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| From | DanAbnrml9@aol.com |
| Subject | Re: Walmart |
| Date | Wed, 03 Dec 2003 22:23:43 -0500 |
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I realize that we've strayed far from the discussion of insanely great pop music, but this Wal-Mart discussion IS relevent, because Wal-Mart is (yes, folks, its true) the largest music retailer in the United States. But I'd like to add something.
Stewart IS right. Wal-Mart is NOT the cause, it's an effect. Don't get me wrong, I'm a bleeding heart liberal who doesn't like Wal-Mart any more than the others who've posted, but blaming them for a phenomenon that predated most of their expansion isn't fair. There have been vast, sweeping changes in the way that Americans live, eat, shop, and work in the past half-century, and Wal-Mart merely developed a strategy that capitalized on this. Do they kill mom and pop chains? OH they most certainly do. Do mom and pop chains inhabit downtowns? Often. But they also inhabit strip malls in sprawling suburbia, and those mom and pop stores die too.
As Stewart said, there are not many Wal-Marts in Massachusetts (his half-dozen figure is off, but it's true that the immediate Boston area has only 3, and the extended suburbs probably have only a dozen... which is not many by most standards), but this doesn't mean that Massachusetts is immune from the ills about which you speak. Plus to say that "Wal-Mart kills downtowns" ignores other things they've killed--such as mid-sized discounters like Caldor, Bradlees, and Ames--retailers that, while not mom-and-pop by any stretch, were at least REGIONAL and employed people from their designated region and aware of the needs of the region they inhabited and--more importantly--were not so gargantuan so as to have immense leverage against their distributors and suppliers.
The fact is, it's become downright popular to attack Wal-Mart, but most of the rhetoric rings hollow. How many times do people trash Wal-Mart or Best Buy on audities, but then talk about how they found this-or-that new release at either store for the best price in town? This is just an example that most of us can relate to, but speaking as a retailer I see it every day--all that 90% of the consumers truly care about is PRICE. But what happens when the competition is gone? What happens when these "category killer" chains manage not only to kill mom-and-pop chains, but also the competing, smaller chains? Do you really think they're going to keep offering you incredible, almost-at-cost deals? Give me a break.
Speaking as an employee of an indie record store--a big one nonetheless, but still an indie--I can say that at this point in time, the LIKELY outcome is that most of us have only a few years left. I am NOT exaggerating. Profits are down almost 50% from two years ago. It's easy to blame downloading (and it does play a part) but a big part of the problem is that electronics and general merchandise retailers are undercutting us by selling product below cost. That leaves record stores to make money by selling slower-turning product that places like Wal-Mart won't carry, but the only way these CDs can provide enough money to cover overhead--such as rent, salaries (believe it or not, some of us make a living by working retail, and I assure you it is not a good living), etc-- is by charging seemingly exorbitant prices. You may have seen your mall retailer charging almost $20 for a CD... this is why.
What Wal-Mart has done is dramatically cut the number of pockets that money flows to. This has affected mom and pops and chains alike, and while this does have some affect on "downtowns", Wal-Mart isn't directly responsible for their decline. Rather Wal-Mart came a generation later, and is largely responsible for the decline of the regional shopping mall, a target whose passing few will lament. But consider this--if your typical shopping mall contains 100 stores, and probably 2/3 to 3/4 of those are chains--depending on how upscale the mall is, generally--then the money that the mall takes in is divvied up amongst a variety of places, even if it's not the sheer number of the olden days before big chains. But now if you consider that Wal-Marts are replacing malls (and they are; do any internet search for "dead malls" or any variation thereof and you'll find a wealth of information), then figure that all of the money divided up in American malls is now going to one place. Now that's scary.
I'll end the rant, but I ask you all to please remember that when you buy things, you're effectively voting. You're casting a vote of confidence in the retailer, you're saying that you support their practices, you enjoy their variety, you enjoy the atmosphere. If Wal-Mart is your thing, then by all means spend your money there. But if Wal-Mart and Best Buy aren't your ideal future of America, then for goodness sake don't give them your money. --Jason
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