In the formative years of our species, the hunter/gatherer societies, the men hunted and the women gathered.
To the degree that there's a gene imposing a genetic mandate to gather roots and berries, a female possessing such an attribute would bring home more victuals, thereby standing a better chance of her offspring surviving and passing on that gene. Biologically, that's why women like to "shop;" they're following the innate trait of "gathering," or at least looking for something to gather. Even today, they often bring home fruits and nuts - from the bars.
It's possible you're an outlier.
We men have it easier. We're just programmed to kill things.
Go into any wall mart and 90 percent or more of the shoppers are WOMEN, you are the exception.
I am also female, and I only buy the brand name stuff that is exactly what is available at other retailers, only about 25% less at Walmart. I hate Walmart, but I need the lower prices. However, I'm VERY careful about what I buy.
I am having a stressful week and when you said "tax base," I was thinking sales tax. I know that the biggest complaint when they were trying to put a Walmart in our community was that it would cause increased traffic in an unincorporated area without the tax base to support the improvements that Walmart didn't want to pay for, and the proposal was rejected.
The contemporary Supercenter dedicates about 1/3 of the store to its grocery operation. Pre-packaged, consumable food is not subject to SALES tax in many areas but virtually everything else is. Given they are not a not-for-profit entity, they pay taxes on their profit. They pay property tax.
Such merchandise is clearly marketed under Walmart's "Great Value" brand. All merchandise is presented in its original packaging, clearly marked with all required labels such as content, weight, volume, nutrition, etc.
Those, too, are clearly marked.
Yet you perpetuate them.
Wrong.
Walmart ran afoul of wage and hour requirements YEARS ago when it was revealed that SOME workers had worked off the clock. It is unclear whether the workers were pressured by management to do so.
Today, the biggest rule, by far and away, is that one does NOT work off the clock. Management is adamant about it. There are large (bilingual) signs at each time clock forbidding working unless clocked-in.
Walmart is extremely accommodating with merchandise returns and other customer concerns. Still, there will always be the customer that is dissatisfied regardless of any outcome.
Remember, also, there are those that, not too much unlike shoplifters, will intentionally take advantage of Walmart's liberal customer satisfaction policies.
My wife was mistreated by a returns Associate as was my son-in-law - the latter over a mere package of moldy pita bread. Much depends on the Associate with whom the customer is dealing and how much experience and training that Associate has had.
That's too bad. It is a great place to work and shop.
Also hardly WM the only one trying to sneak by. I have worked at a couple hospitals over the years where most of the nurses got a nice "bonus" because we were expected to sign out on time yet also get our work done.
They may occasionally employ the common retail "loss leader" practice on select items, but they most certainly DO make profit on EVERYTHING else they sell.
Sheer volume and customer satisfaction is their "edge" on competition.
locally wall mart isnt welcome:( ross twp works hard to keep it out. one ime buying a site and building a park just so wallmart couldnt locate there
killbuck a nearby location had a terrible landslide during construction. wallmart decided the site isnt suitable to build anything, and sued the developers.
millions of tons of rock slid onto a major highway and rail line blocking it for over a month. site still isnt stable. it should of never been approved to stat with.
I shop at wallmart occasionally but they are far away, with the price of gas its not worth it....
hope they build one close by.
but wouldnt buy their so called fresh meat. too much preseratives
So do the signs reach out and prevent this or are they there for show?
For good reason, it costs them almost nothing. Ask any vendor how returns are handled. Someone can purchase an item and literally destroy it and haul it back to the store. Even though there were no defects Walmart simply dings the vendor and makes them eat the cost.
Let me guess: They are closing an OLD store (no groceries) and opening a MUCH larger "Supercenter".
It's true. If the arrangement was not beneficial to your area, one can assume that the governing body(ies) would not OFFER special incentives to get the store(s).
Wrong. Prove it.
That shouldn't be too much of a hurdle for a business that is "growing in leaps and bounds"
Name a business that doesn't operate under such constraints.
This concept predates Walmart by a few, thousand years.
With the exception of "great majority", I agree with this, particularly with the bicycles you cite. I believe it holds true with other, so-called "durable" goods.
Not in my state. When they want to build a store we obtain the site and prepare it for them for free (corporate welfare by transferring wealth from taxpayers) including the infrastructure such non-trivial costs as utilities, highway interchanges etc and give them a nine year tax exemption. They *explicitly* do not pay property taxes and they pay a very reduced corporate franchise tax or whatever that tax is called to the state. When the nine years is about to run out they move across the street to restart the nine year clock. The third local walmart is about to move across the street as I write this.
When I worked in Electronics, I had more than a few customers come in looking SPECIFICALLY the CHEAPEST DVD player. Warranty and brand name were of NO concern - just that it was the cheapest.
Walmart accommodates that customer as well as the informed, discriminating customer with a variety of products.
(No, I am not a Walmart "hack" or "plant". In fact, after this spate of contribution, I wouldn't be surprised to get a "cease and desist" letter from my employer.)
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