[geeks] Wal-Mart

[Shannon Hendrix]

On Nov 28, 2007, at 9:19 PM, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:

> I was just watching TV, when a commercial for Wal-Mart came on.  As
> usual, it was bragging about their low prices.
>
> Unfortunately, I came to the realization that I'm willing to pay  
> *extra*
> to not have to go to Wal-Mart.  It's that bad.

Same here.

However, I really don't find Wal-Mart to be that much cheaper, and in  
some cases, they cost more than other stores.

Now that they've eliminated everyone else, it seems to me some of  
their prices are creeping up.

I've already observed them doing the classic retailer scam of using  
sales to raise prices.

In many areas, they no longer have any competition, so they really  
don't have a business reason any more to keep prices low.

Also, let's be completely honest: retail items in general are more  
expensive now, and the quality is lower.

I can't remember the last time I got an appliance from Wal-Mart or  
Target that would last more than 2-3 years before something broke.

By contrast, I have stuff given to me by my family that is 30 years  
old and still works fine.

Even something as simple as electric fans... they all suck now.  I  
have a fan that is 40 years old, older than me, and it runs like it  
was brand new.  It's had tens of thousands of power on hours.

I bought an "industrial" floor fan from Wal-Mart 4 years ago, and the  
motor is already dead.

I think stores like Wal-Mart did a lot of this kind of damage, but not  
all of it.  This started happening before Wal-Mart rose up.



-- 
Shannon Hendrix
shannon at widomaker.com