A Wal Mart Thread

“A small town in California has voted to use Eminent Domain to take AWAY a property owned by Wal-Mart. The city council has told Walmart no to it's development plans and has drafted a "resolution that also adds to Wal-Mart's recent public relations woes by casting it as a generator of blight rather than its solution. The draft resolution asserts the need for the Hercules Redevelopment Agency to acquire Wal-Mart's property "for the elimination of blight," among other purposes in the public interest."

Talk about turnabout is fair play. Of course Wal-Mart is protesting as this tactic has been one it has used many times to build new stores.


http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/email/news/14654142.htm”

“Why are people that shop at Walmart "different" looking? Seems the women don't have mirrors in their homes. They all wear those low slung jeans tight so their fat squashes over the edges, yuck!”

“Walmart is selling it's 16 stores in South Korea. I think the water was abit too hot.”

“Fuego! Fuego!

Good for them!”

“You do know that if this succeeds it means towns can start condemning woodlands for development or creating lakes for recreation without public hearings.”

“Walmart is a happy place!”

“say what you want but this is a good thing :)


Wal-mart Grant Helps Protect Over 16,000 Acres Of California Forestland
New Acres for America Grant to Conserve Habitat in Northern California
Roseville, Calif. – December 12, 2007 – Through their landmark Acres for America program, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (NYSE: WMT) announced today a grant to The Conservation Fund that will help this organization acquire 16,300 acres of working forest along the Northern California coast. The grant was selected through a competitive process managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and will conserve land along the Big River and Salmon Creek properties near Mendocino. Today’s award brings the total amount of land permanently conserved through the Acres for America program to nearly 400,000 acres across the United States.


http://www.nfwf.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Media_Center&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=7953”

“Walmart is a scumbag!”

“true dat”

“man i hate big biz.”

“especially when it is SOOO successful...(LOL)”

“They're trying to buy an improved reputation.”

“LOL...as opposed to asking the media to build them one...like the libbies do.”

“Come on now XL - complete a sentence without any derivatives of the word 'libbie' in it.

Looks like the pressure put on Walmart is working, keep it up.”

“every little bit helps.”

“LOL, Walmart has always been big in charities and giving, but people who hate them for being successful will never give them credit for it. They say stuff like "trying to buy an improved reputation" or "2 million dollars is nothing compared to their bottom line".”

“Let's rephrase for those who haven't been paying attention:

Walmart is try to buy an improved reputation with the money they made from forcing companies to move thousands upon thousands of American jobs to Communist China.

Support China --- Shop Walmart.

Did you get it that time?

”

“Bad people who want cheap goods! Bad people! Bad!”

“Wal-mart alone didn't force companies to move production overseas. Go to any big box store (Target, K-mart, etc.), pick up a product, and look where the item is made. More often than not, it's China.

Having said that, I shop at Wal-mart ocassionally, but I prefer Target.”

“Solar Power Pilot Project
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0732647320070507

They are considering selling ethanol at the Sam's club gas stations http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/01/tech/main1673113.shtml That story is from last year, but I think they have a couple pilot stations offering it now.

In 2006 they gave $270 million out to over than 4000 communities in the US. http://www.walmartfacts.com/FactSheets/Charitable_Giving.pdf”

“Yep, looks like Waqlly World has forced everyone to make stuff in China ;o)
Walmart has always worked hard to buy favor and secure local deals.


I guess if it wasn't Walmart doing leading the way it wold be someone else though.

And yes, we're obviously bad bad people for objecting to the way ANY company carries out its business.”

“Tiltypoo is so silly.”

“Walmart employs people that Mom and Pop will not. Your local bookstore, hardware store, whatever store does not need a gang of low educated, barely functional people to unload trucks and stock shelves. Those folks like to work too.”

“"Wal-Mart is the first major retail store to offset its land development footprint with permanently protected conservation lands."

This is called mitigation and is required when you build on habitat. Somehow I am not thinking Sprawlmart is just doing this out of the goodness of their heart and a care for the environment.”

“yet, they are still doing it. Why does it also have to "feel good" as long as it is helping the problem. If you took a bunch of small companies they would have the same over all impact on the environment but would not have the mitigation requirements that walmart does.”

“Walmart is a slave plantation chain from the manufacturer to the car trunk.”

“uncliff, do you know anyone that works for walmart? I do, and most are satisfied with their jobs. They do not feel like slaves.

Not every one wants to pay, or can afford to pay, salon prices for the things they need. Look at the natural foods industry. If you want natural food you have to starve your kids to afford to feed it to them. Walmart will cut into the profit margin for the farmers in that niche, but more consumer will benefit from eating healthier.”

“The great Amerikan taxpayer doesn't think he is a slave either.”

“They aren't helping the problem. They are just doing what is required under law and are putting a nice feel-good PR spin on it.”

“People glorify Walmart and other outsourcers then wrap themseles in the flag -- it's bizarre. They don't support their fellow Americans.

Who will be left to buy all the cheap Chinese crap?”

“I really just don't think those people make the connection. They look at it like, America is great because we can get all this cheap stuff. Yeeehaw. Puts a whole new spin on, "Eat lead, suckers!"”

“whats required under the law is easier to enforce on one large businesses than 25 small ones. When Walmart comes in, the entire road system surrounding it gets upgraded by them with their money. That also goes for the wetland and watershed impacts. Things like detention ponds and efficient filtration systems get built. The same can not be said for an area that get developed by multiple businesses a little at a time. The area still gets changed but it happens slowly without protections. The changes that happen when walmart comes in are fast and noticeable, but at least they do provide mitigations that the others don't.”

“Right. So the environment is now better because WalMart arrived on the scene? Those impacts wouldn't be there to the degree they are if WalMart avoided the area.

Anyone who constructs on habitat covered under environmental laws has to mitigate, big or small doesn't matter. The only thing that changes is the size of the mitigation area. WalMarts mitigations are larger because they build big boxes.”

“BTW, I don't glorify Walmart, I just defend them when attacked by uninformed haters. Actually, I shouldn't say uninformed, but biasly informed.”

“This almost makes up for all those shipping containers (you know, the ones the size of a small HOUSE), that get thrown away because it's cheaper for Walmart, and other merchants, to have more made in China than to ship back empty containers.”

“Hyway - is there any business you would criticize? What would you consider as bad behavior in the business world?”

“rosey, small does matter. And if you even remotely work in the regulatory field you would know that the smaller the business the less watched you are. hell many impacts under an acre don't even need permitting. (you are still supposed to follow the law, but their is no enforcement)”

“Manufacturing because of the energy spent and the associated pollution has driven ,the once , better jobs to where they're not in our back yard and the only thing left is the addiction to dragging crap out of the store door.”

“Actually, I would say that size does matter. :D
last edited: 12/18/07 10:10:11 AM”

“I hear North Carolina has some really nice hog waste lagoons.”

“Y@, I criticize many businesses. The ones that break the law. Heck I criticize small business all the time. If you have less than 20 or 30 employees you have almost no obligation to do anything for them but to pay them a wage. You have no obligation to contribute to the impact you have on your surroundings, environment, roads, sewer, runoff, etc, other than to pay your permit fees. I dislike big box lawyer firms that are killing the US. I dislike people that play the stockmarket with little regard for people that work at the businesses they daytrade for the simple purpose of gaining profit. I dislike the coal industry and coal fired steam plants.

There are plenty of businesses I dislike. Walmart just happens to be one player in a large market. I never hear people attacking K-Mart, Sears, costco, etc. Its always Walmart.”

“It's because the people employed by Wal-Mart thumbed their noses at unions.”

“thats one of the big reasons. Unions are where people should be placing the blame for china kicking our asses. If not for them the steel industry might have survived as well as many other industries.”

“I know in CA, our environmental regs are even stronger than the feds -- even small businesses are scrutinized pretty heavily.

WalMart has a reputation for going into very rural areas, plunking down a huge retail operation in the middle of nowhere and putting all the mom and pop stores outta business because they shovel cheap Chinese crap in large quantities. I think you are right in saying there were other big-box stores that preceeded them e.g. K-Mart, but I think WalMart took it to a new level and probably have been the focus of opinions and attention that have been building for some time.”

“So you don't like them because they're successful or because they're "unfair?"”

“I don't like them because they are generic AND exemplify a lot of what I think is wrong with America.
last edited: 12/18/07 10:30:36 AM”

“Always blame one side of the equation.”

“For th record, Walmart's don't get built where people aren't. It might have once been all wildland, but urban sprawl is changing that.

MOM and pop stores suck. They sell old over priced #&%!$ and you get what they stock and nothing else. BTW, if you look around that Walmart plopped down in a rural area you will find a little city of small businesses pop up all around it. Sure many are chain stores, but they are usually owned by locals and give jobs to locals. The downtown areas, lacking in parking, where mom and pop used to be are now upscale retail shops, restaurants, boutiques and hair stylists and professional offices, for the well to do. The switch has been a good thing, the money that these businesses make encourage urban re-development that a mom and pop drugstore or hardware store never could have brought about.

People with less means than you and me can't afford to shop downtown nor want to spend their time window shopping for #&%!$ they don't want. They want to get what they need at a price they can afford quickly and get back to their hard working lives.”

“No, they just want, and they want whatever is being crammed down their throats on the idiot box that they turn on every night and space out to. They go to SprawlMart because that is either a) the only place around them that carries the crap they feel they need in order to keep up with the Joneses, or b) it's the cheapest version crap they want so they go there.

This, IMHO, is what is wrong with America. Want, want, want and I don't care what it means or does to anything or anyone else. I got mine.

WalMart is a complete reflection of this problem and therefore, I can't stand it.
last edited: 12/18/07 10:47:01 AM”

“You haven't a freaking clue. You must have a silver spoon up your butt. People go to walmart because diapers cost 20% more at the grocery store and 100% more at the baby boutiques. People go there because you can get 20% more groceries there for the same price as you would at food lion and 30-40% more at upscale grocery stores and lord knows how much more that what you can at natural Grocers. They go their because in the winter its freaking cold and a cheap space heater helps keep their living room warm.”