Wal-Mart Increases Lobbying and PR, Decreases Capital Expenditures

...sales at stores open at least 12 months increased at the lowest rate in 27 years.

The Beast slows! Is this caused by poor management or the anti Wal-Mart Movement?

...rising expansion costs...

Back to the boondocks where you belong, Beast of Bentonville!

“Our key strategy was simply to put good-sized discount stores into little one-horse towns which everybody else was ignoring...It turned out that the first big lesson we learned was that there was much, much more business out there in small town America than anybody, including me, had ever dreamed of.” ~ Sam Walton

“ The company spent 2.2 million on lobbying in 2008’s first quarter alone”

That equals a lot of beer, wings and lap dances at Hooters & the local titty bars!

What time should we show up for the fiestivities?

“Is this caused by poor management or the anti Wal-Mart Movement?”

Or, could it be caused by the high prices of gas and food, the housing crisis and other economic conditions?  The fact that the other retailers are having the same problems, may be a CLUE!!

people shop where they can dam well afford to shop.wake up idiots.

therefore nobody should earn a decent wage and everybody should be forced to shop at wm.good paying jobs are for suckers and nobody should be allowed to afford better than wm you elitist wm hating hypocrites.poverty is best and wm is best for all.god bless president bush and his excellent handling of the economy for america.

Or, could it be caused by the high prices of gas and food, the housing crisis and other economic conditions?

As a bottomfeeder, “high prices of gas and food” should favor Wal-Mart. Besides, Wal-Mart’s profit margin has been shrinking consistently, good times or bad.

Ken V,

““high prices of gas and food” should favor Wal-Mart”

That’s true, but, if you only have X number of dollars of disposable income, you still only have X number of dollars to spend, no matter where you spend it!!  Luckily, for Wal-Mart shoppers, those X number of dollars buys MORE at Wal-Mart than somewhere else!!

“Wal-Mart’s profit margin has been shrinking consistently, good times or bad.”

You still don’t understand the concept that Sam Walton understood and made Wal-Mart what it is today!!  Question: Which is higher 10% of a thousand or 3% of ten thousand?

Which is higher 10% of a thousand or 3% of ten thousand?

I’ll take 10% of ten thousand.

You still don’t understand the concept that Sam Walton understood and made Wal-Mart what it is today!!

I fully understand the concept that made Sam a success (Sam’s Dream). That is not the concept that has made Wal-Mart what it is today (Beast of Bentonville</i>).

High volume, low profit is good. High volume, high profit is better. Why else would Bentonville lure you into the store with a loss leader (low profit) only to sell you a high profit item?

Ken V,

“High volume, high profit is better”

True, but unfortunately, the stores that practice that concept of high profit margins, DON’T have high volume and a lot are going downhill, take Sears as an example!!  I know it sounds strange to you, but most people would rather pay LESS for something, than MORE!!

“I’ll take 10% of ten thousand.”

Isn’t that called being GREEDY?

Ken V,

“Why else would Bentonville lure you into the store with a loss leader (low profit) only to sell you a high profit item?”

Sorry, but almost all stores use that loss leader concept, I think they call it “On Sale”, but, guess what, they can’t FORCE you to buy higher profit items, you do that yourself, by not comparison shopping, therefore it is your own fault if you buy higher profit items!!  Besides, their higher profit items may still be lower than some other store’s normal price, as a 7 or 8% profit margin is still less than a 10% profit margin!!

Isn’t that called being GREEDY?

It’s called doing business. I’m sorry, RDS, you’re right, I’ll never understand the idea that grubbing for pennies is morally superior to making a decent profit.

Just as I believe labor should realize a decent wage, I also believe capitalists should be properly compensated without having to resort to slavery to get it done.

Ken V,

There is one group of people you left out of the equasion, the customer!!  Higher prices and higher wages, hit the people with fixed incomes and drive them deeper into poverty!!  Good profits are okay, but, there should be an allowance for stores that meet the needs of people who can’t afford those higher prices, don’t you think?  It is a fact, that NO ONE is forced to shop or work at Wal-Mart, so, as long as people have CHOICE, the situation is good for all concerned!!  You shop where you choose and I shop where I choose, what’s the problem with that senerio?  If you choose quality at a higher price, does that mean I must choose the same?

All we ask, is for you to live your life the way you choose and for you to leave us live our lives the way we choose, is that too much to ask?  We aren’t anti your shopping places, so why are you anti ours?

Don’t forget, it is your groups that are trying to deprive us of something, and we aren’t trying to deprive YOU of anything!!

“Just as I believe labor should realize a decent wage,”

The problem is, WHO decides WHAT a ‘decent wage’ is?  YOU, the unions or the worker?  And, if I accept a job at a certain wage, isn’t that MY choice, not YOURS or the UNION"S, after all, it’s MY wage, not yours?

Higher prices and higher wages, hit the people with fixed incomes and drive them deeper into poverty!!

Higher prices and lower wages drive people into poverty. What did you think the result of the race to the bottom was going to be?

Meanwhile, as you empty the change jar to buy gas for your lawnmower, take heart, not everyone is suffering.

Superyacht Market Stays Strong

The index, which is compiled by The Luxury Institute and Camper & Nicholsons International – the yacht broker and charter company – found that new orders for yachts over 130 feet are up 18% in 2008. There were 254 new orders for yachts longer than 130-feet last year, up from 134 in 2005.

hey ken why do you still eat at fast food joints if low wages hurt everything?their poverty wages never stop you and your wm hater buddies on here from eating their,but you gripe about wms wages.ken you still dont get it that people shop where we can afford to shop.we are not spoiled rich elitists like you am haters are.

i am a septic tank of the truth.i love being poor and knowing that low wages and poverty are not related.why should people be allowed to live because they have low wage jobs or the type of work that a company employs them to do you elitist hypocrite wm haters.

we are not spoiled rich elitists...

Get RDS to take you under his wing and after a few ‘right choices’, you too may become a rich elitist.

John McCain sold his soul in South Carolina in the year 2000.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” ~ Matthew 16:26

you are rich spoiled selfish eleitists ken.you piss and moan about wms low prices and etc but tell me something why are ufcw union grocery stores,costcos and etcs higher prices better for the economy than wms low prices. especially when these places sell the same imported items and gm items from the same chinese slaveshops that wm does?ken can you answer me on that honestly without name calling?

also ken are you getting a better quality product and will it last you longer by paying more elsewhere than wm/of course not.the same imported items from china dont last you any longer paying more at your favorite elitist type stores like costco,ufcw union grocers and etc.

...the same imported items from china...

As long as you, and others like you, can’t tell the difference, matthew, you will remain in the tank for Wal-Mart.

“It proves something I have been trying to teach for years: the indifferent equivalence of everything with everything else, for an audience that has no concern for that difference, and no discernment of quality.” ~ Marshall Blonsky

quality sucks.i hate quality and everything it stands for including american jobs that displace chinese workers in the communist paradise and all the crap they send us from china.wm benefits and you american patriots can all drop dead as quality seeking fools wanting american made quality products and supporting your fellow americans you elitist wm hating hypocrites.everybody does it so wm crap is ok and the entire system must be right.you are all stupid