Replying to a message of Ross Cassell to Bob Ackley:

 RC>>> People such as you should also stop villifying a companies
 RC>>> pursuit of profits, companies do not purposefully exist to lose
 RC>>> money.

 BA>> Nor do they exist solely to screw their help, their suppliers or
 BA>> their customers (Wal-Mart being a salient exception to that rule).

 RC> I am not going to join in on any criticism of Walmart... Let me tell
 RC> you why...

 RC> I worked for Kmart for 7 years, it was my first job, I worked for
 RC> Kmart during the time when they were the nations second largest
 RC> retailer, second only to Sears, and Sears only had the number one
 RC> position because of its then Catalog operations.

Sears made a MAJOR blunder 15 or so years ago when it shut down its catalog
operation.  That thing was a tailor made Web application.  Of course, 15 years
ago the Web and online marketing were just barely getting started.

 RC> Where I lived then, in the 1980's in Northern Virginia, we didnt have
 RC> Walmarts within a 100 miles, I only heard of them in name only and I
 RC> never stepped foot into one until I moved down here in 1987. I wasnt
 RC> to impressed with Walmart, it didnt have the standard ambience of a
 RC> Kmart, no bluelight, no Deli and no Grill, say what you want about
 RC> Kmart then, the Deli and the Grill were good. Other than that, there
 RC> wasnt too much to differentiate the two, except I believe Kmart
 RC> merchandised the Sporting Goods Dept alot better.

The Kmarts around here have never had  a deli or a grill.  The Woolworth
stores (long gone) had them, though.

 RC> Kmart got complacent, they thought themselves at then 2000 stores
 RC> strong, uncatchable, unstoppable and unbeatable.

Yes they did.  They also ignored the small markets, local and regional
chains such as Gibson's, Gamble's and Pamida were found in towns of
about 5,000 and up.  Later, of course, Wal-Mart moved into that niche
and, having conquered that, moved into the big cities.

 RC> One thing that Walmart did to make themselves the juggernaut they are
 RC> today, is they put stores in smalltown USA, whereas Kmart stayed only
 RC> in the suburbs or in major towns.

Yes they did.  And they destroyed the smaller regional chains that had been
serving those markets.

 RC> Example, the town to my Southeast, Union South Carolina, same town
 RC> Susan Smith lived in when she killed her two boys, it rates a Walmart
 RC> Super-Center, but not lets say an AutoZone.

 RC> Kmart once had the buying power to dictate terms to its suppliers, but
 RC> no more like it did.. Although I find it poetic that Kmart and Sears
 RC> eventually got married.

 RC> When you have a retailer that has however many thousand stores that do
 RC> whatever volume, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, they are in a
 RC> position to dictate terms. With the presence they have, any supplier
 RC> would love to get on a Walmart shelf, its economics 101.

Yes it is.  Of course, the overwhelming majority of Wal-Mart's suppliers are
captive mainland Chinese operations.  I don't think Wal-Mart carries anything
made in USA besides soaps and detergents.

--- FleetStreet 1.19+