by Cathleene Filmore

Created on: October 29, 2009

Everyday in towns and cities all over America people have made a lifestyle of shopping at Wal-Mart, it is convenient and affordable, but are you really saving money and if so at what cost. Many people are under the impression that building a Wal-Mart brings jobs to town and saves consumers' money but the long term effect appears to be business closures, job losses, as well as a change in the overall wage that American's earn and the price they pay for goods.

According to MSN, reports show that when Wal-Mart comes to town, there is an initial rise in jobs as the company hirers contractors to build the facility and about 300 workers to run the store, but what actually happens over time is that the local residents shift their purchases from the local hardware and groceries to Wal-Mart, eventually forcing these businesses to close.

This shift in shopping habits essentially causes job losses over time and those low competitive prices that Wal-Mart offered at first are no longer needed; they gradually begin to increase. Try to compare local prices at Wal-Marts across your local town or city and you will find that the website will give you a message telling you that prices vary by location.

Wal-Mart's mission is to lower prices by 5% every year, so if a supplier, local or not, cannot lower their price then they are forced out of business. Wal-Mart cuts their contract and closes them down, causing yet more job losses.

Wal-Mart does not stop with forcing the local businesses to close, it continues to cut costs, shipping jobs and production oversees, suppliers cut manufacturing costs and produce a cheaper product. Sometimes this means the product may not last as long; sometimes it means the product becomes unsafe. Wal-Mart cut jobs and quality in one fail swoop when they decided to eliminate their local butchers; moving meat packing to a central location and exposing it to ethanol.

Many consumers have now come to believe that they cannot afford to shop anywhere else but Wal-Mart, giving the chain the ability to bully the local farmer, shape the economy to fit their philosophy, and control the American public. In a price comparison of Wal-Mart and Target, Wal-Mart did win by a little over $5; however there are several alternate retailers that are both convenient and affordable.

Shop your local thrift store, Salvation Army and Goodwill, it may not be new but you will help someone in need, save money as well as preserve the environment. Find a local farmer's market, ask them to deliver.

Although Costco is also a large chain store, they are not seeking to take advantage of the American worker. Wal-Mart pays most of their workforce just above minimum wage putting them well below the poverty line for a family of 4, while Costco workers live generously above that same poverty line.

References

Aho, Karen. (2009). The price of wal-mart coming to town. MSN .com.

www.educatingforjustice.org

Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2007). Business ethics: Ethical decision

making and cases (7th ed.). Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

Sprawl Busters (2009). Wal-Mart mentality.

Xomba. (2009). Why does Wal-Mart smell funny? http://www.xomba.com/why_does_wal_mart_meat_smell_fu nny_when_you_cook_it.

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