The Looters' war against wealth

[Trapper John]

[QUOTE=SomethingWitty;478263][QUOTE=Trapper John;478251]

Originally Posted by SomethingWitty

I should find the article somewhere. It is kind of interesting how outsourcing all manufacturing may no longer be the popular thing to do.

If you find it please post it, I would love to read it.

[Sigaba]

I don't think COSTCO is comparable to Walmart. COSTCO requires membership, Walmart doesn't. COSTCO has a focus on B2B sales, Walmart doesn't. (I'd compare COSTCO to Sam's, but why shop at Sam's if one can shop at COSTCO?)

Also COSTCO sells big ass cartons of Q-tips, Walmart doesn't. Not that I'm OCD or anything. I'm just pointing something out important.

[SomethingWitty]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

I don't think COSTCO is comparable to Walmart. COSTCO requires membership, Walmart doesn't. COSTCO has a focus on B2B sales, Walmart doesn't. (I'd compare COSTCO to Sam's, but why shop at Sam's if one can shop at COSTCO?)

Also COSTCO sells big ass cartons of Q-tips, Walmart doesn't. Not that I'm OCD or anything. I'm just pointing something out important.

Sams Club is part of Walmart.

The economic factors that apply to Walmart/Sam's Club also apply to Coscto, in so far that they are both able to buy a lot of product for their stores, and be able to sell product at a lower cost than local stores.

Also, the demographic that shops at Costco is different than Walmart. Costco caters to mainly middle class families, while Walmart patrons are generally lower middle class, and poor families. I wonder what percentage of Walmarts grocery business is made up of federal food stamp dollars compared to Costco.

I would put money on food stamps/federal programs being a large part of Walmarts business, and probably also a major shot in the arm for Kraft.

[ZonieDiver]

And...

You can eat lunch at Costco, IF you are patient (they must train those people to be slow) and can elbow all the kids and old ladies out of the way.

I've never been to Sam's, and only bought cat litter at WalMart... when I had a cat.

[MR2]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

(I'd compare COSTCO to Sam's, but why shop at Sam's if one can shop at COSTCO?)

Because COSTCO only takes AmExpress. Us po folk have ta git by wit our MasterCard.


Bunch of Walmart bigots we got here.

[Pete]

When I take off from the house I've got a Food Lion 1 1/4 miles to the left and 2 miles to the right.

If I go about 3 miles past each of them I'll hit a Wal-Mart Super Center.

I like Tombstone Frozen Pizzas. I can get the same Pizza at Wal-mart for $1.25 less. If I'm running out and getting one Pizza I stop at Food Lion. Getting four or so I'll go to Wal-Mart.

I do have a Sam's card and go there a few times a year to get bulk stuff.

Shirts? Don't get me started.

[mark46th]

My wife and I hit Walmart, Sam's and Costco. Walmart for smaller itemss, Costco and Sam's for gas and larger or bulk items. To be honest, I prefer the meat at Sam's, although Costco in the last year or so started selling USDA Prime grade beef... And as an added bonus, going to different stores keeps the wife busy and happy.

[TXGringo]

Originally Posted by SomethingWitty

On the mill-side of things, the example is usually given that the company is adding a new machine to the production line, or adding a new turbine, or whatever it is. What usually happens is that management does not take into consideration the maintence needs of the machine, and when left to it's own devices, would put it in a place where it makes maintence more difficult; to the extent of having to shut down other working machines to make way to transport a part for the broken machine. A good union foreman (because there are bad ones too like any other place) keeps management from making stupid/uninformed decisions that save company time and money in the long run.

Does a foreman have to be a union member in order to tell management "you shouldn't put that machine there?"

[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by SomethingWitty

Sams Club is part of Walmart.

The economic factors that apply to Walmart/Sam's Club also apply to Coscto, in so far that they are both able to buy a lot of product for their stores, and be able to sell product at a lower cost than local stores.

Sam's is owned by Walmart but run differently.

Originally Posted by SomethingWitty

Also, the demographic that shops at Costco is different than Walmart. Costco caters to mainly middle class families, while Walmart patrons are generally lower middle class, and poor families.

Incidentally, these comments re-enforce my POV that Walmart should not be compared to COSTCO--a POV that is almost the opposite of the one you offered in post #38 when you wrote of "other similar companies."

[Richard]

Originally Posted by SomethingWitty

Also, the demographic that shops at Costco is different than Walmart. Costco caters to mainly middle class families, while Walmart patrons are generally lower middle class, and poor families.

Costco and WalMart are a poor comparison IMO.

So, for the SAT...

Costco : Sams Club :: ________

A) Exxon : Shell
(B) squirrel : chipmunk
(C) beaver : muskrat
(D) cat : litter box
(E) Lowes : Home Depot

And so it goes...

Richard

[Roguish Lawyer]

Originally Posted by Dozer523

And as long as we think of people as expenses to be minimized this is what will continue to happen.

OK, let's prohibit firing people and guarantee everyone a job forever with all of their needs taken care of by their employers. Problem solved!

[The Reaper]

We go to the Sam's in Fayetteville, and the Costco in Raleigh.

I swear, if I went in either one, without store labels, I couldn't tell the difference. The same items are on the same shelving in the same place, at roughly the same price. They serve the same food items in the restaurant. The meats are generally better at the Sam's, IMHO. COSTCO sends out more flyers and has internet specials from a larger variety of products, like caskets.

The employees seem to be cut from the same cloth, and that would be the same as any of the Wal-Mart employees I have seen.

I think we have some serious Wal-Mart haters here who seem to think that COSTCO is some sort or progressive, enlightened, labor-oriented nirvana.

Put down the Kool-Aid.

TR

[BKKMAN]

Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer

OK, let's prohibit firing people and guarantee everyone a job forever with all of their needs taken care of by their employers. Problem solved!

That's pretty much what was being offered to the employees at the Long Beach terminal, isn't it?

Long Beach Strike

"At issue is the union's contention that terminal operators have outsourced jobs to lower-paid paperwork pushers in the U.S. and places such as Costa Rica, India and Taiwan. A union release contended that 51 clerical jobs have been lost in the past five years.

The negotiating group for the shippers denied that any local union clerical jobs were outsourced and said in a statement that the 51 workers had quit, died or retired with full benefits in the past three years.

Their positions weren't filled because there was no "business need," said a statement from the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Employers Association.

In addition, the companies have offered to guarantee current union clerical workers their jobs for life, Berry said.

He claimed that the union wants contract language to permit "featherbedding"—the practice of requiring employers to call in temporary employees and hire new permanent employees even when there is no work to perform.

[Trapper John]

Originally Posted by BKKMAN

That's pretty much what was being offered to the employees at the Long Beach terminal, isn't it?


In addition, the companies have offered to guarantee current union clerical workers their jobs for life, Berry said.

He claimed that the union wants contract language to permit "featherbedding"—the practice of requiring employers to call in temporary employees and hire new permanent employees even when there is no work to perform.[/I]

Yep, that certainly will solve the US global competitiveness problem.

[SomethingWitty]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

We go to the Sam's in Fayetteville, and the Costco in Raleigh.

I swear, if I went in either one, without store labels, I couldn't tell the difference. The same items are on the same shelving in the same place, at roughly the same price. They serve the same food items in the restaurant. The meats are generally better at the Sam's, IMHO. COSTCO sends out more flyers and has internet specials from a larger variety of products, like caskets.

The employees seem to be cut from the same cloth, and that would be the same as any of the Wal-Mart employees I have seen.

I think we have some serious Wal-Mart haters here who seem to think that COSTCO is some sort or progressive, enlightened, labor-oriented nirvana.

Put down the Kool-Aid.

TR

I was not trying to raise the point that Costco is better than Walmart/Sams Club, but rather that one of the largest retailers in the country can pay a living wage to it's employees and still have competitive prices.

And that by paying a living wage, their employees are not having to resort to tax dollars to get by, and are not a drain on public resources.

Or another way we could look at it, is that we are subsidizing Walmarts profit margin with our tax dollars whether we like it or not.