From: "Gary Britt" 

You don't know what worlds I've experienced in my life.  When Wal-Mart
wants to bring the large benefits of its much lower prices to the inner
city, those who pretend to care about the inner city residents but DON'T
organize a bunch of these dumb ass inner city residents and pro-union
democrat party loving residents into protesting.  It gives me a great belly
laugh at these dumb asses being manipulated by the democrat party
operatives into begging politicians not to allow lower priced goods to come
into their neighborhood.

I disagree on the anonymity issue.  It would be the same because nobody
pays attention to someone buying a single cell phone.

Things are over-priced in the inner cities for a couple of simple market
based reasons:

1.  Higher costs in property insurance and workers comp and unemployment claims.

2.  Purchasers who buy in smaller average quantities and lots making the
costs per customer/average sale higher for the store.

3. Higher rates of crime in the store and out.

4. Less competition for customers due to there being fewer competing stores, etc.

Then Wal-Mart wants to bring them what would be the single biggest raise in
their disposable income in quite some time, and the idiots protest on
command to the local politicians not to let Wal-Mart bring them lower
priced goods.

Gary

"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
news:44e1e311$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> Not the same anonymity at all.  Also many of these party/gas stores
> service inner city neighborhoods with no Wal-Mart in sight.  Everything
> from food to *other* items are over priced ( few national retailers - even
> banks -  dare to erect stores ) . It's a different world than you are used
> to Gary
>
>
> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
> news:44e1dd26$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> That person would have the same anonymity at Wal-Mart unless he was
>> trying to buy 10 at a time or something.
>>
>> Gary
>>
>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>> news:44e14501$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> Your focus that a person of Middle Eastern persuasion is the one
>>> purchasing the cell phones from the gas station is erroneous. While it
>>> probably is a person requiring some anonymity that could be anyone from
>>> your neighborhood drug runner to Karl Rove.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
>>> news:44e13ac9$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>> You can't buy brass knuckles and stolen OTC medication
(which I assume
>>>> is selling for less than Wal-Mart prices), crack pipes etc
at Wal-Mart.
>>>> It makes sense there would be a market for these items
somewhere.  What
>>>> doesn't make sense is for us to believe that Abdul is buying cell
>>>> phones at the gas station for a higher price than they can
buy the same
>>>> cell phone at Wal-Mart.  To believe that you have to believe Abdul
>>>> doesn't shop at Wal-Mart for anything.
>>>>
>>>> Gary
>>>>
>>>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote
in message
>>>> news:44e127c8{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>> Many of the local gas stations are owned by the Middle
East immigrants
>>>>> so the phones are being sold out of their stores. It's
really a gray
>>>>> area/sometimes shady  market that they serve and local
media in the
>>>>> past has exposed everything from brass knuckles, stolen OTC
>>>>> medication, to crack pipes sold from the gas stations and party
>>>>> stores. We are talking small entrepreneurs looking the
other way while
>>>>> they make a buck.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
>>>>> news:44e12329{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>> Rich, the claim below they are being sold to local
gas stations, etc.
>>>>>> seems completely insane to me.  Why buy from gas
station when you can
>>>>>> buy the same phone for less at Wal-Mart.  If the
phones were being
>>>>>> converted to something not sold at Wal-Mart or being shipped
>>>>>> overseas, then at least the "its just an
innocent business" claim
>>>>>> might make some sense, but it makes no sense at
all that Arabs in
>>>>>> Dearborn would rather pay higher price to gas
station than buy from
>>>>>> the Wal-Mart next door.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Gary
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Rich Gauszka"
 wrote in message
>>>>>> news:44e11943{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Mike N."
 wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:7452e2dfqdtfhug4v0oc9cd4hrfbapn4r5{at}4ax.com...
>>>>>>>> On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:34:47 -0400,
"Gary Britt" 
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Where are these cell phones sold, USA
or overseas?  Whose buying
>>>>>>>>>them rather
>>>>>>>>>than go to the local Wal-Mart
themselves?  Why only Arabs
>>>>>>>>>exploiting this
>>>>>>>>>"opportunity"?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>  And if they are indeed reselling them,
what a bunch of dummies as
>>>>>>>> businessmen!   Why buy in qty 1,000 retail
when they could get a
>>>>>>>> significant break on that quantity by
buying directly from
>>>>>>>> Tracfone.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>  More likely, they are just adding a level
of obfuscation for
>>>>>>>> purchasing
>>>>>>>> and reselling untraceable cell phones.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But I thought Gary Britt  loved the entrepreneur spirit?
>>>>>>> 'An independent entrepreneur will buy the
phones for, say, $8 each.
>>>>>>> He will sell them to a distributor for $12,
making a $4 profit.
>>>>>>> Multiply that by a thousand -- about the
number of phones the three
>>>>>>> men arrested in Caro bought in total -- and
you have a $4,000
>>>>>>> profit.'
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/NEWS05/6081403
39/1007/NEWS05
>>>>>>> It may seem unusual for someone to buy
hundreds of cell phones at a
>>>>>>> time, but metro Detroiters of Middle Eastern
descent say that
>>>>>>> practice is part of a long tradition of
entrepreneurship in
>>>>>>> Arab-American communities.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> From Dearborn to Troy to Sterling Heights,
Arab Americans are a
>>>>>>> major part of the cell phone business in
southeastern Michigan. At
>>>>>>> least half of the cell phone businesses in the
region are owned by
>>>>>>> metro Detroiters of Arab or Chaldean descent,
say business owners in
>>>>>>> the industry. Many new immigrants or emerging
businessmen earn money
>>>>>>> by buying the cell phones and then selling
them to gas stations,
>>>>>>> distributors or stores.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It's called capitalism, Arab Americans say.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In Michigan, "you can talk to almost any
family in the Arab-American
>>>>>>> community, and they all have some relative in
the cell phone
>>>>>>> business," said Warren David, a Lebanese
American from Northville.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If police knew that, perhaps five Arab
Americans would not have been
>>>>>>> arrested last week on terrorism charges after
they bought hundreds
>>>>>>> of cell phones, said David, who recently sold
his cell phone
>>>>>>> business to an Iraqi American.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "If they understood us a little more,
they might not jump the gun so
>>>>>>> quickly," he said.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In Ohio on Tuesday, a store employee called
police after two
>>>>>>> 20-year-old Arab-American men from Dearborn
bought a large number of
>>>>>>> cell phones at a Wal-Mart. The same thing
happened Friday in Caro
>>>>>>> after three Arab-American men bought 80 phones
at one store.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In the Ohio case, Osama Abulhassan and Ali
Houssaiky were just
>>>>>>> trying to make money by buying cell phones so
they could sell them
>>>>>>> to a distributor for a profit, family members said.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "The two young men were engaged in a
perfectly legal practice based
>>>>>>> on the most fundamental principles of our free
market economy," the
>>>>>>> Abulhassan family said in an e-mail.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Here's how the practice sometimes works, said
Nasser Beydoun, head
>>>>>>> of the Dearborn-based American Arab Chamber of Commerce:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> An independent entrepreneur will buy the
phones for, say, $8 each.
>>>>>>> He will sell them to a distributor for $12,
making a $4 profit.
>>>>>>> Multiply that by a thousand -- about the
number of phones the three
>>>>>>> men arrested in Caro bought in total -- and
you have a $4,000
>>>>>>> profit.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The distributor then will sell the phones at a
higher price to gas
>>>>>>> station owners, who in turn sell them at a
marked-up price.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Many people of Arab descent "are traders
by nature," Beydoun said.
>>>>>>> "That entrepreneurship should not be
linked to terrorism just
>>>>>>> because they are Arab American."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For more than 100 years, the Arab-American
community has tried to
>>>>>>> turn a profit on everything from trinkets to
watches to electronic
>>>>>>> goods.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In the 1980s, David recalled, blue jeans were
the hot item. And his
>>>>>>> Lebanese immigrant grandfather often bought
and sold hosiery to make
>>>>>>> a living.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In metro Detroit, Arab Americans are believed
to dominate the cell
>>>>>>> phone industry not only on the retail level,
but also when it comes
>>>>>>> to wholesale dealers and accessory stores. Two
of the area's biggest
>>>>>>> cell phone chains --  Wireless Toyz and
Wireless Giant -- are owned
>>>>>>> by Iraqi Chaldeans.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This practice also occurs with other goods. In
Dearborn, for
>>>>>>> example, Arab-American entrepreneurs buy and
sell incense, lighters
>>>>>>> and flowers.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> There's a concern that what happened in Ohio
and Caro could hurt
>>>>>>> Arab-American business owners.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Abed Ayoub, 26, a Dearborn resident who often
works on legal issues,
>>>>>>> said he knows of at least two cases in recent
months in which FBI
>>>>>>> agents questioned Arab Americans after they
purchased large numbers
>>>>>>> of cell phones from stores.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "They're just doing business, nothing
more," Ayoub said.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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