Comments on: More Proof That Wal-Mart Has Lost Its Way?

By: Steven J. Kelso Sr.

Steven J. Kelso Sr. — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 21:41:47 +0000

You are probably right. But Wal-Mart would be no where nere as successful without the cheap merchandise from China (American unions priced the American worker out of a job with extravagant pay and bennies).

I sincerely hope that those who believe that trading with China will bring about freedom are right; I hate to benefit from the oppression of others. ):

By: TBlumer

TBlumer — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 22:29:58 +0000

#3, if you believe as I do that China is essentially one big company, then I believe China has more leverage over WM than vice-versa.

I may have read that 70% of the stuff in a WM store is from China. That is probably an exaggeration (UPDATE–actually it may not be, based on a Friday post I did), but may be true in certain categories. If the customer who supplies you 70% of your stuff in a lot of categories say *jump*, you would tend to ask *how high?*

I sincerely doubt that Sam Walton would have allowed himself to get into such a dependent relationship.

By: Steven J. Kelso Sr.

Steven J. Kelso Sr. — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 22:02:24 +0000

Since Wal-Mart sells so much from China, it would seem to me that the company would have tremendous leverage. Or am I wrong and the Chinese hold the cards because they could ban their products and hurt Wal-Mart?

By: TBlumer

TBlumer — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:40:45 +0000

#1, true enough, but I wonder, if Sam Walton were still alive, whether the Chinese would have even had the nerve to make the demand for space.

If WM was a tech company and Reuters isn’t shading the story, they’d be added to the Wall of Shame.

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:22:45 +0000

Well, it was China that had Google jumping through hoops wasn’t it? If it’s true, it’s a “you’ll do it our way or you’re out of the country” thing.