I worked in the electronics department of the Walmart in Moscow, ID one summer during college. I liked it much better than my previous (and first) job as a box boy at Albertsons. The pay was reasonable for someone of my age and ability, and helped to fund my college education.
Life at Wal-Mart
31–40 of 56 posts
Re: Life at Wal-Mart
#32Its so annoying to me that many people (esp in Bay Area) loath Wal-Mart, and then turn around and gush over how cheap they got this or that crappy chinese made product for at Target. Both are massive big box retailers, both threaten smaller businesses by discounts and volume. Both pay their employees entry level low wages. Target def has better marketing and gives money to school. But that hardly accounts for the dif…
for the purposes of a conversation about loathing, i think you're presenting a false equivalence here. in such subjective terms it's hard not to admit that despite whatever flaws it may have, target has at least not had books written and movies made [1] about their misdeeds. [1] on amazon, "target" had one result on the first page related to the company that was positive, whereas with walmart the second result is " H…
People attack the giant and the giant is Wal-Mart. They are bad because they are golliath.
The truth is, they provide one stop shopping for millions of customers who previously had to drive to many different stores to buy groceries, clothes and other household items -- and gas too!
In this way, not only does wal-mart save customers money, but they also save them time. This is true of Target, et al as well, but my point is that Wal-Mart does good things for a lot of people.
Re: Life at Wal-Mart
#33I've been defending Wal-Mart (not that they need my help) against idiots ever since I work there. People never consider the alternative. Wal-Mart may pay little, but the stores they replaced pay less. One Wal-Mart may use a lot of electricity, but the 20 stores they replace would have used more. And so on and so forth.
It's very easy to look at Wal-Mart in a vacuum and call it an atrocity, but when you compare it to the real world alternatives, it's one of the best things to ever happen to America.
Re: Life at Wal-Mart
#34Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich was first published in 2001 so presumably she worked at Walmart sometime before that. So life at Wal-Mart may have changed since then. Also, he should have worked at the same Wal-Mart to help control for location.
I worked for Wal-Mart (via Sam's Club) from 98-2001, and it was certainly like this that entire time. And from what I knew from the friends who worked there from the late '80s, it hadn't changed much.
If there was ever a time when Wal-Mart wasn't as good a place to work as it is now, it was before 99% of their current employees started.
Re: Life at Wal-Mart
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please elaborate on what you mean by decentralization.
I guess he means that Walmart floor employees can place products to maximize their local profit margin since they know what sells well at their store.
Not exactly. Most of the store layout comes down from corporate, where it is determined via a series of tests. They're truly amazing at optimizing sales by merchandising. Employees don't really choose what goes where.
Re: Life at Wal-Mart
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course. If you're not a felon, you're not a drug addict, and you're in good health, escaping a homeless shelter is pretty easy. [1] There are people (some of whom are my friends) who have full-time jobs trying to help people get out! [2] And there are a lot of incentives to leave. Nobody enjoys the homeless-shelter experience. Almost all of the people who are chronic residents of homeless shelters have health prob…
Another point about homeless shelters is that it is only a small percentage of the homeless that stayed in them. I know that when I was homeless, I stayed away from homeless shelters for the vast majority of my time in any city, except for when I was entirely new to the city. I opted for staying in abandoned places and couch-surfing, as staying in the shelters is really hit-and-miss. Your few (and important) possessi…
You were homeless? What's your story (if you don't mind sharing)?
Re: Life at Wal-Mart
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess he means that Walmart floor employees can place products to maximize their local profit margin since they know what sells well at their store.
Not exactly. Most of the store layout comes down from corporate, where it is determined via a series of tests. They're truly amazing at optimizing sales by merchandising. Employees don't really choose what goes where.
Keeping score here:
At the branch where I worked, all the lowest-level employees were allowed this information and were encouraged to make individual decisions about inventory.
I guess that means it's either a lie, a difference in local management, or true but misleading?
Re: Life at Wal-Mart
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, 'vigorous' is about the nicest word I can think of to describe it... :) People who can barely make ends meet should move to the sun belt to save on clothing? If you can't afford the deposit on an apartment, it's your own fault, because people have bailed on a lease before? Huh? But if you get past the overall obnoxiousness, though, he does actually have some good points.
Migration has, over thousands of years, been the most effective antipoverty program. So yes, if you "can barely make ends meet" in a cold expensive place with no jobs, you should move to a warmer cheaper place with jobs. Steal bus fare, if you must.
Yes, that would be a good argument, but that wasn't the one made in the article. Ehrenreich had a job in Minnesota, which is slightly cheaper to live in than Phoenix, by most standards. Should she still have moved?
Re: Life at Wal-Mart
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not exactly. Most of the store layout comes down from corporate, where it is determined via a series of tests. They're truly amazing at optimizing sales by merchandising. Employees don't really choose what goes where.
Keeping score here: At the branch where I worked, all the lowest-level employees were allowed this information and were encouraged to make individual decisions about inventory. I guess that means it's either a lie, a difference in local management, or true but misleading?
It's possible he meant they simply had the ability to control the number of items ordered for inventory, rather than their placement or marketing.
If the floor employee knows what is selling, it makes sense to let them hit the 'reorder this' button.
But this is entirely conjecture on my part.
Re: Life at Wal-Mart
#40Unfortunately, It's hard to defend Wal-Mart for all the good they do when they insist on lobbying local councils for direct subsidies or tax breaks, often taking money from their small competitors.