Odd though it may be, I harbor a minor obsession with Wal-Mart. I've read this book which presents a pretty even-handed look at the somewhat stunning practices that Wally World (as my mother calls it) has pioneered to make them the retailing giant they are. Some of them, like making individual stores return cardboard boxes to the distributors or pay for them are pleasingly green in their business savviness. Save the planet, be cheap. Hey, if it works right?
And I've seen this movie, which paints the more heartbreaking human consequences of the drive to dominate the retail landscape — and that's where this riveting map from Flow Data comes in. I do so adore a map! This animated stunner starts in 1968 with the birth of the first store in Arkansas and grows progressively greener with every "rolled-back" price until Wal-Mart rules the entire world squashing everyone and everything in its path. More or less.
In other Wal-Mart related news, the store has recently pulled a controversial comic book from shelves, after complaints that it was racist. Maybe they don't have black hearts after all?
Roberto Cavalli
Flash Lights
Rick Owens
It looks like it's moving off the coast of Florida!
1This map fascinates me the same way those maps showing how airborne Ebola could spread through airplane routes and destroy the world fascinate me
2Do I have to?
3I cant stand wal mart, and only go in there when i am feeling a bit blue about myself, ALWAYS makes me feel better.
Look at florida, its one giant blob, except for near cedar key, apalachicola, perry , there are still Piggly Wigglys in that area!
4Citizen, your first 5 words of this blog are completely correct. "Odd though it may be..."
5Oh and the everglades....hee
6The entire eastern half of the country looks like it's being overrun by radioactive Tribbles...
7The only reason the west isn't more overrun is because there aren't that many people out there, yet.
How did they get rid of the Tribbles in Star trek?
8the tribbles hate the klingons, they beamed them over to thier bird of prey.
Plus the tritcale was poisoned.
"theyll be no tribble at all" scotty
I am such a nerd.
9"How did they get rid of the Tribbles in Star trek?"
Damn. That's a good question. I've only seen that episode once, and I fell asleep right after the Tribbles started spilling from the A/C vents, so I've no idea.
In all the years I've lived in Cali, I think I've only been into a WalMart twice.
10Wal-Mart is not unique in their practice of puttin Capitalism ahead of human resources however they are probably simply the best at doing so.
11walmart is a pit. they sell cheap crap that most people don't need and they run small mom&pop shops out of business in the process. we are getting more and more here in the west - and i fear for whatever charm and uniqueness that's left in our cities and towns if they keep it up. on the upside: starbucks is closing 600 stores!
12I refuse to shop in Walmart. The stores are junky and their business practices are more than questionable.
Yesteryear, fortunately none of those 600 Starbucks stores are near me. My mom would hate that. She loves their coffee as long as it's BOLD. No weak coffee for my mom. I hate coffee but love their teas especially sweet wild orange.
13I purchased a tent from Walmart over the internets for like thirty bucks.
14well even if they were near you you'd still be able to get their teas at stores. i just have a distaste for homogenization. soon every city will look the same and feature the same 10 or 15 chain stores. its horrifying.
15The tent I purchased isn't as nice as one from, say, Dicks' Sporting Goods or even Northface, but it's a tent and it works. I just didn't have $200 to spend on a tent I'm going to use, like, once a year.
16i guess youll see what a great deal you got when you are eaten alive by a bear, raciccarone!
17I was thinking he'll see the deal when it leaks. Still $30.00 for a tent is a good deal, and a $2.00 tube of sealer will keep the rain out.
18As far as the bear is concerned, keep the food out of the tent, and they won't bug you. If they decide to take a bite out of Racci, a tent of any kind won't hold them back.
If the bear attacks, just punch it in the face.
Oh, wait. That's sharks.
Here's a WalMart tidbit: growing up, every time we would go visit family in Taiwan, they would give my mom a huge list of "Made in USA" stuff they wanted us to bring. (Also, for whatever reason, Tylenol and children's Tylenol.) We'd end up buying huge cartloads of things from WalMart...to take to people in another country.
19Yesteryear the great thing is we have a small family owned coffee place close to us as well. They have a loyal group of customers and the business is going strong. It's not my favorite place I don't liike their teas). But, the community really supports it. I believe a community needs a combination of the larger chains and small business.
20Jude, you are very wise. It is a shark. Bears are defeated by waving your arms and screaming rude personal remarks. They are very sensitive.
21the smaller coffee place is an anomaly, unfortunately. in a town where coffee shops already existed, it's more likely that they can withstand a starbucks... but in towns where starbucks got there first, it's a lot tougher.
22Tell that to the bear who bit my arm off, rac. And I was just kidding about his momma, too.
I did make that bear cry, but I think he won.
23cool, and scary. do they have these maps for some of the other big chain stores in the United States of Generica?
24I would be interested in seeing those maps.
25"the smaller coffee place is an anomaly, unfortunately. in a town where coffee shops already existed, it's more likely that they can withstand a starbucks... but in towns where starbucks got there first, it's a lot tougher."
You may be right yy. We're still close to a family owned ice cream place, a caribean eatery, a family run bakery and there's a farm about 10 minutes away. I can get to DC in about half an hour but the part of the county I live in still has some of it's rural feel.
26Rural America has its good points. The town I live in has a coffee shop that has a "free coffee for a year" deal. It cost $200.00, but you can get a free 16 oz coffee for an entire year. I used to go in, get a cup, and do my paperwork there. 3 or 4 cups later, I'dbe awake enough to begin sales calls. It's too bad they closed.
27Hm, sadly, I live right smack in the middle of one of those big green blobs.
28there is a green blob for walmart!
29Anyway, about this tent I purchased from Walmart over the internets for thirty dollars. So, I decide I want to try it out and so I set it up in my backyard, you know, to see if it works. I'm lying in my tent, getting a feel for it when suddenly, the wife of an Indian Chief entered and asked to make love to me. Weird, right? Because I don't live near any native American tribes. Anyway, I'm a guy so I say, "Sure!". Afterwards I was arrested for Intent to do Mischief.
Thank you.
30
31I heart Walmart.
I had a professor last term who went on and on about how Walmart is ruining the country. Yeah great. All big box stores have similar practices, it just so happens they are the most successful. Its funny have the students that said they didn't shop there Ive seen several times since. Its convenient and its cheap ... regarding jobs...when you live in areas like I do where there is nothing .. Walmart is great asset to the community..hiring 1000's not to mention with Walmart comes other business and restaurants in the area...therefore providing tax money for better schools etc.
They even have GREEN bags now for the environmentalists .. which Im not but they hold tons more then plastic so I bought a dozen.
Walmart carries similar if not the same household brands as Target and KMART ... so shaddup about crap its all the same. As for China go anywhere that doesn't have shelves stocked with .. the "Made in China" labels we see everywhere.
32I worked for WalMart a couple of years ago while I was getting my insurance business going. Not only did they bring a 1,000 employee supercenter to the town, they brought another 3,000 via a distribution center. It was very good for a town that was slumping as the other major factories were moving out.
33Wal Mart.....ew
34Maine has...one? Woohoo, go Maine.
35I feel violated.
36I hate Wal-Mart, it just feels icky going there...
37Exactly UnDave thanks for sharing. Jenna whats Ew about it exactly? Is it beneath you to shop there. I shop at Bloomies too, actually Ill shop just about anywhere as long as they have something I want like or need.
38I don't like Walmart stores either, and try to avoid using them.
39I know there are a lot of people that hate walmart. I actually dislike some of the things about them, but I worked at a SuperCenter for 2 years while going to college. They were the only ones that were willing to take someone that lived an hour and a half away from the store and give me thirds and adjust my schedule so I could continue to go to school. I got first priority with scheduling just because of that. Most places were just well you have to work, regardless of what you have to do to better yourself at school. They paid me well, I made triple what I could have made at a fast food restaurant or in some factory. The employees get the short end of the stick a lot with policies and especially with customers that (hate walmart but still shop there). But they have decent benefits even for part time workers, and for an entry level no experience position they pay quite well. I have nothing against walmart, if it wasn't for third shift there (the opportunity and the people I worked with), I would have never made it through college and been able to move to the AWESOME new job I've got now.
40Wal-Mart isn't my favorite, but it's not bad, either. I think it gets a bad rap and a lot of people fail to look at both sides of the coin. I also think it's interesting that people dislike Wal-Mart because it puts Mom and Pop stores out of business, since Wal-Mart started out as a Mom and Pop store. In addition, I think Wal-Mart serves an important need in our country because there are some families who cannot afford to get everything they need any where else. Because Wal-Mart is so big, it can offer lower prices than just about everywhere else. I think it's easy to condemn Wal-Mart if you don't need to shop there, but, especially with the current economic situation in our country, there are a lot of people who need Wal-Mart.
41Watching that map makes it feel like a plague is taking over America, oh wait, it is
I dislike shopping at Walmart but under stress and duress I have been a few times. I have my own fabric shopping bags that I made and when I gave them to the checker, she literally didn't know what to do with them. She finally gave up in frustration since they didn't fit on the turnstile thingy - it was pathetic.
42I absolutely detest and refuse to shop at Wal-mart. Yes, other companies may have bad practices but not nearly as many as Walmart committed. And, people who shop at Wal-mart may think they are saving a buck or two but in the end, they are just making it harder for the American economy pick itself back up. Shopping local keeps the money at bay.
http://walmartwatch.com/
43I don't like that map. Not one bit.
44The DVD is a good watch as scary as it is. I haven't been in a Wal-Mart since, and I don't plan to anytime soon. The way they treat their employees AND customers is sickening. They don't care what happens to you in the parking lot on the way home, as long as you've already made a purchase.
45That's a bit condescending fbaby. I also know for a fact that that isn't true. I'm not saying that I do all of my shopping at Wal-Mart, but it isn't a bad place to be. I find it humorous that so many people on here hate a business that has used capitalism to their benefit. We should applaud Sam Walton for his forsight and business sense.
46If Wal-Mart actually had to abide by free trade rules and open market standards the way other, smaller companies do, they'd be out of business tomorrow. They get HUGE tax breaks (yes, from your taxes), they pay less than the minimum wage in many states and they use unsound and unfair pricing to drive away the competition. That's not really the capitalism Adam Smith had in mind when he wrote The Wealth of Nations.
47Paying less than the minimum wage is illegal, and they price below competitors because they can afford to, as they buy in large enough quantities that they can purchase the merchandise considerably less. That's exactely what Adam Smith had in mind.
48OMG, gross.
49I never shop there and I refuse to. I know that doesn't make a huge deficit for them... but I feel better personally. Each time I use to even walk in the door, I felt sleazy and poor.
To each their own. Many people shop at Wal Mart for the value and convenience. Some don't shop there because Wal Mart is able to "destroy" the old fashioned Main St. IMO, if Main St can't compete with a Wal Mart, then Main St. needs to change what they are selling.
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