WalMart Profits From Slave Labor

WalMart customers have only one goal in mind: to save money. WalMart's objective is apparently the same. It has been reported that WalMart makes use of unpaid teenage labor in it's Mexico stores. According to Newsweek, WalMart is the largest private sector employer in Mexico. Despite the positive economic impact, teenagers ranging from ages fourteen to sixteen are employed at Mexico WalMart's after school, mostly as baggers for free! The company stated that they are not to blame. WalMart said that its a cultural reality in Mexico; a nation with a large population in search of any job opportunity (in this case, employees survive off of customer tips). This is yet another PR craze for WalMart. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Its absolutely ridiculous to use slave labor anywhere! There must be more to this story... WalMart obviously had to know this is going on... why not change it before media gets hold of this story. They know the consequences; investors, customers, and others will blame WalMart... not the Mexican culture. I like WalMart because of their business model but not for any other reason. The company has a major problem with ethics which ruins their brand (known for poverty level wages). I always say... you never hear bad news from Target. WalMart should learn from their biggest competitor. In response, the Mexican government is closely examining this practice.

SHOOTOUT and SHUTDOWN at Sam's Club!

There were no guns involoved...no shootout, but it made a great title. I was reading this article about a robbery at Sam's Club and it was such a surprise and its here for all to blab about. WalMart's little brother, Sam's Club, best known for their extremely inexpensive products, experienced a major robbery is Hillsborough County, Florida. The robbers entered the store on a late Tuesday night and walked away with a $263,574 necklace! I never knew that Sam's Club sold items at this price. If anything, security should have been a little tighter if an "cheap" store has an expensive item. Security stated that they have the two thieves on camera steeling an 82-carat necklace by smashing the display case with a hammer and then fleeing the store. Again, this comes as a shock... smashing the glass creates a loud sound and raising alarms. They even managed to pass the check point where the employee looks over your receipt and merchandise. I'm confused, it may be an inside thing... employees noticed the shipment of the item and then decided to steal it but then smashing of the display case would be unecessary. I would like to hear your comments on this.

WalMart Organic FRAUD!

WalMart is trying its best to stay "green". The world's largest retailer recently converted all of it's stores into energy savers. Then, they went organic. Rumors have been spread that WalMart has been mis-labeling certain foods. To settle this, the Cornicopia Institute (one of the largest investigators of the organic industry) has stepped in. The group conducted checks in several of WalMart's stores in five states and have discovered labeling violations in dozens of stores! They call it "organic fraud". WalMart attempted to defend itself in stating that in order to ease customer shopping, stores often mix organic with conventional products on it's shelves to offer more of a selection. What?. How does that ease the shopping experience? I think that organic foods should be seperated; another section perhaps. WalMart needs to seriously make the issue a breeze and start seperating. It's not rocket science. The company released this e-mail statement:"Although Wal-Mart has more than 2,000 locations that may offer up to 200 organic selections in addition to thousands of non-organic offerings, we believe it to be an isolated incident should a green organic identifying tag be inadvertently placed by or accidentally shift in front of the wrong item."

WalMart fears to take a Bite out of Apple

Old media is begining to be dominated by new media and of course digital media. It has been a hard battle for older companies as we know; such as Tower Records, facing stiff competition from the ever so popular Apple iPod and the downloading craze as a whole. In this case its WalMart who is afraid of Apple, stating that with Apple's new release of iTV movie and video downloading service, it may drive consumers away from their fast selling DVD portion. WalMart currently accounts for more than 40% of the $17 billion DVD market. I think that WalMart should have noticed this from the start, for them to come out like this...so far in the game, makes them look like the weakling; someone messed up! However, they can jump back but it'll be hard. They can sell online movies but the iPod and iTV will still be sold in their store, so thats a tuff issue to face. I think there will (and we are currently in it) a possible media re-birth period. Whats left of there to download you ask? ... BOOKS, they will be downloaded soon, mark my words (or either a device which displays the literature). This could possibly defeat other book retailing leaders like Amazon.com or Barnes & Nobles. However, I really don't think that it will affect Amazon, due to their online presence (they could easily sell downloadable books)...as for Barnes & Nobles, they're toasted like the dark side of bread. If this "digital age", (which reminds me of the current real estate market) continues, or even if the bubble bursts, these retailers [bricks and motor] will have some reshaping to do. SERIOUSLY! What do you guys think, the comment portion is opened to any opinions, I would love to hear your views on this post... so Blab On>>

Wal Mart goes "UPSCALE"

Recently, Chicago has passed a "BigBox" law, which forces large retailers to pay "living wage" to it's employees (plus benefits). WalMart now has to make a decision: whether to stay in Chicago (where there is very little competition), or move out for good and allow other retailers to steal the spotlight in the windy city. But, oh no, that's not the "WalMart" we know to back out so soon. The world's largest retailer is looking into forming a new, upscale WalMart Supercenter, which will open in Chicago. The idea is meant to attract high-income shoppers which will allow WalMart to possibly generate more profit. The idea is terrible in my mind... it was probably made by some lousy official. Instead, I think that the company should do like their smaller subsidiary, Sam's Club, and offer luxury items for less alongside it's original discounted products. Other companies are starting to follow the "luxury for less" path. Look at Costco, who offers fine wine for less, Target, who offers high fashion for less, and Kmart who sells Martha Stewart's high-end line for less. The company needs some good management and team if they plan to go about on this new idea. Wal Mart currently has an upscale supercenter as an experiment in Plano, TX, which features a sushi bar and wiFi coffee shop.

Wal Mart China Attacked by UNION.... or were they???

Wal Mart recently recieved some scary news over the weekend. The company's China division employees successfully organized the first employee's union. WalMart has been in China since 1996, and has allowed employees the freedom to set up unions as long as they conform to Chinese laws. Apparently, workers took the advice and formed the ACFTU (All-China-Federation-of-Trade-Unions). The catch is that ACFTU is being controlled by China's communist party which poses little threat to WalMart! So, Wal Mart isn't really trying to be sincere and they don't give a crap about it's employees... the whole thing is a trick! Personally... I am honestly disgusted when it comes to Wal Mart (call me biased) ... so many negative things about the company. Don't get me wrong, the company is good when it comes to business... but too many lousy insider scandals going on (way too fishy for me). The company now has 60 stores in China, and have pulled out of other markets like South Korea and Germany in order to focus more on profit growing CHINA!!! Wal Mart plans to hire more than 150,000 more Chinese employees in the next 5 years. What ya think about Wal Mart... prove me wrong or right...LEAVE A COMMENT!!! BLAB ON....

Wal Mart: weekly wrap-up

Wal Mart closed down to $43.72 on Friday. With shares starting the week off at almost the same price in ending, leaving Wal Mart with no gain at all! Early this week, Wal Mart faced a major problem, paying higher wages and health benefit packages to employees in Maryland. Wal Mart will possibly pound small stores ounce more as the company plans to enter the New York City area of Brooklyn. I live in the Bronx, NY and hearing this news about Wal Mart planning a store down in Brooklyn is certainly shocking...just wonder how many small shops and grocery stores will be closing down. I will definately keep you guys posted on this story. Drop off a comment about what you think about this (Wal Mart overall).