- Multinationals -

Wal-Mart is free enterprise -- American style.

In Reply to: Wal-Mart posted by David on November 19, 1999 at 20:00:08:

You've misspelled "moron".

I've got nothing against Wal-Mart. There's nothing stopping local and regional retailers from competing with such giants, if they form national and international cooperatives to obtain and manage inventory. Big box retailers are convenient, reliable and inexpensive places to shop. That's how Wal-Mart, a pioneer at this, took away so much business from Sears (never mind Mom and Pop hardware stores, which will probably always exist in some form and some places). Wal-Mart does have a huge advantage in terms of economies of scale, but not much else. Even small, local retailers can potentially gain scale with the help of ecommerce. (It's happening here with www.cdplus.com where I live, which has grown out of a local operation as far as I know.) Many of the objections people have to mega-retailers in general are largely irrelevant, sentimental or unfounded. Wal-Mart is free enterprise -- American style. But if you don't like Wal-Mart, you're free to shop elsewhere, that's the consumer's ultimate choice.

Regards,

David J Shaver

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