[crude_intentions]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FranklySpeaking', 'W')ho do you guys think were the worst unAmerican predators - Exxon and her six sisters?

[Lore]

I blame the people who have let themselves be relabeled consumers rather then citizens.

[Fishman]

HEY, THE MESSAGE, THE MESSAGE, NOT THE MESSENGER, FOLKS. Walmart, smalmart, substitute whatever large distributer, small distributer, mom/pop shop. lemonaide stand down the road. Focus on the message people. A major retailer says their customers are running out of money. ANY comments on that message?

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nefarious', '
')Damn Moss you don't remember that? It was back in the eighties. I remember the tv commercials. I think the slogan was "check the label" or "I checked the label" something like that.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Fishman', 'F')ocus on the message people. A major retailer says their customers are running out of money. ANY comments on that message?

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', 'W')almart is already deploying smaller format storesin urban and hard-to-build areas, which, if I may suggest, is a return to the "Humpty Dumpty" hodgepodge of stores that dotted cities during the early 1900s.

[dinopello]

What would be interesting is to study all the stuff people buy in the 1930's and compare to now. Obviously we have more gadgets to consume, but even if you looked at stuff that was common - clothes, and maybe some simple appliances (stoves, blenders, coffee makers toasters waffle irons, whatever) - is Walmart's cheapo, inexpensive stuff cheaper in the long run ? My Mom still has her sewing machine from the 1940's. The crap you buy at "super low prices" these days wear out and break and you throw it away. Last year at the beach, a friend bought 2 cheapo plastic inflatable raft for his kids. By the end of the FIRST DAY of use, both had popped their seams and were in the trash. What a bargain. No wonder everyone is out of money. Shopping is an addiction and I guess cheapo stuff that breaks just feeds that addiction.

[the48thronin]

The message response.

Start by deciding who are the paid once a month "CORE SHOPPERS." I brought this point up when the article was discussed on the afternoon radio show and was immediately scolded by a teacher in Texas because he was paid once a month. I asked him how many people were on Social security and how many were receiving food stamps and which categories did he think the Walmart CEO was referring to as "core shoppers".

My reason to discuss the article at all was the "higher prices for fresh foods so that they could discount electronics...." and my own view that "core shoppers" referred to food stamp recipients and SS recipients not teachers.

[MontrealMichelle]

I agree fully with Lore. We can blame ourselves for abandoning our duties as citizens and allowing others to manipulate us as mere consumers. But unless people are willing to pick up guns and launch a coup, the next best thing are class action law suits (A suggestion from my husband - a judge). People only respond when others seek massive damages in a law suit. Then they really pay attention, and with enough publicity - so do others.

Yeah the message is right on target - America is broke. But I am more interested in a solution - a redistribution of wealth in America. How can it be accomplished?

[Cloud9]

Walmart is suffering from margin compression. Commodities are reacting to a hundred billion a month being flushed into the system backed up by real scarcities. Walmart exploded on the scene riding a wave slave labor in China and cheap energy costs. Cheap energy is a thing of the past. If oil peaked in 05, within a decade the economies will look more like the 19th century than the 20th.

[eXpat]

Trying to rise their margins a bit I see
Wal-Mart brings guns back
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')EW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wal-Mart said Thursday that it is bringing guns back to many of its U.S. stores in an effort to lift slumping sales.

In 2006, Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), the world's largest retailer stopped selling guns in the majority of its stores, blaming slow demand for those types of firearms.
Wal-Mart currently sells rifles, shotguns and ammunition in about 1,300 stores in the United States.

Those firearms will now be available at about half of Wal-Mart's 4,000 stores.

The retailer doesn't sell handguns in any of its stores, other than in Alaska.
Wal-Mart's ready to do battle

After suffering seven straight quarters of falling sales, Wal-Mart says that it is adding more merchandise variety to stores and becoming more aggressive on prices versus its competitors.

Reintroducing guns is part of the retailer's push, Wal-Mart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said.

Lopez said Wal-Mart is focusing on stores in areas where hunting and fishing are popular activities.

'We realized there is broader appeal for guns in some areas because of sporting needs," said Lopez.

[vision-master]

No Frigging handguns? WTF! Wally World, you can fook off.

[eXpat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'N')o Frigging handguns? WTF! Wally World, you can fook off.

[Cloud9]

Here in central Florida Walmart has always sold long guns. They don't sell anything that politically incorrect like AKs or ARs but they do sell a reasonable sampling of hunting rifles and shotguns.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'W')almart exploded on the scene riding a wave slave labor in China and cheap energy costs.

[dolanbaker]

Only in the US would a supermarket sell guns!
This side of the pond the very idea is to most people.

[vision-master]

Got my AK-47 in a gas station from a town of less than 100 pl.

Too bad we only can get the fake semi-auto ones now.

[Cloud9]

Full auto is over rated.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', 'O')nly in the US would a supermarket sell guns!
This side of the pond the very idea is to most people.