Wal-Mart shows its true colors

[Ashley Schovitz]

All of you probably already know this, but Wal mart announced that they're cutting salaries on all their employees while also doing that, they want their employees to work more nightshifts and weekends. how can you expect people to work more hours at a lower salary doing the same job!? Also they also said they're looking for more part-time workers than full time. if you've ever worked before you klnow the advantges of working full time and part time. With full time, over a course of years an employee is almost guaranteed to a raise and benefits, not that I think Wal-Mart gives benefits. And to finally add they also stated that they're stopping the Layaways for the holiday seasons. To me it would seem like they would lose a lot more money that way, but now that I think about it, there are not that many places that do layaway anymore. K-Mart does, but it's higher and not as organized as Wal-Marts.

[Sylvie]

The answer is:
Walmart sucks.

[Sephex]

Wal-Mart acting like douchebags isn't exactly news. Everyone whines about Wal-Mart, but no one takes any action. If people want change, they should stop working there. Don't give me some sob story about how that's the only place they can get a job, etc. No. It's possible to get a job that is just as "good" as Wal-Mart, if not better. As far as people who don't work there that want change, just don't shop there. At all. Not even for Tic-Tacs.

[Dr Unne]

Wal-Mart acting like douchebags isn't exactly news. Everyone whines about Wal-Mart, but no one takes any action. If people want change, they should stop working there. Don't give me some sob story about how that's the only place they can get a job, etc. No. It's possible to get a job that is just as "good" as Wal-Mart, if not better. As far as people who don't work there that want change, just don't shop there. At all. Not even for Tic-Tacs.

I don't shop there, and I tell everyone I know not to. But I'm not under the illusion that it will ever make a difference.

When WalMart moves into town and puts all other businesses out of business, some people have no choice but to work there.

[Jojee]

Ouch, that yellow color doesn't go with the Fluffy Puff theme at <i>all</i> D: Although speaking of yellow ^_^

http://home.arcor.de/pal.heredi/Smiley%20Face_kleiner.jpg

As for Wal-Mart, I don't really sympathize ;) People can go find a job at Target or something instead.

[bipper]

I worked there for 8.35 overnights for a few monthhs. I had a family to support, and no choice. So telling us 'douches' not to work there is just selfish and retardedly retarded yo. I kinda wanna punch the ignorance in the face when people say get job else where. Everyone I knew that worked at walmart is incredibly fatuiged after a shift, and they still make every effort to find a different job, but thehy cannot. Wal-mart moved into our small populace area, and litterally dragged everything under, now it is the only place to work and shop. Even our local gorcer cant keep up.

Luckily, I got a break and got hiried at Target Corperate. Sweet Irony. While there(walmart), I broke three spinus in my back, and got 0 work releif, and hardly any compensation. Walmart is the fucking /xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.giftiest thing in the world. Hands down.

They are planning on making employees work a lot harder as well, so that out of shape people will be discouraged from staying, thusly lowering health costs. There is a ton of bad /xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif on this company, and yet it still thrives.

Simply put, too many Americans are obviously greedy peices of /xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif that will support a store even though they know what it does to its empolyees as there has been numerous - thousands of lawsuiits, allegations, and outright legal decisions held against this company. I think having an ounce of humanity, and shopping at walmart is only justifyable via hypocracy.

Bipper

[Ashley Schovitz]

whoa you're right there bipper!

[Sephex]

Wal-Mart acting like douchebags isn't exactly news. Everyone whines about Wal-Mart, but no one takes any action. If people want change, they should stop working there. Don't give me some sob story about how that's the only place they can get a job, etc. No. It's possible to get a job that is just as "good" as Wal-Mart, if not better. As far as people who don't work there that want change, just don't shop there. At all. Not even for Tic-Tacs.

I don't shop there, and I tell everyone I know not to. But I'm not under the illusion that it will ever make a difference.

When WalMart moves into town and puts all other businesses out of business, some people have no choice but to work there.

True, but what blows my mind is that so many people say they have low prices. Maybe this is just around here, but generally I see lower prices EVERYWHERE else.

[Jojee]

Oh, come on. It's not like anyone really has no choice but to work in Wal-Mart. If you can get hired in Wal-Mart, you can in almost all cases get hired in McDonald's, or as a janitor, or numerous other jobs. There's always other options open.

[Ashley Schovitz]

[QUOTE=Sephex;1920141

True, but what blows my mind is that so many people say they have low prices. Maybe this is just around here, but generally I see lower prices EVERYWHERE else.[/QUOTE]
Generally not true for me, overall Wal-Mart has the lowest prices, you might find a thing or 2 cheaper at Foood Lion, but Wal mart has it overall, it's Harris Teeter that's way too expensive!

[bipper]

Oh, come on. It's not like anyone really has no choice but to work in Wal-Mart. If you can get hired in Wal-Mart, you can in almost all cases get hired in McDonald's, or as a janitor, or numerous other jobs. There's always other options open.

Absolutely false. McDonalds would hire, and they would fill thier spots within a week. People would try to flock outta wal-mart. Janitors are all outsourced nowadays, and our area is litterally in a deep recession, so there are no job oppertunities. Not to mention the ecconomic vacum walmart makes, which causes a drastic fall in average wage in an area, thus average expence goes down, and yet being that we are an econimic nation, our prices stay up. It is downright discusting to think of a peprson being able to live off 8.35 an hour, and that is with a 150 over night differential. I mean shat, I drive 60 miles one way to makek what I do. Though, I have college and experience going for me.

[Hawkeye]

Isn't Walmart also selling prescription diabetes insulin over the counter for like $4 now or something though? Cry me a river if you don't like working there; I can relate by working at Target. But this is good for a lot of people in the US regardless on how /xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gifty your job was.

[Jojee]

I still find it very hard to believe that if you absolutely hated your job, you wouldn't be able to find another one anywhere else in your whole town, especially if you're not picky about what you're doing. Maybe it's just where I live, but if I went and applied to say, all the restaurants in my town and followed up on it, I would definitely get hired at multiple places. I could also try the packaging companies, every store in the mall and stores in general outside of the mall, and quite a few other places.

At least in my town, if you really want a job - you'll find one; the only people without jobs are the ones who don't try enough. So either people do think that working at Wal-Mart is better than working at, say, fast food restaurants, or if they really hate it with all their heart they're just too lazy to search for other jobs.

[Shlup]

My stepmom works at Wal Mart and she seems to like it just fine.

[Bloodline666]

Wal-Mart already showed their true colors three years ago when they willfully employed illegal immigrants, KNOWING it's against the law, and got caught!

That being said, such a move by Wal-Mart to require more night/weekend shifts, hire more part-timers, cut wages, etc., does not surprise me.

There's only one solution: go on strike! The HELL with Wal-Mart's Anti-Union policies! If they threaten to fire the employees, they should just threaten to sue their asses, or even report them to the Better Businesses Bureau!

I am boycotting Wal-Mart! Their stock prices are falling. I just hope they fall even more! This is complete and utter horse/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif! If Wal-Mart continues down the path they're going now, then I wish the company complete bankrupcy!

[Shlup]

Where was this information taken from anyway? I don't see a source.

[Raistlin]

Wal-Mart sucks. This is pretty much without debate.

What gets me the most is that Wal-Mart, while having more money than some nations, still gets <i>millions</i> of dollars from the government in subsidies and eminent domain. Good god.

[Hawkeye]

Do you know how much of a setback if the Walmart cooperation would have if it went under? You're talking about thousands of employees being laid off with no job or money. It's because of coorperations like Walmart that helps our economy. I won't say it helps it in the best of ways possible, but it helps.

[bipper]

Jojee, like I said, there was nearly nowhere to work in the area. Not any job openings at least. I am slowly finding new jobs for my friends that were there, but it is a very hard process. I mean, when a giant drops itself in a rural area with a district population of under 5k, not alot of business is going to survive. It was a Supercenter then.



Oh and shlup: http://www.talkleft.com/new_archives/010087.html

Hawkeye: Walmart going under would kill us, and Target would simply take its place with just as many problems. This is natural for money hungry conglomerates, and why I do not support laze fare, or our government's substidise the big guys policy. I also think its AMERICANS (As in the citicens) being fucking morons about the whole walmart issue. It sucks, and yet everyone will go there mindlessly.

[Captain Maxx Power]

Wal-Mart being evil is news how?

[Jojee]

Jesus, you guys just hate capitalism.

bipper, I can see how it might be harder for smaller towns~ :</>p Mine has well over 70k population.

[Raistlin]

Jesus, you guys just hate capitalism.

Actually, I detest Wal-Mart mostly because of government interference in the economy to help Wal-Mart. :p

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

As I understand it Walmart thrives best in smaller areas where it can drive everyone out of business and establish a stranglehold on the economy. Since its a smaller town, people who have the power to do anything about it don't care. There are Walmarts where I live, but because I live in a large city, they aren't nearly as big, you see Targets a lot more and they don't really have the chance to do what they do.

I've a friend down in Waco who absolutely cannot find a job, and the only place that will really hire is Walmart (which she kinda screwed herself on by walking out on a shift earlier). As I understand it operates under that basic principle and most people have no choice but to work there or starve.

[rubah]

my town (well the one next to it with a walmart) has only somewhere over 30000 people, and people can still find jobs pretty easily.

now that it occurs to me, Aexoden was complaining about not having a job a while ago, and now he works at walmart, sorta ironic!

The other night I was wondering, if people used to get perscriptions filled at a pharmacy, buy clothes at a boutique, and get their food from a grocery store, what kind of non-wal-mart kind of store sold stuff like shampoo and toothpaste?

For the life of me, I could not figure it out. I was assuming that grocery stores started to emulate wal-mart's selling of toiletries, but I may be wrong on this.

[Roto13]

If I don't shop at Walmart, I don't buy video games.

[Sephex]

If I don't shop at Walmart, I don't buy video games.

There are so many other places to get video games, though. Unless the only place in your area that carries video games are Wal-Mart, I don't see why you can't buy video games if you don't go to Wal-Mart.

[Miriel]

The other night I was wondering, if people used to get perscriptions filled at a pharmacy, buy clothes at a boutique, and get their food from a grocery store, what kind of non-wal-mart kind of store sold stuff like shampoo and toothpaste?

For the life of me, I could not figure it out. I was assuming that grocery stores started to emulate wal-mart's selling of toiletries, but I may be wrong on this.

What the heck? Supermarkets like Safeway and Vons have always sold shampoo and toothpaste. Before Wal-Mart even existed. <_<

[Roto13]

If I don't shop at Walmart, I don't buy video games.

There are so many other places to get video games, though. Unless the only place in your area that carries video games are Wal-Mart, I don't see why you can't buy video games if you don't go to Wal-Mart.

That's exactly what I mean. There's nowhere else.

[Dr Unne]

I used to work at Sam's Club (owned by WalMart).

*They paid $6.50/hour; cost of living here isn't as high as other places, but that's still nowhere near a living wage. Everyone who was supporting himself had another job on top of WalMart.

*Rather than give raises, they stressed things like buying WalMart stock with an employee discount, and "If you work hard enough you'll get a Christmas bonus".
* However shortly after I started working there, EVERYONE got a raise. It was due to some kind of regulation violation; I never quite caught the details. I had to sign a waiver of some sort though, I remember that, acknowledging that the raise satisfied the conditions of whatever rule WalMart was breaking but not paying people enough money.
* There was a class-action lawsuit brought against WalMart after I quit. Unsure what for, since I chose not to participate. I think for overtime violations.
* My store hadn't gotten in trouble, but from what I understood while working there, others had for making people work overtime without paying them properly. We had strict guidelines about never working overtime, even if told to by a manager, because they wanted to avoid further legal troubles.
* Part of our training was hours-long video propaganda about how to fend off people asking us to join a union, and how unions are evil. If someone came into the store and tried to give us any information about unions, we were to refuse it.
* Part-time workers got no benefits. Health insurance was not even an option until you worked there for one year.
* Basically everyone was part-time, with the exception of some people who had been there for a decade. That means we had to work 38 hours per week, no more and no less. If we went over that by even a matter of minutes, we were in serious trouble because WalMart would HAVE to pay us something extra. And our timecards were indeed tracked down to the minute. It would show up on your paycheck if you worked 5 minutes too few or too many.
* We got 0 days of sick / vacation time until having worked there for one year. If you wanted a day off, the policy was that you had to request it 2-3 weeks in advance. And you had to find someone to take your shift for you, yourself.
* Scheduling was automatically done via computer. It was impossible to ask for any kind of flexibility. The schedule was faxed to the store every other week, from somewhere in Texas or something. It was often done so poorly that the managers would get one schedule, and employees would get a different one.
* Turnover was extremely fast and common. It seemed like a lot of people quit there after hardly a month of work, though I'm unsure of the real numbers. Of the dozen or so people I went to training class with, I think 3 were there when I quit. And I quit after working there 4 months.
* I've never seen a store under-staffed the way this one was. Lines would be 20 people long. Customers would be absolutely enraged by the time they got to the front.
* We had to watch propaganda moves from time to time. Not exaggerating. They weren't training; they were set to Tina Turner music, and talked about how great WalMart is. They showed smiling old people pushing huge lines of carts or stocking shelves.
* Once per week, we'd have a store meeting (which I never attended, but I could hear from the break room). At the beginning of the meeting they would do a chat. "GIVE ME AN S! GIME ME AN A! GIVE ME AN M! GIVE ME A HOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAH! GIVE ME AN S!" Something like that. It scared the living crap out of me. They opened a new store building while I worked there. A bunch of corporate people flew in to oversee it. They did that chant at the store opening, and it scared the crap out of me then too.

It was clear that "low prices" was by far the driving influence of every single decision made. We were told about how everyone used calculators from the dollar store rather than computers, because it would save a few bucks. We were told about how they left the floors bare concrete instead of tiling them, because it saved money; they were proud of how barren and cold and cheap the store looked. Etc. etc.

[Miriel]

I don't shop at Wal-Mart because I think Wal-Mart sucks. It's disorganized, things are on the floors all the time, lines are huge, I don't like the vibe when I walk in there. And I've only walked in there like 3 times.

Plus, I just hear so many bad things about Wal-Mart that I don't want to support them, not even a little bit.

[Sephex]

That's terrible.

EDIT: Responce to Dr. Unne's post.

[Roto13]

I don't shop at Wal-Mart because I think Wal-Mart sucks. It's disorganized, things are on the floors all the time, lines are huge, I don't like the vibe when I walk in there. And I've only walked in there like 3 times.

Maybe they're different in Canada, because (at least on the surface) they're not that skeezy here.

[Sylvie]

The Walmart employees creep me out too. I walked in there one time and they were in this huge circle singing because some guy got a promotion. It's like I stepped into a crack house or something.

[Roto13]

The Walmart employees creep me out too. I walked in there one time and they were in this huge circle singing because some guy got a promotion. It's like I stepped into a crack house or something.

They do that at the beginning of every day. It scares the Ships High In Transport out of me.

[Sephex]

On a side note of annoyoing things that happen in Wal-Marts:

Is it just me, or that every time I go in one there is some out of control child screaming on the floor while their parent(s) pretend that he/she doesn't exist?

[Bloodline666]

You know, this gives me an idea.

As an act of protest of these bull/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif labor practices that seem to have no end to the list, I am thinking of applying for a job at Wal-Mart, actively bragging about wanting to join a labor union, file complaints against Wal-Mart to agencies such as the Better Businesses Bureau, OSHA, expose to the public any evidence of unfair/illegal labor practices that Wal-Mart wants kept secret, etc., and do all of that bragging in the presence of a whole line of customers! And I KNOW Wal-Mart has their little snitches among their employees, so me not giving a /xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif about being ratted out only helps my protest. Then, when I'm being reprimanded by the store manager, I'll record the entire thing on a little tape recorder, CONTINUE my bull/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif. Get reprimanded AGAIN, record it AGAIN, and so on down the line until I get FIRED! Then, I'll listen to the tape recordings. If I find ANYTHING being said that can incriminate the company, BAM! I'm calling my lawyer! :D Hell, I'll record the "orientation", and if in the "orientation" they threaten to fire us for even talking to someone in a union, I'll send the recording to the Department of Labor (cuz I KNOW that's against the law). :D

OR...I could apply for a job there, and once I get hired, I'll do everything possible to actually get fired! And upon getting fired, I'll throw my name tag at the store, and flip off the front of the store (aimed right at that Wal-Mart logo)!

[Sylvie]

On a side note of annoyoing things that happen in Wal-Marts:

Is it just me, or that every time I go in one there is some out of control child screaming on the floor while their parent(s) pretend that he/she doesn't exist?

Thats always happening. This stupid kid won't shut the hell up, I swear to god. He's screaming his ass off every time I step into the forsaken store.

[Dynast-Kid]

I like Wal-Mart.

[rubah]

The other night I was wondering, if people used to get perscriptions filled at a pharmacy, buy clothes at a boutique, and get their food from a grocery store, what kind of non-wal-mart kind of store sold stuff like shampoo and toothpaste?

For the life of me, I could not figure it out. I was assuming that grocery stores started to emulate wal-mart's selling of toiletries, but I may be wrong on this.

What the heck? Supermarkets like Safeway and Vons have always sold shampoo and toothpaste. Before Wal-Mart even existed. <_<

Pardon me for not living in a world that has safeway or vons or one where wal-mart doesn't exist.

One of my earliest memories is of looking at walmart from across the road when it was brown xD

[Rye]

I don't shop at Wal-Mart because I think Wal-Mart sucks. It's disorganized, things are on the floors all the time, lines are huge, I don't like the vibe when I walk in there. And I've only walked in there like 3 times.

Plus, I just hear so many bad things about Wal-Mart that I don't want to support them, not even a little bit.

Yes. I'm not going to lie, Wal-Mart has too many creepy white-trash type of people there, and I don't feel comfortable in them. And this is a rather nice suburb of Noo Yoik, so I can't imagine how they are in bad areas. The vibe there bothers me, and it's also very unorganized and the employees are mean and unhelpful.

[DarkLadyNyara]

Wow. A huge corporation screws it's employees. And this is suprising how? Yes, they could treat their workers better, but, let's face it- they won't unless someone forces them. They're in buisness to make money, just like every other company.

I have no real issues with Wal-Mart. Hell, it's where I got my computer.:D

[Miriel]

The other night I was wondering, if people used to get perscriptions filled at a pharmacy, buy clothes at a boutique, and get their food from a grocery store, what kind of non-wal-mart kind of store sold stuff like shampoo and toothpaste?

For the life of me, I could not figure it out. I was assuming that grocery stores started to emulate wal-mart's selling of toiletries, but I may be wrong on this.

What the heck? Supermarkets like Safeway and Vons have always sold shampoo and toothpaste. Before Wal-Mart even existed. <_<

Pardon me for not living in a world that has safeway or vons or one where wal-mart doesn't exist.

One of my earliest memories is of looking at walmart from across the road when it was brown xD
You don't have supermarkets where you live?

[bipper]

Wow. A huge corporation screws it's employees. And this is suprising how? Yes, they could treat their workers better, but, let's face it- they won't unless someone forces them. They're in buisness to make money, just like every other company.

I have no real issues with Wal-Mart. Hell, it's where I got my computer.:D

FAIL (at your computer :) )

I agree with this, and my post did not blame the government even, but the American people. Americans will bitch about someone else, while never changing thier own habbits. Unfortunately, the only decent store around me is walmart. I try and shop more specialised and knowlagable shops for my product, but it is just not fesabe to buy my groceries from the closest grocer that is outside of our wal mart opression buble. There is a little store, and a market place[grocer], but still, no general goods store :(

[fire_of_avalon]

I still find it very hard to believe that if you absolutely hated your job, you wouldn't be able to find another one anywhere else in your whole town, especially if you're not picky about what you're doing. Maybe it's just where I live, but if I went and applied to say, all the restaurants in my town and followed up on it, I would definitely get hired at multiple places. I could also try the packaging companies, every store in the mall and stores in general outside of the mall, and quite a few other places.

At least in my town, if you really want a job - you'll find one; the only people without jobs are the ones who don't try enough. So either people do think that working at Wal-Mart is better than working at, say, fast food restaurants, or if they really hate it with all their heart they're just too lazy to search for other jobs.
Something you also have to take into account, aside from the size of the town you live in, is the fact that you're a reasonably smart, reasonably good looking young woman in college. Of course it's easier for you to get a job anywhere, than say, an old person, or a handicapped person, or a fat person or an ugly person.

Yes, there are laws in place against that, but tell me the last time you went to a really fancy restaurant and saw a really ugly server? How often does that happen? How about a really old lady working in American Eagle or a place like that?

Unfortunately, when Wal Mart moves into small areas, or areas with a dense population of the elderly, it becomes the only viable job option, when you don't have time on your side.

I shop there because I'm poor and can't afford supermarket/drug store prices on some items I need. I hate that I do, but when your only other option is worth lunch money the next day, you have no choice. Anyone who could possibly offer cheaper prices than Wal Mart is invariably driven under due to Wal Mart's convienience factor. It sucks :(.

[Shlup]

Oh and shlup: http://www.talkleft.com/new_archives/010087.html

I don't see anything in there about the OP, just immigrants. Maybe I missed it; I did just get home from a fourteen hour work/school day.


Jesus, you guys just hate capitalism.

Actually, I detest Wal-Mart mostly because of government interference in the economy to help Wal-Mart. :p

That's pretty my entire gripe too. How they treat their employees... If you don't like it, don't work there. Find another job. It may be hard, but if it's worth it it's worth it and if it ain't it ain't.

[ValkyrieWing]

I used to wok at Wal-Mart. Key word: USED. I hated it so much I left after 2 years...

Funny thing is, I wrote my final arguementation paper about all the bad things Wally-world has done. It was 20 pages long. :)

[Leeza]

I don't shop at Wal-Mart because I think Wal-Mart sucks. It's disorganized, things are on the floors all the time, lines are huge, I don't like the vibe when I walk in there. And I've only walked in there like 3 times.

Plus, I just hear so many bad things about Wal-Mart that I don't want to support them, not even a little bit.
Disorganization and bad vibes seems to be what I find at Wal-Marts in larger cities in Canada. Our town is quite small and our Wal-Mart is actually quite pleasant and very organized. I don't like to shop there though because I don't want to support it, but living here you really have no choice, unless you're not concerned about the cost of things. Depending on what you're shopping for, mosts things are less expensive at Wal-Mart. Being the largest store in town also means that they have more selection. We do have a Zellers and I do always go there first to see if they have what I need, but a lot of times I still end up having to go to Wal-Mart for the selection and also because they will be cheaper.

EDIT: And Wal-Mart isn't the only place where they increase your hours and cut your wages. I belong to a union and we still had to do that as well.

[NorthernChaosGod]

The cutting wages thing and hiring more part-time than full-time thing don't really surprise me. It's Wal-Mart, whoop dee do.

But I heard about the layaway thing, and I read in the store itself that layways will continue for this holiday season but end afterwards. They said something about Wal-Mart credit being used more or whatever, I really don't care.

Point is, it's Wal-Mart and none of this should be new.

[starseeker]

I've never shopped at Wal-Mart, there aren't any in my country. I seriously doubt they could pull that stunt here in the UK.

[Yamaneko]

We don't have a Wal-Mart around here. I go to Target for those needs.

[Rainecloud]

* We had to watch propaganda moves from time to time. Not exaggerating. They weren't training; they were set to Tina Turner music, and talked about how great WalMart is. They showed smiling old people pushing huge lines of carts or stocking shelves.

Are people still dumb enough to be influenced by propaganda movies?

*shrug*

[Jowy]

There's never been anything I've explicitly needed from Wal-Mart, so I generally shy away unless everywhere else is closed. Mostly everything I need to buy can be purchased around my neighborhood from other businesses.

[bipper]

Oh and shlup: http://www.talkleft.com/new_archives/010087.html

I don't see anything in there about the OP, just immigrants. Maybe I missed it; I did just get home from a fourteen hour work/school day.
I thought the hiring of illiegal immigrants is what you wanted info on, my bad :)



Jesus, you guys just hate capitalism.

Actually, I detest Wal-Mart mostly because of government interference in the economy to help Wal-Mart. :p

That's pretty my entire gripe too. How they treat their employees... If you don't like it, don't work there. Find another job. It may be hard, but if it's worth it it's worth it and if it ain't it ain't.[/QUOTE][/quote]
I do not like open capitalism for the case'n'point of walmart. A conglomerate gets the size they are, and they litterally can make and break an entire economy. Hence, my local area. I like American's controlled capitalaism, but like Shlups and Raist, I HATE HATE HATE the fact that the government actually unfairly substidises this chain.

bipper

[theundeadhero]

You'll all be happy to know that Wal-Mart is failing in Germany, and slowly closing all it's stores. I can't imagine they have many, but I do know of some.

There are also some in Korea, but I don't know how they're faring.