I Hate Walmarts

[Madeline]

BRISBANE, Calif. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is going for the jugular in the holiday retailing war, announcing Thursday that it will offer free shipping on nearly 60,000 online items -- with no minimum purchase requirement.
The world's biggest retailer, long known for its low prices, is raising the stakes just over two weeks before Black Friday, viewed as the official kickoff of holiday shopping.

Wal-Mart's free shipping offer, which includes electronics, jewelry and toys, will run through Dec. 20.
Items purchased from the company's website will be delivered to customers' homes within three to five business days from the order's processing via standard shipping. Return shipping is also free, or items can be returned to a local Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart offering free shipping for online buys | cleveland.com

How many small businesses in your community will this kill? Please consider boycotting this company; the products you buy from them are sometimes made by child or slave labor -- which of you needs to save a nickel that badly?

Buy American Made products. Shop locally as much as you can, and support small businesses.

Don't make a Xmas gift out of the suffering of children or enslaved people overseas and your neighbors here.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Looks like I'm shopping online at walmart this year.

 

[Madeline]

Looks like I'm shopping online at walmart this year.

Radioman, I can show you the conditions at Chinese factories that use child labor to make the products Walmarts will be selling. You can look around your own city and see the devastation caused by unemployment. What would it take for you to "vote with your dollars"?

Volunteers of America officials say they're seeing more young homeless veterans | cleveland.com

Your purchasing decisions have an impact on others, Radioman. They are not morally neutral events.

Please give the matter some consideration.

 

[CMike]

Thanks, time to do more walmart shopping.

 

[Mini 14]

You should sue them.

 

[Zoom-boing]

BRISBANE, Calif. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is going for the jugular in the holiday retailing war, announcing Thursday that it will offer free shipping on nearly 60,000 online items -- with no minimum purchase requirement.
The world's biggest retailer, long known for its low prices, is raising the stakes just over two weeks before Black Friday, viewed as the official kickoff of holiday shopping.

Wal-Mart's free shipping offer, which includes electronics, jewelry and toys, will run through Dec. 20.
Items purchased from the company's website will be delivered to customers' homes within three to five business days from the order's processing via standard shipping. Return shipping is also free, or items can be returned to a local Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart offering free shipping for online buys | cleveland.com

How many small businesses in your community will this kill? Please consider boycotting this company; the products you buy from them are sometimes made by child or slave labor -- which of you needs to save a nickel that badly?

Buy American Made products. Shop locally as much as you can, and support small businesses.

Don't make a Xmas gift out of the suffering of children or enslaved people overseas and your neighbors here.

Got a list of American made products? It's a short list, to be sure.

 

[editec]

Perhaps we ought to eliminate the WALMART middle man and just start giving our loved ones ASIAN WAGE SLAVES for Christmas.

 

[Madeline]

You should sue them.

No, but my legislators should make the import of slave-made and child-made goods into the US illegal.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Every year I buy more and more stuff online. I hate going shopping, but it's fun to surf the web looking for bargains. I even buy all my books online as well. There are numerous sites you can go to and find the lowest price, many times with free shipping. But I'm not really concerned where the stuff I buy comes from, yet.

All of the electronics I use for my model airplanes come from Asia. But the electric motors, batteries, chargers and most airplane kits I buy are from the US.

 

[goldcatt]

I buy American when I can. But how realistic is it to not buy stuff from China when it's the majority of stuff on the shelves these days? That includes virtual shelves too.

I avoid Wal Mart like the plague mostly because it's a horrible shopping experience. But while I'm not a huge fan of some of their practices it's not like they're the only ones using them. If you're not a multimillionaire with oodles of time on your hands to shop store after store after store how do you avoid it?

 

[Madeline]

BRISBANE, Calif. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is going for the jugular in the holiday retailing war, announcing Thursday that it will offer free shipping on nearly 60,000 online items -- with no minimum purchase requirement.
The world's biggest retailer, long known for its low prices, is raising the stakes just over two weeks before Black Friday, viewed as the official kickoff of holiday shopping.

Wal-Mart's free shipping offer, which includes electronics, jewelry and toys, will run through Dec. 20.
Items purchased from the company's website will be delivered to customers' homes within three to five business days from the order's processing via standard shipping. Return shipping is also free, or items can be returned to a local Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart offering free shipping for online buys | cleveland.com

How many small businesses in your community will this kill? Please consider boycotting this company; the products you buy from them are sometimes made by child or slave labor -- which of you needs to save a nickel that badly?

Buy American Made products. Shop locally as much as you can, and support small businesses.

Don't make a Xmas gift out of the suffering of children or enslaved people overseas and your neighbors here.

Got a list of American made products? It's a short list, to be sure.

The single best way to assure you are buying American is to buy locally-made products. As best I can tell, there's no official registry for all such goods online and the mere examination of a product for a company name with headquarters here in the US does not help. For example, Johnson and Johnson now manufacturers overseas, as does Proctor and Gamble.

I have found a few websites that purport to list only American-made products, and for larger purchases, e.g., furniture, these can be helpful.

Made in the USA Products Directory

American Made Products and/or Services Made in USA

Still Made in USA.com - American-Made Products for Home and Family

None of us can completely avoid buying foreign-made goods, and some of us are too pressed for time or money to even try. But MOST of us can make some effort and knee-jerk following the dollar around, trying to save a nickel, is creating severe suffering overseas and here at home.

If you can try and source your goods purchased, it will aid an American. If you do not, it will harm one. If you would not buy a pesticide that harmed our environment, then don't buy cleaning products that are made by children and put American workers on the unemployment line.

 

[Si modo]

I'm shopping Walmart this year. What a great deal.

Thanks for the info.

 

[strollingbones]

do you have any clue how much time i waste trying to buy american? o and add to that the comments i get. I have one damned cookie sheet cause i cannot find one made in america...i remember when nc was a textile area...try buying towels made in american...any type of linens for that matter...i go into the finer stores...its still all made in ______________ (fill in any asia country)

 

[CMike]

I just bought my Kinect there two days ago.

 

[Si modo]

Gotta love the unions.

 

[Skull Pilot]

So tell me what justifies the higher price?

Is the Wrangler denim shirt that costs 12 bucks at Walmart somehow of less quality than the exact same denim shirt I buy in boutique for 40 bucks?

I think not and I'll save that 28 dollars and get free shipping.

 

[strollingbones]

now try to avoid walmart. i look at weekly circulars and i can normally beat walmarts prices on a lot of stuff...but i do buy...wellness its 3 bucks cheaper than walgreens ..and in a pinch ..their coffee is a good buy. but there are few local businesses now...it will get even worse...walgreens is not local, cvs is not local...ingles is american owed and fifthy...they still have a butcher shop however...everyone else is using prepackaged meat...harris teeter does a lot of their own meat, lowes foods doesnt even carry america seafood....they lost my bucks when they went to farm raised thailand shrimp...no one realizes the impact shrimp prices has had on me...i have gone from shrimp two or three times a week...to once a month now...prices are terrible....

i find walmart to really have inferior products..i wont buy their milk...it just seems weak...

management is hard on employees...i worked for american greetings and had a walmart to merchandise (fancy talk for i worked for a greetings card company and had racks at walmart to work) the management wanted me to work the racks a lot more than the company allowed....his suggestion that i take my hours (allotted by the company paying me) and break them up over several days....i found that amusing...once i refused the manager was on me all the time...calling the supervisors at american greetings for the least reason

fuck walmart

 

[Mr. H.]

So tell me what justifies the higher price?

Is the Wrangler denim shirt that costs 12 bucks at Walmart somehow of less quality than the exact same denim shirt I buy in boutique for 40 bucks?

I think not and I'll save that 28 dollars and get free shipping.

Good question. But I often wonder if W.M. doesn't get deals on seconds and rejects, or items that just don't move in the upper-end stores. I have taken home some pretty crappy mdse from them.

I bought a 32" LG LCD TV a couple weeks ago. Looked new, but when I opened it I could tell it was a re-seal. The crap was thrown back into the box and it was dirty.

But I do give them credit for one thing- before W.M. came along, it was nearly impossible to return mdse to any store.

 

[Madeline]

I buy American when I can. But how realistic is it to not buy stuff from China when it's the majority of stuff on the shelves these days? That includes virtual shelves too.

I avoid Wal Mart like the plague mostly because it's a horrible shopping experience. But while I'm not a huge fan of some of their practices it's not like they're the only ones using them. If you're not a multimillionaire with oodles of time on your hands to shop store after store after store how do you avoid it?

If I were a Mommy of wee ones, this would indeed be a huge headache. Thankies to advertisers, every year my kidlet had her heart set on some special toy or another....the year that Strawberry Shortcake hit big, I remember stories about parents fighting and even breaking arms to get that stuff. I know the pressure is sometimes too much, and I dun fault anyone who feels they cannot source every purchase.

I'm asking that you make an effort to shop small, shop local and if you cannot, buy American. I'm not asking anyone to do a perfect job -- I dun claim to myself.

Just try. If you shifted even 20% of discretionary spending onto businesses in your community, you'd have an impact.

Mayhaps start with cleaning goods and paper products.....

http://www.americansworking.com/cleaning.html

[URL="http://www.earthshell.com/"]http://www.earthshell.com/[/URL]

 

[uscitizen]

Looks like I'm shopping online at walmart this year.

Radioman, I can show you the conditions at Chinese factories that use child labor to make the products Walmarts will be selling. You can look around your own city and see the devastation caused by unemployment. What would it take for you to "vote with your dollars"?

Volunteers of America officials say they're seeing more young homeless veterans | cleveland.com

Your purchasing decisions have an impact on others, Radioman. They are not morally neutral events.

Please give the matter some consideration.

Madeline, you know I love ya, but....

Most of the stuff you would buy locally is also made in the same Chinese factories.
So that dog won't hunt.

On the jobs, Walmart seems to pay it's employees here more than the local small businesses do. and with better benefits. Poor as Retail sales pay is...

Now down to the clincher for me and why I do buy local as much as possible instead of online or at Wally World. The local business is usually locally owned and it keeps money in my area. vs Buying at one of my 2 local Wally Worlds or online with anyone.
It is not just do not buy online at Wally World, Buy local as much as possible to support you local economy not the Mega Businesses. ie Amazon.com, etc.