As if the lowest consumer sentiment in three decades wasn’t enough, the largest retailer in the world provides yet more evidence that the consumer in the United States is being unabatedly destroyed:
…company comments about consumer spending showed the split between upper-income consumers who have jobs and are little affected by rising costs for food and other essentials, and lower-income shoppers who are struggling with stubbornly high unemployment and rising costs.
“This is exactly what we continue to see quarter after quarter. There’s just significant bifurcation here,” Edward Jones retail analyst Matt Arnold said.
Wal-Mart said same-store sales at its U.S. discount stores, by far its largest business, fell 0.9 percent in the second quarter, the ninth straight quarterly decline at domestic stores open at least a year.
“They’re trading down to stretch their budgets, buying a lower-priced brand of detergent, moving from branded canned goods to private label, and purchasing half gallons of milk instead of gallons,” Wal-Mart Chief Executive Mike Duke said in a recorded message.
Also, more shoppers are relying on government aid to help pay for food and other necessities, Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said on the call.
When the retailer selling the cheapest goods in the world manufactured by slave labor can’t boost sales growth, then you know there’s a problem. If anything, consumers should be shopping at Walmart in droves, putting competitors out of business. Even if consumers wanted to buy more (non-essential) goods, they couldn’t.
Millions of jobs lost. Millions more left to lose. Credit for everything except college tuition is almost nonexistent. Wages and benefits are deteriorating. 401(k)’s and savings accounts have been tapped. The value of homes, the leading investment product of America’s middle class, have been wiped out. The country’s gross domestic product, the key measure of economic growth, has collapsed.
We are on the brink of the next phase of this crisis, when the last of the easy money (for Main Street) runs out, is going to be nothing short of financial Armageddon, because the government will have no ammunition to counteract the next market collapse.
Personally I have been trying to support many stores that sell ammunition, canned food, firearms, first aid products and of course the local coin dealer.
Yes, in the new America, ‘ATF’, alcohol, tobacco and firearms, will be the new convenience store.
The timing of this article is so odd. I was just saying to my spouse the other day that the Walmart parking lot has sure been “empty” lately. Only their food section seems to be continually busy. The toy & electronic aisles are ghost towns.
People just aren’t shopping as much as they used to (despite what our govt tells us).
I was just thinking the same thing last week when I walked by the electronics department, it was completely devoid of customers.
fuck walmart
Fuck unions
Fuck you
Unions were the backbone of the prosperous middle class, Dave. Shut your tv off and read the truth.
Unions are shit.
There is another kind of shopping going on in the WMT and other big-box parking lots: chain-locked my $400 aluminum bike to the WMT bikerack, with the ‘security’ pickup parked 50 feet away, and came out 10 minutes later to see ‘security’ still parked in the same place, but my bike gone.
“Shoppers” are sitting in their pickups and vans in the WMT parking lot, watching for cars parked unlocked, and ready with their now illegal bolt cutters to free-up and abscond with high-end bicycles.
When the going gets tough, the tough go shoplifting, or worse. Target is my new destination store, safer, higher quality patrons, and very much better prices.
Agree. Had my diaper bag stolen off the cart. Called security (it had my wallet in it naturally). WMT Security is useless.
you shouldnt be leaving personal in the cart and walking away or turning your head , things gets picked up everywhere not just walmart
The security is a joke, I get assulted in there front doors and they stand and watch then ask if I want them to call the cops minutes later.
Not where I live. Walmart is 1/2 hour from the border and full of Canadian shoppers. 😉
ditto POA.i get an honest product for an honest price. don’t forget solar panels.
Wal-Mart is an awesome deal for low income people. You can do a better job of providing for your family if you shop at Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart’s declining sales are due to their customers having less disposable income. Wal-Mart’s CEO said publicly recently that its customers were running out of money earlier in the month than they used to.
they are also raising the prices as well…..i have been keeping my receipts for the past 8 months(and comparing them) and powdered milk went from $10 to $16.
Hey Crash…depending on where you live…you can go to a LDS home storage center and buy 25 lbs of powdered milk for $47.00…you can either can it there or take the bag with you and do it yourself…www.providentliving.org Look under Services and Products for the order form…we go twice a month and stock up on oatmeal,wheat, beans and milk…when you do the math, you can see where you can really save money.. 🙂
thanks smokinhotlady
Smoky… don’t you have to be an LDS member to purchase from them ?
Sam, you asked: Smoky… don’t you have to be an LDS member to purchase from them ?
The key is you don’t make a reservation, just go and take your chances. The LDS Cannery that I shop at says its OK for non-members as long as they are not too busy. (I’m not a member.) Any time I’m there I chat about the need to prepare and they understand its good for everyone if more people would follow through with that. Think of it this way: Because I’m preapred, there’s one less family that’s going to try to steal the Mormons’ supplies. Also, if the starving Zombies ask where can they find any Mormon families, there’s no %$#&^% way I’m going to give them a straight answer.
Our MAG took advantage of the LDS facility locally. We had groups of 5-6 working for several weeks canning there. Different LDS facilities around the country have different rules. At ours, you don’t have to be a member of their church to use their canning facility, but you cannot buy fresh produce and meat unless you are a member. Great people there, we met a lot of like minded people and recruited a couple new people into our MAG.
Their prices have been going up a lot over the winter and spring. I’m sure with the drought and floods this summer prices will continue to rise. Still a great way to
store dehydrated foods. I don’t believe any of their goods are freeze dried, only dehydrated.
My store room is about half LDS and half Shelf Reliance, their #10 can food storage racks are great by the way.
Sam, you do not need to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to use the Home storage centers unless your municipal/state law requires it, or sometimes if there is a shortage. The rules vary depending on local ordinances.
Thanks for the web site. I will be checking it out. Anyway that I can save will help.
All prices have been going up.. I’ve noticed it everywhere. Dried lentils and a few other legumes jumped exactly 20% about a month ago at our local store.
Depending upon where you’re at, you can watch for sales and beat inflation.. in Florida, we have Publix who has buy one get one specials every week. Walgreens is another surprising souce of good deals. They have batteries on this week buy one get one free.
Regarding CC, I use them almost exclusively, but never more than I can pay off next month, with few exceptions.
Sam: Maybe its just me, but I was born and raised in Florida, I never liked publix due to the fact their prices for all items are higher than other outlets and felt for their price you are actually paying for two so no real bargin. They do have good products, just more costly. I am not trying too poo poo your info, just my opinion.
Copout.. I’ve heard others say the exact same thing.. I’ve just never noticed the “higher than others” thing. You could be right.. but I do love the BOGO thing.. special when it is on “prepper” quality stuff..
Sam, here in Knoxville we don’t have to be a member..but my sister in Florida was told you had to be a member…so when she called she told the LDS lady that she really, really wanted to prepare for the future and didn’t know any LDS people…so the head lady told her to come anyway, and she’d “vouch” for her…so you might want to do that…kinda plead with them to “help” you stock up, and I’m sure they will help you out…that being said….they are really nice people and they help out with the canning and everything…I’m Baptist,(my oldest son going into the ministry!) and we’ve had some great discussions but they don’t force their beliefs on you, which I really appreciate 🙂 I totally recommend using the LDS to stock up…it’s worth it, even if you have to drive a bit to get there.
Do you really save your receipts JUST to compare them? HA!
I always laugh when people say things like “Wal-Mart is an awesome deal for low income people.”
Look, this is not rocket science. You shop at Wal-Mart because the prices are lower. The prices are lower because most of the goods are made in China.
Here’s the kicker: YOU have a crappy job or no job at all because => most of the goods you buy are made in China.
Wake up people!
Ron: Good point, even trusted Coleman camping products I used since I was a kid are made there, of course now Coleman sucks.
American manufacturing output is up tremendously in recent decades, contrary to the proclamations of many.
“We’ve all heard people saying that “Americans don’t make anything anymore” and “all of the manufacturing jobs have been sent overseas where labor is cheap.” Such hyperventilation is the stuff of economic ignoramuses and protectionist blowhards. Don’t join in their hysteria.” – Prof. Higgs.
The U.S. Content of “Made in China”
“Goods and services from China accounted for only 2.7% of U.S. personal consumption expenditures in 2010, of which less than half reflected the actual costs of Chinese imports. The rest went to U.S. businesses and workers transporting, selling, and marketing goods carrying the “Made in China” label. Although the fraction is higher when the imported content of goods made in the United States is considered, Chinese imports still make up only a small share of total U.S. consumer spending.
… 36% of the price U.S. consumers pay for imported goods actually goes to U.S. companies and workers…”
Read the rest:
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2011/el2011-25.html
Clark; Professor Higgs is a fucking idiot. Tell him I said so. Another shill for the NWO no doubt. Yes manufacturing is up for the items we still make. Imagine how much manufacturing would be up if 42,400 factories had not been transferred offshore under the Great Conspiracy.
These are the missing jobs and missing GDP from OUR economy that could pay OUR interest on the national debt and get 45 million Americans off of food stamps and back to work.
And don’t hand me that protectionist bullshit anymore. Every product imported to China that is manufactured in the USA is levied with a 25% tariff. 25%!
Spend your time and energy telling the fucking Chinese about the benefits of “free trade” you moron! There are some Chinese english language forums at SHTF America.
For a guy who makes every excuse possible for not getting a college education yourself, you sure have a knack for finding these imbeciles that pass as economists. You are a fucking idiot and so are they. Two words for you:
LATE REGISTRATION !
“…The fact that the overall import content of U.S. consumer goods has remained relatively constant while the Chinese share has doubled indicates that Chinese gains have come, in large part, at the expense of other exporting nations.”
“…The vast majority of goods and services sold in the United States is produced here. In 2010, imports were about 16% of U.S. GDP. Imports from China amounted to 2.5% of GDP.”
As if 2.5% is going to pay off a national debt which mathematically cannot ever be paid.
And to say Prof. Higgs is a shill for the NWO, is extremely bizarre.
As if. What a crock of shit. THINK about it.
walmarts is no bargin, Sav-a-lot and Aldies have them beat in everyway, even our local store has many items cheaper than Walmarts, example last week Pasts was .88 at our store, the exact same thing at Walmarts was 1.38 and their own store brand was 1.08.their fresh fruit and vegs was out of sight compared to other stores in the ares.
Plug for Aldi’s: Stores are less crowded and have at least as high quality merchandise. Big plus is that at my local Aldi’s, bathrooms do not smell like sewers. At WalMart, they smell like sewers even as the “cleaning” crew walks away.
If you live in any of the southern states, check out this store..http://www.myugo.com/locations.html the prices are the BEST!! I’m fortunate that UGO opened a store about 1/2 mile from my house…I only shop there and Sams now…stopped into Kroger the other day because I was right there…OH MY WORD!! Could not believe the prices…$1.69 for ONE avocado!!! I went running back to UGO!! Gonna check out Aldi’s tomorrow…haven’t been there in a while…
I think you need to do a little reading and watching:
http://www.survivalblogs.com/financial/who-is-behind-the-new-state-affiliate-taxes-why-wal-mart/
It means they go and get food stamps, have no jobs, no income….the Walmart model of off-shoring supply is coming back to bite them as the people that buy their cheap crap have no jobs as the jobs that Americans did to produce products are in China.
I like stocking up on canned food at Wal-Mart because I can use my credit card there. When it all hits the fan I won’t be worried about my credit card bills.
While I am not a big proponent of credit card debt, I too, am prepared to max out the cards on food, ammo, garden equipment, fencing, and other tools in the event a real collapse (on the order of Patriots) starts playing out… If it reverses, i can always return most of the stuff for a refund 🙂
I think the credit card companies will put the cards on lock down instantly, along with closing the banks. If you are going to do that you’d better be about 5 steps ahead of the financial machine.
Watch carefully. Once one company does it, the rest will quickly follow suit. That would be the time to make your move.
One of the “advantages” of a “cashless” society. ATMs and CCs can be frozen at the click of a mouse. There is surely a plan for this. Much easier to stop a bank run today than in the past.
How many times have we heard about how great things would be in a “cashless” society?
I purchased cases of green peas on my cc.
The way gold is going I wonder if a fellow couldn’t max out the cards on PMs then, when the bank is really getting nasty, sell enough to pay them off and pocket the diff ?
never speculate with a credit card.
In case of EMP or Solar Flare, cc won’t work. Only cash.
That last article was a good one concerning first aid supplies. I am sorely lacking in that area. Yes, I have noticed the slack parking lot at the local Wal-Mart. They’re being slow is another bellweather of our economy. I’ve also have noticed alot less traffic on nearby major thoroughfares. Damn, almost like waitin’ for the other shoe to drop, ain’t it?
From the time that ALL governments globally, decided to support the banks instead of us and the small businesses, the outcome is only one.
We live in an enormous downward spiral in which, every move no matter good or bad, throws us to the next ring closer to the bottom.
More taxes will make businesses to close, then people will be unemployed, then consuming power will fall, etc etc….
Street economics, and not fancy universities is the answer.
Be safe all. May our Mother of God, Mary keep you safe. Yesterday August the 15th, was the biggest celebration of the Christian Orthodox church, dedicated to Mary.
Thousands of Greeks filled the churches all over the country, to pray for their families. It was the first summer in many years to see so many people come so close to God. Weird times indeed.
All the people praying at Haghia Sophia couldn’t save them from the Turkish hordes on 1453.
God didn’t hear their prayers I guess. Maybe he’s deaf….:/
Nope.. just spoke with Him and he didn’t say “HUH ?? ” once..
God also didn’t hear the prayers of the Greeks on 1922, when they tried to recover Constantinople and punish Turkey for what it did for many centuries.
The British duplicity was very regrettable. They should have captured Kemal and have him hanged at Galipoli to avenge what he did on there.
God is not a respecter of persons, its his game and he calls the shots, just be prepared to listen cause I guarantee he speaks as well as listens, this country is suffering the consequences of turning from him! And yes I am guilty.
Comenius,
“They should have captured Kemal and have him hanged at Galipoli to avenge what he did on there.”
Are you serious? After Gallipoli three nations came of age. I would prefer that my family didn’t lose two “sons” there. But to hold a grudge against a man who was defending his country against outside aggression is a bit rich.
In my home town of Wellington NZ, we have a statue of the man, when a statue of Ho Chi Minh is erected in Washington DC that will be a proud day for the USA.
Jonny V: Here is an interesting link for you my godless friend. 🙂
http://shtfearthchanges.blogspot.com/p/drake-pendragon.html
Hell will freeze over before the elect a statue of Uncle Ho in Washington DC.
The local Vietnamese community, alumni of Saigon 1975, will take it down within 24 hours.
How do you know ? What, exactly, is the definition of “saved” ? A preservation of the physical body ? perhaps. But more importantly is the preservation of the soul.. and about whether or not that salvation occured, you have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever.
Salvation from the Turkish swords and enslavement, if you know what had happened on 1453.
Yes, I figured as such. My comment still stands which is “how do you know ?” and just how do you know exactly what someone was praying anyway ? Personally, I wasn’t paying too much attention to what was happening in 1453.. I was still young then and chasing chicks was about all I could think off. By 1922, I was more into a good cup of tea by a warm fire; so I really didn’t pay to much attention to what others where praying then either.. now I tend to pay more attention to my own prayers than those of others..
The correct (and factually honest) reply to your statement/question, is that the “believers” don’t know. They’re sinking all their efforts into “hoping against hope” that somehow, they’ll be proven right.
The sad fact is that God has never once responded to the pleas (prayers) for mercy. Not during the Crusades, not during the Inquisition, not during the Plagues, the Pogrums, the Holocaust, the Genocides, not ever. Why do you suppose that is?
The most reasonable conclusion is “there is no god to hear the prayer of anyone. Hence, all the prayers for mercy have gone unanswered”. Don’t try telling that to a “believer” however, they’ll have thousands of examples, (none with any proof) of why their “almighty” “god” has protected them, and everyone else, forever. All those idiots who were slaughtered while praying must have been “bad christians”, that is, they somehow didn’t “believe the right way” or some other total bullshit…….
“The sad fact is that God has never once responded to the pleas (prayers) for mercy”.
All tongue in cheek wise cracks aside.. the statement posted above is what is sad.. He has responded to every cry for mercy that I have ever uttered. Quickly, without any room for doubt and with great peace and confidence. I apologize for my earlier wise cracks; I did not realize how serious you were in your unbelief. Perhaps you will forgive me; banter is common on this site and I should have exercised greater wisdom. May God grant you the blessing of being confident in His reality.
Comenius,
As you said the Turkish hordes outside the walls, counted more than 200.000, whereas the defenders of the city were just 7.000.
Every empire has its peak and its fall, and it was time for the Byzantines to do so. But 7.000 people managed to hold the Turks for 45 days. This is important on its own.
Let me also mention that even if the Turks occupied Greece for 400 years, my ancestors kept their language, religion, customs, and finally defeated the Turks in 1821.
But history was not my intention. God is here in whatever form each of us thinks or believes. He is not here to do the dirty job for you. Having a hope though, it may play the difference in some cases.
I heard once that those who intend to seek out God in the eleventh hour often die at 10:30.
Or Gods? Your ancestors (heroes and all), the pre-Christian ones, got it right (philosophy, political theory, etc, etc) aand is it any wonder all the major developments came from them whilst they ere connected to the GODS? They gave us modern Western Civilization. Greece has been a backwater since you turned from your Gods and you’ve been the brunt of conquest since. Remember Marathon, Thermopolae, how about Salamis? How about Alexander? Christinas were they? Greece remained free because of them. Only the Romans (who worship the same Gods) managed to conquer you and I think they were relatively benign about it. Since you turned you ended up with harsh masters. . Something to think about my friend.
When slave labor and such isn’t enough, prices are “that” low and its still not creating sales, then I have to worry about deflation as much as hyper inflation. Deflation is a huge concern because its not as easy to protect yourself against as inflation.
With inflation you can obtain staples, precious metals and land. Deflation devalues those as much as the dollar. In this economy I’m not about to buy t-bills and bonds but those are the deflation protection…I wish there were more assets to protect us against both.
A government that cared about its population (pipe dream I know) would issue precious metal backed coins where the dollar value was higher then the metal value only by a reasonable amount. I suggest a $100 – one ounce silver coin – the dollar value is a deflation protection adn the silver a hyper inflation protection. Government is printing money for wall street, but not for the masses. Such a coin would be good for the masses.
Ah, we can still dream. But when we wake up we have work to do. A people to save and a country to fix. Round them all up and cut off their dix.
Sadly it’s the poor who have contributed to the death of ‘main street’ all over the country by shopping at WalMart, believing they stretch their dollars, which if you only look around, their food is not the least expensive. At least that is my experience but then I haven’t been in WM for years…went once to return a gift that I didn’t need. A few pennies here and there are not worth what that chinese super-store has done to this country.
A MSM article appeared today that should interest most of the readers of these pages and I hope Mr. Slavo doesn’t mind my posting it: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tax-the-super-rich-or-revolution-will-rage-in-2012-2011-08-16?link=home_carousel
Well I like Wal Mart. The store I shop in has everything. 525 round bricks for $18.97, 50 round boxes of 45 ACP just went from 16.97 to 18.87 darn it, and about the only thing I would not buy there because they don’t have is bulk rice, bulk beans and other essentials. For that I do Costco.
The assertion Wall Street killed main street I find flawed. Main Street could have adapted, overcame, and succeeded – its perveyors didn’t have the will to do so. They just cried “Wal Mart.” The company saved more people more money – which in turn creates more opportunities. I like Wal Mart. If SHTF its the first store I’d visit.
It is NOT a flawed assertion! Buy buying from suppliers in huge quantities, Wally World was able to buy for much lower prices and Wally World passed that on to the consumer. For the same reason, WM was able to demand, and get, price concessions from its suppliers. Wally World has destroyed main street businesses all over the country with its tactics and I would not shop there except as an absolute last resort.
When you see a “main street” devastated by Wall Mart you see a bunch of cranky old timers who were unwilling to change. They didn’t seek out different products and offer something else. They didn’t adapt, they didn’t change, and their businesses died.
There are numerous cases where main streets flourished after Wal Mart arrived. The businesses changed, adapted, and even found better uses for their properties then trying to compete with a cheap retailer. A friend of mine use to sell TV’s and had a famous TV shop decades ago – he gave up trying to compete with circuit city, good guys, walmart etc….he became the best repair service in town and is still thriving today – retailers running him “out” of the retail business was (he says) the best thing that ever happened to him.
Thank you cdw for supporting my views..see JJ’s comment below.
And that .9% decline does not take into account that most everything in the store, especially food, had price increases. At 2.5% quarterly inflation, sales would have to rise that much just to break even. The extra .9% just makes the reality that much worse.
Since 1913 the internation banking cartel has been firmly in control of our economic condition. They allow easy money and the economy booms, they contract the money supply and their is economic hardship (i.e the Great Depression). This is not different than the many times since 1913 — although there has been trillions of dollars pump into the economy, it’s sitting in bank vaults so it’s as good as retracting the money supply since it’s not circulating. This has been the cycle – easy money, over leverage and debt saturation, contraction and then money flow from the majority to the 1% at the top. People need to wake up to the real cause of 90% of this country and the worlds problems – Central Banking and Fractional Reserve Banking.
What to have everyones personal income tax lower, pay off the national debt, make America the #1 economy in the world again. Here is the plan:
1) Pay off the national debt with debt free U.S. notes — printed by the Treasury
2) Abolish fractional reserve banking
3) Repeal the Fed Res Act (1913) and National Bank Act (1964)
4) Withdrawl the U.S. from the IMF, BIS and World Bank
Recommend watching “The Money Masters” on Youtube.
ChinaMart near my place is always jammed packed regardless what time it is. They’re making a killing off America.
no they are killing america, literally
Now, listen here—I have been preaching this for months and this is one example of the manipulation of the consumer and why I shop Chinamart last…NEVER first.
Needed three spices…picked up and went to checkout…$10.50 total.
I told the cashier to un-ring that transaction; put the items back on the shelf.
Went to piggy wiggy and bought all 3 spices for ……ready for this??
$2.97…yep–chinamart, the lowest price and greatest quality was ripping me off by $7.50.
You have to shop item by item. Wal Mart had cans of corned beef hash 20cents cheaper than Winco but they are higher on 22 long rifle boxes.
Stretch them bucks til the eagle shits and Washington is screaming.
I laughed when I read your post. You couldn’t do basic math and add up the 3 items? You actually took them to the cashier? Even figuring out possible taxes on such a small purchase would me simple enough. At worst you get accuracy to the nearest 10th of a cent. You made my day 🙂
And they ARE NOT the cheapest goods on the market—that’s why chinamart is losing its business—DG, SaveALot, Aldi’s in these parts has them beat, hands down.
On some items, see example above, even Piggly Wiggly has them beat.
wal mart is too far away for many people. yeah, i used to go there when gas was cheap. When thier prices were lower. But I don’t bother anymore. I can spend the same amount locally and spend far less gas. Which saves money.
We have a dollar general store in town. It’s freaken packed. I only go to Wal-Mart if I need s certain item that would be hard to find locally.
And Rachel, I do like to support my city/county; but when it’s not there, Bowling Green, here I come.
The nearest Lowes and Home Depot is 30 miles. Same for Aldis, Sam’s.
In China, Walmart is only allowed to sell groceries and not anything else. Walmart is facing, sshh, regulation. Don’t tell anyone.
Mac – ditto this brain dead comment too..
Just because you can’t win and arguement using your own name doesn’t mean that you have to “spread the failure” by falsely using someone elses handle. You must be a Progressive Dem..
Borderlandbeat.com look there everyday to see what your future is. The feds will give amnesty. Many illegals vote. You can’t vote your way out of this. The tide is against us. Rise up or perish!
JJ: I agree, Walmart is ripping people off. I don’t shop there much anymore. They have removed lots of basic stuff from the shelves. Dollar stores and other grocers have better deals. Watch the sale fliers or go online for weekly specials. Things like vitamins, food supplements, skin care, etc. are best bought mail order. Ammo is cheaper at Walmart, just know and compare prices in your city/town.
You’re right—but so many have shopped for so long there, they don’t even check prices any longer—-thinking they are getting the lowest price around.
I’ve been prepping for 3 years–and that’s how I know Chinamart IS NOT THE BEST PRICE.
DG, SaveALot, Aldi’s.
With Sam’s Club we have already paid for our $40 membership with the rice we buy there.
According to Porter Stansberry and Chris Webber both say we have two to three years. Mac reads both of these guys and they’ve been very accurate. So relax. Enjoy the show. Europe will fail first and drag us all down. Fun!!
Robert Weidemer, author of Aftershock, says that when the Euro falls, we will have approx. one week before the dollar follows…so heads up, keep an eye on the Euro!
Let’s cut the crap, since Walmart refuses to cave to the union thugs, they are despised & denigrated by them.
If the day ever came when Walmart succumbed to union coercion, they would instantly be classified as a “corporation that respects worker rights”, then customer service would become intolerable and they would go bankrupt.
LOL…no no no….after they unionize they get a bail out from the great Uncle and then later go bankrupt.
They’re also despised by the mainstream media because old man Walton was a Republican.
Target’s benefits are about the same as Wal Mart’s, yet they receive none of the lefty protests. Why? Because they’re seen as more “progressive” and headquartered in a blue state.
Target also supports Homosexuals in the work place, its in their policies
That’s a great point Mal, I never knew Sam was a republican (I should have know that he was).
Personally, I’m a Libertarian, but still closer to the R’s in the business and free choice issues.
Don’t know about Wal-Mart’s products, but their shopping carts are preferred 3 to 1 by the homeless.
i hate walmart…i hate walmart…i hate walmart…if i was down to my last ten bucks and i needed a new shirt i am not going to buy it from walmart. i am going to goodwill or salvation army and find me a shirt that has a made in usa label and is 100% cotton. and i bet i walk outta there with change. yes, i could buy a shirt for five bucks at walmart-but that shirt is made by chinese, bangladesh,pakistan, india etc… and is so damn thin and stretchy you can see through it…and it shrinks up or ravels apart after a few washings. walmart is nothing more than a magnet to the poor…it is not a good deal. the poor are being ripped off by walmart with their poor quality merchandise. i hate walmart.
I love Wal Mart instant coffee. Good price too~
Its a good source for a laxative…I drink it when I am constipated
Walmart is very cheap on coffee!, Publix is 11.50/lb, Walmart was 8.50, same brand.
If Walmart ever became unionized (I refuse to say “organized”), their prices would double in a year and you could never get customer service to answer the phones.
The Walmarts by us here in central Florida are still packed. We live close to Disney. We shop both Publix and Walmart prices depend on what you are buying. Bread at WM is $1.00 to $1.09 PX is $1.39. Fruit at WM is close to over ripe, PX is close to not ripe at all.
We don’t have Aldi close. I forget about Dollar General, but still not close 5 mi. Target no way. Win Dixie same thing. TOO much.
walmart is for losers, they even film their losers and put them on the internet for people to laugh at, what a piece of shit company wal mart really is
Spoken like a union bonehead.
Want to see bigger, unlier, worse dressed losers? Look at any union rally!
LOL!!
Hey guys,did you ever think if you just kept your comments to a couple of one-liners how much time you’d have to prep for the inevitable?Sometimes reading your responses and arguements it just reminds me of congress and we all know that they don’t accomplish anything,ever.
That makes 4+ lines for you….
You just made freshman in the house of Representatives..
GFG
JJ
“Needed three spices…picked up and went to checkout…$10.50 total. I told the cashier to un-ring that transaction; put the items back on the shelf.”
You where unable to sum three items?
And you claim you shop at Walmart last but you went to Piggly Wiggly after walmart. See your preaching does no good when you don’t follow your own rules.
Whoever you are—don’t ever think you know me—I didn’t think the little store would have mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric…and, can I add??
Oh, hell no—they don’t teach that in college to educators now…smart ass…
Not that I owe you an explanation, bit the damn labels on the shelves were so screwed up—it was hit or miss if you are buying Great Value or McCormick…
I have also worked in retail, cashier, and do know what I’m doing.
I have no rules..and if I did they wouldn’t be any of your business…WTF is going on here??
Are you the Walmart greeter???
JJ,
“—I have been preaching this for months and this is one example of the manipulation of the consumer and why I shop Chinamart last…NEVER first.”
You claimed you have been preaching that you shop Walmart last but the example you gave said you went to Walmart first.
I am not a Walmart greeter, I am a database programmer and a gardener in Kansas. If I mistook your preaching as rules you follow then I stand corrected.
I hope you had good luck with the seeds.
“Low Plains Perspective”
Once upon a time, there was a great president, an historic president who was beloved and worshipped by nearly all people. He was annointed as the chosen one by the gods and masses to bring all people together. And then, by a spate of bad luck and the ineptness of the previous president, things took a turn for the worse. A Tusami, a nuclear meltdown, a drought, the arab spring, Europe debt crisis, unemployment all worked together against this mighty president. The unfair fox media began to falsely blame this great man for the mess which he had fought so hard to prevent. His numbers went down in the polls. So unfair!!!
Barack Obama’s bedtime fairy tales to his 2 little girls.
From the “Little Book of Zero”?
All this crap about WalMart. Why? Pretty much everything we buy today is made in China and I don’t care where you shop. WalMart is simply the big boy on the street and an easy target. Go into any Napa Auto, True Value, Costco or you name it and you find the same stuff made in China. If I could find American made, I would buy it, but remember, buyer beware because alot of the crap made here is just that, crap as well nowadays.
True—but at least they don’t advertise they’re the cheapest as Chinamart does..and then sock it to the idiot consumer shopping there.
I’m not a big fan of WalMart, but they do employ a boat load of people. Not just the clerks at the store, but truck drivers, mechanics, warehouse people and so on as well as those that are indirectly involved. Hundreds of thousands, and no, not all the jobs are minimum wage or slave labor pay. And let’s be clear here, not everything at Walmart is made in China. I’m just tired of hearing about Walmart when the problems go well beyond one company.
Okay—I went shopping again today—and tried Piggy Wiggy FIRST—-After buying what I did for preps, including a case of Kraft Mayo for $.99 each, I headed to Chinamart—
EVERY ITEM I BOUGHT AT PIGGY WAS HIGHER AT CHINAMART—I SWEAR!!!!!
Is that a problem??? In my part of the world, it is.
Amen, I’ve allways tried to by American made products in the past. You just cannot, add to the list Homedepot,
Lowes, even my 07 Harley Davidson, Dewalt,Black& Decker and on.
I received this in an email from a friend this morning.
This should help you understand what’s going on.
Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit. She realizes that virtually all her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar.
To solve this, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later. Heidi keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans). Word gets around about Heidi’s “drink now, pay later” marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi’s bar. Soon her bar has the largest sales in Detroit.
By providing freedom from immediate payment, Heidi gets no resistance when she regularly increases her prices for wine and beer substantially, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Heidi’s gross sales increase massively.
A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets and increases Heidi’s borrowing limit.. He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral.
At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert traders figure a way to make huge commissions, and transform these customer loans into DRINK BONDS. These “securities” then are bundled and traded on international securities markets.
Naive investors don’t really understand that the securities being sold to them as “AA” “Secured Bonds” are really debts of unemployed alcoholics. Nevertheless, bond prices climb continuously, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for the nation’s leading brokerage houses.
One day, although bond prices still are climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that it was time to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi’s bar. He so informs Heidi.
Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Since Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and Heidi’s 11 employees lose their jobs.
Overnight, DRINK BOND prices drop 90%.
The collapsed bond asset value destroys the bank’s liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.
The suppliers of Heidi’s bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms’ pension funds in the BOND securities.
They now have to write off her bad debt while losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds.
Her wine supplier also claims bankruptcy, closing the doors of a family business that had endured for three generations, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.
Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multi-billion dollar no-strings attached cash infusion from the government.
The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, nondrinkers who have never been in Heidi’s bar.
Now do you understand?
America is no more. We don’t exist. I couldn’t get anyone to stand against the bad guys, they were too busy watching baseball, etc. On wednesday, borderlandbeat.com has good pics and vids of what you can expect soon.
Just another side effect from Gen Bernakapart’s plan.
nothing hard to figure out here, who is it that mostly buys there ??? hmmm gee I dono, maybe retirees.
to buy american I have to go to antique shops. (sad.)
Wrong–just pay attention…I just bought a shelfing unit for my preps—MADE IN USA from Sam’s Club.
Bought another shelfing unit from Home Depot(lousy board, but great coupling units) MADE IN USA.
MY flag from Chinamart is MADE IN USA.
My weather radio from Lowe’s is MADE IN USA.
You can buy, just look and say, “I am not buying this—I CAN do without it” until I find one made here.
We the People who have already been branded terrorists by the federal goberment, can not start the fight for liberty, only finish it.
Everyone can do their part peacefully, vote Ron Paul in.
Fight the good fight
borderlandbeat.com dead cops everywhere. Coming to your town soon. Decapitations if you speak out. Stop amnesty or die off.
clear
Just what if Zombie Regan won in 2012? just saying
I’ve got a heavily modified Camp 9 carbine to deal with zombies…….:)
Clark; As usual, you just don’t get it. Those 42,400 factories transferred to China and India belong to US. The millions of jobs that attend those factories belong to US. The GDP that those factories would generate in the United States where they belong (until the Great Conspiracy transferred them offshore) would be paying American debts and putting Americans back to work.
Don’t just look at China’s imports to US. Those American factories in China are exporting to the entire world! That is OUR lost revenue. Revenue that could pay OUR national debt, get 45 million Americans off of food stamps and back to work.
You push free trade and free markets which I have already explained and shown you is a lie. All trade is managed trade to increase the wealth of the gangster banksters. China puts a tariff of 25% on US manufactured goods. Why haven’t you responded to that fact? Wheres the free trade Clark?
Additionally China manipulates their currency by 20% or more, so you can tack another 20% ‘surcharge” on the 25%. That’s amounts to a 45% inequality that is imposed upon American manufactured products. Why aren’t you indignant about that?
Increase the price of Chinese products 45%, throw on another 5% for shipping and delivery and you can make those $12 sweatshirts in America and still make a profit.
What does your new hero Ron Paul say about that?
Nope, you’re the one who is Not getting it. It’s clear you support powerful centralized decision making and restricting trade.
You want U.S. exporting firms to be subsidized by government policy – you want merchantilism – it’s not the way of the future.
And, no, those factories didn’t belong to US, they belonged to individuals.
“…36% of the price U.S. consumers pay for imported goods actually goes to U.S. companies and workers.
This U.S. fraction is much higher for imports from China. Whereas goods labeled “Made in China” make up 2.7% of U.S. consumer spending, only 1.2% actually reflects the cost of the imported goods. Thus, on average, of every dollar spent on an item labeled “Made in China,” 55 cents go for services produced in the United States. In other words, the U.S. content of “Made in China” is about 55%…”
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2011/el2011-25.html
Increase the price of Chinese products 45% and you hurt Americans.
I just saw the film, Stalingrad.
I don’t see a wit of difference between Durango Kidd’s view of the world and Hitler’s view of the world.
The scene where Hitler broadcasts his desire to shut down commerce jives well with Durango Kidd’s view, and People like Durango Kidd, which seems to be shutting down the ability of China to conduct trade with the world because it’s “our” trade.
The world is full of sociopaths.
Control, control, control.
Clark: The powerful centralized decision making is best exampled by the Chinese manipulation of their market. I have never supported “powerful centralized decision making”. You are a fucking liar.
I told you that the President and Congress engaged in a conspiracy with the Chinese Communist Party and DIRECTED US corporations like Honeywell to transfer production units to China, under the Great Conspiracy.
It is the Chinese who are controlling their market. The 25% tariff and 20% currency manipulation represent a 45% surcharge on American manufactured products.
On top of that throw on another 5% (FOB) for shipping from China to the USA and you can figure that $6.00 sweatshirts (as just one example) made in China should cost about $12 and can be made here in the United States cheaper than they can be made in China at a true price for the Chinese made sweatshirt.
You can apply that 50% surcharge to any product.
The “mercantilism” that you rail against is being practiced by the Chinese under the managed trade agreements of the gangster banksters which benefits the gangster banksters, not the American worker, taxpayer, or family.
You say I “want US exporting firms to be subsidized by the government”. How do you come up with THAT? I never said that. Again, you are a fucking liar!
What you typically do to try to obscure the facts of the real debate is to ascribe statements to me that I have never made and then argue against them. You never respond to my question or to the topic under discussion directly.
It is China that is subsidizing their exporters by buying a billion US dollars a day in the currency markets to suppress their own currency by 20% or more; and supporting THEIR manufacturers by imposing a 25% tariff on US manufactured goods, making US products 45% more expensive in China then those products cost in the United States.
Wheres your “Free Trade” Clark? Are you so fucking stupid that you do not understand THAT? Answer the question you fucking moron! Where’s the Free Trade in THAT?
BTW. The Communist Chinese government pockets the 25% traiff.
Clark; Now you are going to compare me to Hitler? LMAO 🙂 !!! You can always tell when someone is losing an argument. They always start comparing their adversary to the biggest boogyman they can find, or Hitler! LMAO really.
It won’t work Clark. Your facts are skewed. You fail to answer the questions I pose to you in an attempt to hide the truth. You ascribe outrageous statements to me I never made then debate the issue as you have framed it. Pitiful. Really. It is pitiful. Why can’t you just respond to the question?
You are wrong and cling to the propaganda that you want to push whether it is the euphanism of free trade, or open markets.
You are a globalist or the son of a globalist, or a foreigner trying to spread disinformation and propaganda to the American people through this forum.
WE aren’t buying Clark. Patriots can see right through your bullshit.
You still live at home off of your parents. Why don’t you get your own place, pay your own bills, and make your own way in this world, and then come back and tell US how wonderful the New World Order is? 🙂
How else can you have huge, American job destroying import taxes and trading restrictions on All Americans, or massive immigration and American job destroying labor laws, without a “powerful centralized decision making” government? You cannot. You support the power structure of the NWO you so often rail against.
Once again your comments are bizarre, you Do want US exporting firms to be subsidized by the government, what else do you think import taxes and restrictions on the ability of Americans to trade freely with whomever they decide, is?
When DK writes, “Don’t just look at China’s imports to US. Those American factories in China are exporting to the entire world! That is OUR lost revenue.” That’s basically the same way Hitler was presented in the film, looking at the commerce of Russian trade with the world as “theirs”. Birds of a feather, DK. Just calling it how I see it.
Clark: Thats my point exactly. Glad you finally recognized it. The Chinese are placing a 25% import tax on American manufactured products while at the same time manipulating their currency downwards by another 20 to 25% to PROTECT their markets from US!!!
Why would the Chinese buy ANYTHING from US when the MERCANTILISM of the Chinese government favors Chinese manufacturing and imposes a 25% tariff on US manufactured goods?
Their currency is 6 to the dollar and their workforce gets 40 cents an hour, yet they still place a 25% tariff (in dollars) on American products.
That is not FREE TRADE Clark, that is “mercantilism”! Your favorite word, Clark. The Chinese are practicing MERCANTILISM against US. what say you to that evil Clark?
Did you find those English language Chinese Forums at SHTF America? 🙂 Did ‘ya preach the gospel of Free Trade to them? How did they respond Clark? LMAO 🙂
Your are a fucking economic moron Clark. two words for you:
Late registration!!! 🙂
DK, you attack what you don’t understand, that’s to be expected. I think perhaps the Fourth Turning makes your viewpoint meaningless and it does not matter what you think, it only matters what the younger generations think.
“The fact is, Chinese imports are marginal to the U.S. economy…” What part of that don’t you understand?
These Threats Will Not Collapse America’s Economy
“You say they need to be told by men with badges and guns not to buy imports? You say that America’s workers need the government to enforce what’s good for Americans? I see. Slavery is freedom.
The problem is not China. It is not India. It is not imports. The problem is the endless call from each special-interest group for the government to Do Something to Save America. The problem is that the government has done way to much for too long, all in the name of Doing Something to Save America.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north1025.html
Well, don’t think it’s just the USA on a cliffs edge.
Over here in Australia we’ve got the worst retail figures since the 1960’s.
Despite the usual ivory tower so called experts saying “we’re good, everything’s alright”, the non-sheeple know it’s not.
Retail is dead across the country. People are aware of the imminent collapse of the Euro and the EU followed by the USA, and they’re scared (rightly so) of the flow-on effect.
I went to K-Mart last night and for the first time in 2 years, the checkouts were empty and tellers reading magazines !
When Europe goes down in the next few months it will mean a global depression. No-one’s safe. There’s nowhere to run. At least in the USA you can buy guns and ammo without any real problem. Europe – forget it !
Australia – forget it !
When Europe and the USA go down so does China as its main customer base will have just collapsed.
There’s a lot of pain ahead for us all everywhere…
maybe the country that will survive will be the country with the most fire power and ammo.
Hope you have a large supply of arrows for your bow, ZD….can’t even imagine not having a gun to protect myself with..YIKES!!!
Mate …. I agree with you. It is slowing down here. But, it isn’t really that bad. I lived in the US for 8 years up till early 2009. After loosing my job, house, savings AND my cat!!! I moved back here to Aussie. Most Aussies have no idea what I’m talking about if I recount my experience over there. The Media have done an awesome job of stopping any of that information from getting out to the rest of the ‘free world’ But, we are still a fair way off from where the US was at that time.
Are we better off here than in Europe and America? Very much so!!! No offense to anyone, but that is simply the truth of it. Thank goodness there is limited access to firearms here. Imagine if the London riots took place in a US city? London had five dead after four days of riots. I’d imagine that “When” something similar starts in the US ….. It would be like lighting the worlds biggest forest fire. They’re NOT going to be able to put it out. And when many millions of VERY ANGRY people, who are armed to the teeth and who’ve lost everything they have, to a callous bunch of criminals … A measely five dead becomes quite laughable.
I’m guessing that once the American tinder box finally egnites, they won’t even stop to count the
dead. So yeah, we are better off.
on Drudge Report this morning
Poverty soars under Obama…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2027013/Child-poverty-1-5-American-children-living-poverty.html
Inflation rising fast…
http://www.cnbc.com/id/44187274
The Other BOB: The Bugout Bank
http://www.thedailycrux.com/content/8451/End_of_America
It doesn’t matter how cheap your goods are; if people don’t have jobs to pay for things, they won’t buy them.
Henry Ford understood this. He paid his auto workers enough that they could purchase the cares they themselves were making, and those workers became his best advertisement. Ford understood that the best way to become prosperous is to make the community prosper around you.
But in these days of Money-Junkies and Adam Smith / Gordon Gekko “Greed is good” thinking, businessmen forgot that their employees are also their customers, and as the jobs started to go overseas there was a brief flurry of profitability which lured other companies into this madness. Now the jobs are gone, the manufacturing is gone, and with those the customers are gone as well and these supposedly smart MBAs stand around scratching their heads and wondering just what the hell happened (and please Mr/ Government; we meant well, can you force the people to give us another bailout?)
People need to learn the difference between making money and creating wealth.
The small regional economies of the future that create wealth should do OK. I don’t see too many scenarios where making a buck off of some fool is going to be a long term career path.
We’re ridding our basement of “stuff” and filling the shelves with canned goods, water filters, radio & flashlight batteries, bird seed (for pets), paper products and other nonperishables. Read a good post which advises to “shop from your pantry for supper, then shop at the store for your pantry.” We’re a little behind the rest of you on WTSHTF prep, but better now than not at all, we figure. Local Sears parking lot virtually empty, fights breaking out after dark at a hometown festival, security guards posted in banks, metal detectors installed at our high school, teens roaming neighborhoods that sure as heck don’t live there, rudeness and road rage visible every day, etc. Barry McGuire (remember him?) sang about the Eve of Destruction; 40 years later, it’s one minute to midnight and counting. Pray and prepare…over and over and over again, my friends…
Wal-Mart is no more dependent on “slave labor” than any other retailer in the U.S. It’s disappointing to see lefty-union agitprop used here.
If a guy walks by my house and tells me that he will mow my lawn for 5.00 even though the going rate is 10.00, is it wrong for me to pay him 5.00? No it is not. Hence it is the same with Walmart. Capitalism is driven on exchange of services at an agreed amount. If you don’t like Walmart, don’t shop or work there.