Friday, September 22, 2006
Wal-Mart has been the source of nonstop attacks from critics of big business. To them Wal-Mart is like the plague, spreading quickly and decimating the lives thousands of people every year. Conversely, for some, Wal-Mart represents the epitome of the American entrepreneurial spirit. It signifies the beauty of America, that someone with an idea can make a dream a reality. Samuel Walton founded Wal-Mart in 1962 in Rogers, Ark. It was not his first entrepreneurial endeavor. He had operated several small shops in the town, none of which had proved exceptionally successful. Walton provided 95 percent of the original funding for Wal-Mart. It was an immediate success and experienced exponential growth. On Oct. 31, 1969 Wal-Mart became a corporation, and in 1970 it was first publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. By 1990, over 1,400 stores were in existence, employing hundreds of thousands and generating billions in revenue. Currently, it is the second largest retailer in the world according to NYSE reports. Yet in recent years Wal-Mart has been criticized for issues including employment, racism, sexism, environmental impact and disruption of neighborhoods. Before I dismiss these claims as ludicrous and unwarranted, let me present some specifics. In late 2005, a film titled, “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” was made to show the exploitation of Wal-Mart workers through low wages and benefits. An independent group, Wal-Mart Watch hosts an online blog discussing problems with Wal-Mart stores. In the case Betty Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc, a female employee who developed carpal tunnel syndrome was moved from cashier to greeter. She sued because she was being denied training while men were not. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart boasts Women in Leadership and Minorities in Leadership programs which attracted about 19,000 participants last year. Simultaneously, Wal-Mart currently offers jobs to more than a quarter of a million people domestically and donated almost 250 million dollars to charity last year. This August, Wal-Mart reported that it was raising its wages but at the same time capping the wages of veteran workers. What people fail to realize is that Wal-Mart signifies the beauty of capitalism. If people didn’t like Wal-Mart, if it was really causing extensive damage to the environment or if it was actually discriminating against minorities or women, then people would not shop there. Wal-Mart would lose money. The fact is, Wal-Mart is a highly efficient, affordable and convenient. Why not boycott Abercrombie and Fitch for their outrageously priced clothing or their sketchy advertisements? Wal-Mart provides jobs to hundreds of thousands of people and wage increases or benefit increases would just cause Wal-Mart to cut employees or raise prices, either way creating more unemployed people draining the welfare system. Furthermore, people who rely on Wal-Mart to provide them with cheap goods so they can save money or sustain themselves on what they have will not be able to do so if Wal-Mart is forced out of business. Certain people don’t like Wal-Mart because it symbolizes the capitalist ideal, simple supply and demand. Sam Walton is the Bill Gates of retail, no doubt about that, but it took him a career to achieve similar success. The mystery of Wal-Mart’s unmatched success can be solved by considering a famous quote by Walton: “The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want.” Michael Birrer is a junior in the College.
