From: "Rich Gauszka" 

In many cases inner city merchants can't get insurance otherwise I don't
disagree with your 1-4 points and would add much higher rates of crime and
bodily injury to #4

 While you might cite the Chicago Wal-Mart recent brouhaha as an example I
would point that many of the inner city residents there are quite angry
with the new Chicago laws regarding Wal-Mart and that's not the case for
all cities.

  As to anonymity, a Wal-Mart employee might call law enforcement on
suspicion of a purchase - the local gas/party store would not.


"Gary Britt"  wrote in message
news:44e1f8a0{at}w3.nls.net...
> 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/NEWS05/608140
339/1007/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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