Tag: Retail
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It’s becoming impossible not to shop at Walmart … and Amazon
It was nearly twenty years ago when I first wrote about Walmart and how I thought it was an evil company. Over the years I’ve complained about it periodically, such as noting the death of a Walmart employee who became a martyr for greed on Black Friday. Anyhow, I vowed to do my best never…
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The free market is failing us
Are you feeling freer yet? From all the free market stuff happening, I mean. What I’ve been noticing – and what you are probably noticing too – are all the vacant storefronts. Retailing must be in recession. We have a tiny mall across the river from us. I was in there the other day looking…
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Black Friday protest at Walmart
Remember this post? Well, probably not. Anyhow, in it I promised to try to eke revenge against the retailers of the world for the shabby way I was treated when I was a retail worker (1978 to 1980) for the now defunct Montgomery Ward Corporation which today is even worse. Now that I am retired,…
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The power and profitability of treating workers with dignity
It’s taken a few years but striking fast food and Walmart workers are slowly getting some national attention. This Black Friday there was a continuation of strikes and protests that happened on Black Friday 2012, only bigger, with at least 111 protestors arrested around Walmart stores nationwide. Organizers at Our Walmart, a group organizing Walmart…
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Revenge of the ex-retail worker
It’s no secret that I don’t like Wal-Mart. In fact, I pretty much abhor it. I abhor it not for its merchandise or its low prices, but principally because they give their workers the shaft. They push workers to crazy and dangerous levels of productivity, constantly look for ways to work them even harder, give…
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Give ’em a real holiday
I don’t know if you have noticed, but real holidays have been slowly disappearing. It’s getting almost impossible to find a holiday that is, well, a holiday. If you are thinking that a holiday is the same thing as having a paid day off during the week to shop, Madison Avenue blesses you. If you…
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Wal-Mart employee becomes a martyr for greed
Sometimes a news story epitomizes what is wrong with our society. Sometimes they come in double doses. Two stories in the news have drawn my attention and ire. Both need more press than they have gotten. In today’s post, I concentrate on the first outrage. Black Friday this year turned black for an unexpected reason.…
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Overpaid at $11.59 an hour
I am very grateful that I did not make retail a career. It is a scummy business, operating on very low margins and subject to the constantly changing whims of consumer demand. If you do decide to make retail a career then with a few exceptions expect to be treated shabbily. We need no further…
Occam's Razor 