress wrote:

(And I personally don't shop at Game Stop-type stores unless there's something outside Wal-Mart's selection that I need, for the simple reason that I can buy video games at Wal-Mart without being hit on.)

I can see how that might be a problem. I wish there were people in my target gender and sexual interest hitting on me at Gamestop, I might actually buy more games. I know I'd spend a lot more time there(I have actually went out with a chick working at a gamestop, now that's what I call a personal touch).

I'll file that under "interesting if true." :P As of this moment, you're still just some guy on the internet saying so, but my curiosity's piqued enough that I want to look into it now.

Though it seems from another post that you've already found evidence to support my "claims", and I also have no way of backing the following up, I'd still like to mention that I know these things because I'm a former Wal*Mart employee (spent about 6 years at the joint), and my mother is still a Wal*Mart employee (she got a job there when they built the store in town, and has been there ever since)

Currently, she's the associate that has been assigned to handle all of the ad comping (though the practice isn't exactly hush-hush around the store; I've known about it long before it was put on her shoulders)... Whenever a local store runs an ad, she's given a copy of it to take around the store to make the price changes, and hang up those little flags with "Save on Their Sale!" on them (yes, they actually have price flags pre-printed with that slogan on them) She has to photocopy the other store's ad, cut out the picture and price of each item to attach to the flag that shows our new, lower price...

The department managers are the ones responsible for taking the little scanner around to other stores, though... She's done that, too, being a former department manager (she stepped down due to the level of B.S. they shovel on the department managers), but it's no longer one of her duties...

As for why? It's been answered already... Wal*Mart is in the business of domination... Every opportunity to draw in another customer is taken... They are willing to even take a loss on many items just to draw people in to buy the higher-margin impulse items (though this "loss leader" practice is industry-wide, Wal*Mart makes it an art form)... If that means stealing thunder from competitors' normal and sales pricing, then so be it...

Keep in mind, though, that their primary targets aren't the small, local stores... They focus these efforts on their closest competition: K-Mart, Target, and Meijer (all three of which have stores near here) However, local grocery stores and pharmacies also get the attention of the machine (in fact, mom spends most of her time running through grocery ads)...

Also keep in mind that these price changes are almost always temporary... The ones made from competitor ads are usually timed to last just beyond the life of those ads... Just long enough to knock the wind out of their sales (heh)

[Edit:] I'd like to point out that I'm not anti-Wal*Mart... It's actually quite the opposite... I do the vast majority of my shopping there... I'm a creature of convenience, and I like taking advantage of the one-stop shopping that they truly provide... Virtually everything I ever need can be purchased right inside that one building... The low prices are only icing on the cake... I'm also fond of the "nameless, faceless" efficiency of the place (regardless of their claims to having friendly customer service)... I actually avoid friendly customer service (and I absolutely hate aggressive service, to the point where I try to avoid the smaller Mall-outlet types of stores where there's always someone right next to the door pestering you the instant you walk in)

Without Wal-Mart I wouldn't have any clothes or food. It's the only place within 200 miles of here that has any decent deals on anything. I refuse to shop in local stores because everything is so damned expensive and it's the exact same stuff Wal-Mart has.

The town the Wal-Mart is in around here (about 30 miles away) even petitioned to have a Super Wal-Mart built because the old one was getting a bit crowded. Wal-Mart was more than happy to build a new store and not one person complained. They even sold their old building to a local hardware store, which caused said hardware store to grow into nearly Home Depot sizes. The new Wal-Mart has everything we need and we don't have to drive 100+ miles to get good prices on household items anymore. It's also caused people from all of the towns around here to start frequenting this Wal-Mart, they're estimating a 600% increase in cashflow through the county since the new store went up. Not to mention the 500+ new jobs it brought on top of the jobs the old store brought.

Nadrew wrote:

SSGX works at Wal-Mart

Worked... I've been out of that hole for almost 4 years now...

Hedgemistress wrote:

(And I personally don't shop at Game Stop-type stores unless there's something outside Wal-Mart's selection that I need, for the simple reason that I can buy video games at Wal-Mart without being hit on.)

That's the sad truth about gamers. They don't find girls anywhere else, so they hit on girls who come into gaming stores.

I tell you, the day I hit on a girl in a gaming store is the day where I jam a rusty fork up my nose, then peel off my toenails and jump into a bag of salt.

No offense specifically to gamer girls, it's just that I can do better. ;-)


[edit]You know, knowing my luck, I'm going to go into EB Games some time within the next several months and be so utterly smitten by some beautiful girl who walks into the store that I'll have to eat my foot. At least it would be nicely seasoned with salt by that point.

Hedgemistress wrote:

Oh, but... the grocery store that was the only store in town and everybody went there because it's the only grocery store in town and they've always charged what they wanted... because it's the only grocery store in town? And the only pharmacy and the only hardware store, too? They don't want Wal-Mart to come in... because... -chuckle-... Wal-Mart is a "monopoly."

What most people refer to this as is what you pointed out: A bigger conglomerate will run a small store out because it can't compete. A smaller store can't offer the same benefits to employees or services to customers that a smaller business can. Anyone who has owned a small business will tell you this. As a result, the smaller company is put out and the larger stays. It's not the same game as two conglomerates, or two small to medium sized companies competing. It's like bringing a knife to a gun fight. The small one will be put out, the large one remains. Eventually the large one becomes the same dictator as the small one could have been.

Except in a country the size of America, no store ever fully dominates across the board... which means that if they start jacking their prices up in areas where they have dominated, another company could move into that area, forcing them to lower them again. The threat of such is what keeps them from doing so.

It's impossible for a company to gradually grow a nationwide monopoly, because while they crush territory X, territory Y is being invaded and territory Z is just now growing to the size it can support a big store. On the other hand, if Wal-Mart were to suddenly merge with a bunch of the other national chains, then we'd be in monopoly territory... but that's where government regulators have their place.

Anyone who has owned a small business will tell you this.

Anyone who used to own a small business will tell me this. :P Meanwhile, I can walk up and down my primary shopping corridor here in town and point out the small, independent businesses nestled among the big chains (Wal-Mart and Super Target a half mile away from each other... shudder!). The stores which are trying to compete with the big stores are the ones whose business model basically consisted of "own the only [whichver type of] store in town"... sad for the owners when they go under, but not much of a loss. The ones who are offering something more, or find a way to offer service that the big stores can't, flourish with the lift provided by the big stores.

Hey, it's nothing personal to you that I was skeptical... I am skeptical by nature, and the internet is full of "true facts" about any large corporation that "I know is true because I used to work there." Yeah, you're not "just some guy on the internet" in the sense that I know you, after a fashion... but I work alongside an otherwise intelligent woman I've known for two years who swears the Texas Chainsaw Massacre really did happen because she paid $10 to tour the house where it happened.* From your original post, your "inside information" could have been anything from having seen a "top secret memo" to just having a cousin who worked there and swore it was true.

Though as my other post said, my debunking reflex was really triggered by how the information was presented to me (by the above post, not by you)... in retrospect, it's kind of a silly thing to doubt, as the eternal price war is an entrenched feature of the industry.

*(Though every story has a grain of truth to it, and hers is probably the part where she paid $10. I've got no doubt there's a house... probably a few of them... whose owners make money based on that claim.)

I was told that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre was based off the murders of Ed Gein, because he also would dig up bodies and wear the skins and stuff. Honestly I wish movies weren't allowed to put that "Based on True Event" crap on their films anymore.

There already was, Evil Dead II, or wait, was that before or after TCM? It has been such a long time I can't remember.