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Walmart negative effects on communities
Walmart impact on community
Walmart impact on community
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Wal-Mart is a name that is instantly recognizable in many countries all over the world. It conjures images of a low-price wonderland where anything a consumer would want is available all in one place. But this cheery picture that Wal-Mart tries to create is far from true. Poor worker wages and benefits, and the destruction of small communities should be what one thinks of when hearing that company name.
However, Wal-Mart didn't start out so corrupt. In 1962, Sam Walton opened his first store in Rogers, Arkansas. 1962 was the birth of the discount retailer, with the first Kmart and Target stores opening that same year. Walton's philosophy was giving the customers what they want. He said he wanted to offer "good quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience." In 1970, the stock was offered on the NY Stock Exchange, and the company grew from fifteen stores to 276 by the end of the 70s. In the 80s Wal-Mart boomed, growing to 1400 stores. They also opened the first Sam's Club and the first Wal-Mart Supercenter, which included a grocery section. In 1990, they became the nation's number one retailer, and in 91 they enter the international market with a store in Mexico City. In 1995 they have stores in all fifty states and have 276 international stores. Currently there are 3,700 stores in the U.S., and 1,500 others throughout the rest of the world. Wal-Mart has announced their goal to double their Supercenter stores, having 3,131 in operation by 2010.
So what is the result of this expanding business? Failing local economies, lowering U.S. labor standards, and the abuse of the environment have all been attributed to the Wal-Mart corporation. One aspect I have witnessed is the impact on local economies. I grew up in a small town where the main retailers were locally owned grocery stores, a Target, and a Kmart. Wal-Mart came in about ten years ago, and not long after Target went out of business. The Kmart is now on the verge of closing, and has already fired much of the staff. Many of the small clothing stores, and the record store have been put out of business. Now the Wal-Mart is being turned into a Supercenter, which will surely mean one if not both of the grocery stores will close.
In order to gain the success it has had, Wal-Mart has no doubt affected small businesses. But in the place of small business Wal-Mart has been able to do far more for Americans than small businesses could. It provides consumers inexpensive necessities for life, it provides work for those who would otherwise have none, and it has a stake in the global economy that benefits our own with trading. Wal_mart
To begin with, some store history may be helpful. In 1914, Anna Albrecht opened a small store, Albrecht Discount, in the town of Essen, Germany. By 1948, her sons had taken over the business and had expanded it to four locations. In 1962, the store’s name changed from Albrecht Discount to Aldi. In 1976, Aldi makes their debut in the United States, opening a store in Southwestern Iowa. Today, in 2014, Aldi has 1,300 locations in the United States and 4,000 locations worldwide (Aldiuscareers.com). In 1962, Wal-Mart opens in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1983, Sam Walton opened the first Sam’s Club in Midwest City, Oklahoma. By 1988, Walton had opened the first Wal-Mart Supercenter in Washington, Missouri. Wal-Mart went global in 1991, opening a Sam’s Club in Mexico City, Mexico. Today, in 2014, Wal-Mart employs 2.2 million associates, serves 200 million customers, with 11,000 stores in twenty-seven countries (Corporate.walmart.com).
Wal-Mart represents the sickness of capitalism at its almost fully evolved state. As Jim Hightower said, "Why single out Wal-Mart? Because it's a hog. Despite the homespun image it cultivates in its ads, it operates with an arrogance and avarice that would make Enron blush and John D. Rockefeller envious. It's the world's biggest retail corporation and America's largest private employer; Sam Robson Walton, a member of the ruling family, is one of the richest people on earth. Wal-Mart and the Waltons got to the top the old-fashioned way: by roughing people up. Their low, low prices are the product of two ruthless commandments: Extract the last penny possible from human toil and squeeze the last dime from its thousands of suppliers, who are left with no profit margin unless they adopt the Wal-Mart model of using nonunion labor and shipping production to low-wage hellholes abroad." (The Nation, March 4th 2002 www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020304&s=hightower).
The retail giant started operations in 1962 and was founded by Sam Walton. Current, Wal-Mart is the fastest growing and the biggest retailer with a total of 3,400 stores within the United States and 3,300 other stores in other parts of the major cities in the world. The retail stores have 1.5 million employees and annual revenues of more than $350 Billion.
Wal-Mart, a "Big-Box Retailer" employs more than 2.1 million associates worldwide and has two-thousand seven-hundred stores in the United States with many more in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Central America, Chile, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, India, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom, making Wal-Mart the largest retailer in the world. "Wal-Mart accounts for upward of 30 percent of U.S. sales, and plans to more than double its sales within the next five years" (Lynn 29-36). Why is Wal-Mart so successful, and is Wal-Mart actually bad for America?
When the question is raised regarding whether or not Walmart is good for America? The answer should be “yes they are good for America” because there is always room for improvement and they need to get back to the roots or foundation of the original management philosophies that Sam Walton worked so hard to establish. The Walmart Corporation has had some issues that have been publicized to a larger extent that other companies, but it can be remedied. An American without Walmart would be economically disastrous, so it is better to fix and fine tune compared to the idea of complete
In April 1983, the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. opened its first Sam's Club store, a membership-based discount warehouse club, in Midwest City, Oklahoma. In 1985, their stock was being traded on the Pacific Stock Exchange (PSE). By the company's 25th anniversary, in 1987, there were 1,198 stores nationwide, employing 200,000 associates, with sales of $15.9 billion. In February 1988, Sam Walton stepped down as the CEO of Wal-Mart, and was succeeded by David Glass. The same year, the first Wal-Mart Supercenter was opened in Washington, Missouri. The supercenter contained everything found in a regular Wal-Mart discount store, along with a tire and oil change shop; optical center; photo processing lab & portrait studio; and numerous small outlets like banks, cellular phone stores, hair & nail salons, video rental stores, and several fast food restaurants.
In 1962, Wal-Mart opened their first store in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1970, Wal-Mart's first distribution center and home office in Bentonville, Ark. open and Wal-Mart went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Just nine years from that, Wal-Mart's annual sales exceeded one billion dollars. In 1988, Wal-Mart super centers opened across the country. In a merely three years from that, Wal-Mart opened their own store in Mexico City, Mexico; making Wal-Mart an international corporation. Not even sixty years has past, and yet, Wal-Mart is over-powering our country.
In 1962 Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart in Rodgers Arkansas. His business model was based off of low prices and fair deals for his customers. By 1967 Wal-Mart grew to 24 stores and in 1968 Wal-Mart had expanded to states near Arkansas, and by 1970 Wal-Mart became public. In 1991 Wal-Mart became a country wide store, with sales topping 32 million dollars. President Bush even gave Sam Walton with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Wal-Mart seemed to be the “all American” store. How could a successful store like this possibly be bad for the economy?
The first Walmart was opened in Rogers, Arkansas in the year 1962 by a 44-year-old man by the name of Sam Walton. When he first envisioned Walmart, Walton believed that a successful business could be built around offering lower prices and great service. Despite his retail rivals laughing at his supposedly unsustainable business model, the company became hugely successful, and its success exceeded even Walton's expectations. The company went public in 1970, and the proceeds financed a steady expansion of the business. Today, Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, as it has 8,500 stores spread across 15 countries and annual revenues of $400 billion dollars. Moreover, Walmart is the
Few companies create as much controversy as Wal-Mart has done with its approach to maintaining high profits with low costs. Individuals either love or hate Wal-Mart. There are consumers who like the low prices and convenience of shopping at Wal-Mart. Supporters of Wal-Mart also laud the fact that the company creates multiple jobs for not just the individuals who are employed within the stores but also those who create the products that are sold in the stores. Critics of Wal-Mart have issues with the treatment of those individuals who work at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has a poor track record when it comes to Fair Labor Practices by giving low wages, bad healthcare coverage, and treats employees. Low wages, no benefits, irregular schedules, and unreliable hours are just some of the horrible working conditions most Walmart workers have to endure.
Walmart is a company that can be seen from many different perspectives. Due to its vast size; it can be easy to identify its faults and environmental issues surrounding the company. However, they are well aware of these problems and criticisms and have made many efforts towards issues around the world. The motivation and desire Walmart have to improve the world we live in today can be seen through their treatment of employees, suppliers as well as their efforts towards the environment and other humanitarian issues. Given this, there is still endless resources on the web proving the company to be one of a negative burden on society.
The Wal-mart is the largest retail chain in United States and in the world. The wal-mart was founded in the year 1962 by Mr Sam Walton. It was originally named as Wal-Mart discount city in Rogers, Arkansas. At the time when the Wal-Mart stores started in the year 1962 it was focused only in small rural cites and town which had a population of 5000 to 25000. It was soon increased to 18 stores in 1969. In the next 30 years it had more than 4750 stores across 50 states in USA and 9 countries with $245 billion sales. It started its international operations in Mexico in the year 1991 and then it expanded it to different countries across Europe and Asia.
The first Wal-Mart was opened in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. By 1969 it was incorporated into Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and in 1972 went public on the New York Stock Exchange. The company grew steadily across the United States, and by 1990 was the nation's largest retailer. In 1991 and 1994, Wal-Mart moved into Mexico and Canada respectively. By 1997 it was incorporated into the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As of 2005, Wal-Mart has stores in the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico, and brings in revenue of close to 300 billion dollars a year. In 2006, Wal-Mart invaded the China and India's markets. During the last two decades, Wal-Mart has been able to take advantage of the rise of information technology and the explosion of the global economy to change the balance of power in the business world (Wikipedia, 2006). Today Wal-Mart continues to grow and their success is not only from their sound strategic management planning but also from its implementation of those strategic plans. In other words operational planning has been an important key to their success.
Walmart has had a long-standing presence in America society since the middle of the 20th century, seen as a place to get everything done, Walmart has become a fixation in our society. From grocery shopping, to changing your oil and even filing your annual tax returns, Walmart is always there, everyday. Started by Sam Walton in 1962, it began as a small operation catering to a small Arkansas community. It was started on principles very similar to small local businesses in small towns. Today Walmart has gotten a different, darker reputation. On the surface, Walmart may seem like the solution to everyday issues. Low-income families are attracted to the low prices, and people who work odd hours benefit greatly from the 24 hours a day that many Walmarts are open. Lately, Walmart has also managed to be publicly recognized as a store that sells many of today’s green products, including organic food, environmental conscious cleaning products, as well as, paper products made from recycled paper. However, underneath all this, Walmart has a different side. Exploitation of its workers is widespread amongst Walmarts who do not belong to a union, especially in the United States. Wal...