Thread: Majority says Wal-Mart bad for America: poll

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Majority says Wal-Mart bad for America: poll

By Emily Kaiser

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some 56 percent of U.S. consumers think Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is bad for America, according to a Zogby International poll released on Thursday by one of the retailer's most vocal critics.

The national poll -- commissioned by WakeUpWalMart.com, a union-funded group that has been pressuring Wal-Mart to raise employee wages and benefits -- surveyed 1,012 randomly chosen adults on their attitudes toward the world biggest retailer.

Respondents were asked to choose which of two statements more closely fit their personal opinions.

The majority, or 56 percent, picked: "I believe that Wal-Mart is bad for America. It may provide low prices, but these prices come with a high moral and economic cost for consumers." Thirty-nine percent agreed that "Wal-Mart is good for America. It provides low prices and saves consumers money every day."

Wal-Mart questioned the timing of the poll, which was conducted from November 15 to 18 -- a week when many of the retailer's critics organized events to highlight their concerns about the company, and screened a widely publicized documentary that cast Wal-Mart in a negative light.

"This poll is another way for them (WakeUpWalMart) to reach out for something to try to validate their efforts because they don't have anything else to hang their hat on," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark said.

The poll was released on the same day that Wal-Mart reported a 4.3 percent increase in November sales at its U.S. stores open at least a year -- a key retail measure known as same-store sales. Wal-Mart has about 3,700 U.S. stores and 2,400 international locations, and is expected to generate more than $300 billion in revenues in the current fiscal year.

Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. private-sector employer, faces intense pressure at home from unions, environmental groups and others who say the company pays poverty-level wages, offers poor health-care benefits and gobbles up green space with its massive big-box stores.

At the same time, Wal-Mart is defending a record-large class-action lawsuit that charges it with discriminating against women in pay and promotions.

Wal-Mart denies those claims, and points out that it often receives thousands of applications for a few hundred jobs when it opens new stores.

Wal-Mart, which hired a team of public relations experts to help polish its image, said critics' efforts to discredit the company have had little success, judging from the more than 100 million U.S. customers who shop its stores every week.

But WakeUpWalMart lauded the poll as evidence that consumers are increasingly aware of the concerns the group has worked to spotlight.

"Despite two high-priced image make-overs, Wal-Mart's public image is in a tailspin," Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart, said in a statement.

The Zogby poll also questioned consumers on whether they thought that Wal-Mart was becoming too powerful an economic force in America. Some 33 percent were very concerned, while 20 percent said they were not at all concerned.

Thirty-three percent strongly agreed that Wal-Mart was a retail monopoly that threatened the future health of the U.S. economy, but 35 percent did not agree at all.
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In many areas, Wal Mart is the major employer. While I think it is disgraceful that we let them build a Wal mart in darn near every city, town and hamlet in America--in some cases five or ten! -- I don't know if I would want to close them all down given that literally thousands of people across the nation are employed by Wal Mart.

If they could somehow be forced to sell less chinese junk, I'd probably be delighted. And remember, Sam Walton, the original founder of Wal Mart, prided himself on the fact that every single item sold in Wal Mart was Made In The USA. It is his greedy predecessors who ruined his vision.

I'd close four out of five in this city in about two seconds to put a whole bunch of illegals working there out of a job but I couldn't say I'd close all of them everywhere in the USA.

Is Wal Mart bad for America? I'd have a hard time answering that question because my view, even though I refuse to shop there, is split 50/50.

Wal-Mart sucks! Entire communities are being ruined by these monstrocities. While the 'elite' benefit from these cement eyesores, the general public is being hyjacked into believing that its a 'good thing' for America, because the prices are so low and affordable. Ha! The stores sell JUNK, and hire people at minimum wage and offer no health insurance. Tell me how that is 'a good thing'?

Butterbean, I didn't say WalMart is good. I boycott them because of the Chinese junk, and because here, they hire illegal immigrants--two major thorns in my side.

I said WalMart is a major employer in some areas. I come from a time when to earn minimum wage is better than to earn no wage at all. (Actually, I come from a time before there was any such thing as minimum wage!) If you put half the work force out of work in a small community, it does more harm than Wal Mart does by employing them as long as they are legal US citizens.

For example, take a town like Morehead City, NC. A whole lot of people work at that WalMart. I have never seen an employee there I suspected wasn't legal but that is not to say there are none. Nevertheless, if it were to close, it would have a severe impact on the economy of Carteret County.

There are several WalMarts in El Paso, TX. If they closed even half of them, it would impact the community but if they closed half and put only the legal US citizens to work in the ones that remained and got rid of all the illegals, it would be a blessing.

So there are definitely two sides to this coin.