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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 7:10:41 PM

cuddleheart50

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I dont hate Wal-Mart, I'm usually there every other day.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 9:03:32 PM

WyrdRich

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I have a love/hate relationship with the place. I have regular moments standing in line when I swear I'll never return. Problem is, the toilet paper and cleaning supplies are consistently cheaper and the boots and work clothes I buy there are 1/2 the price and last twice as long as goods I have bought at Costco.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 9:08:00 PM

desiremaker

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You got to watch out for them Wal-Martians!! They nearly got Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning!! Little pink stickers are one of the marks of the Beast!!!

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 9:33:27 PM

Lordandmaster

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Yeah, I know whatcha mean. I've always thought prices like that for dress shirts were insane. You can have one tailored for less than that, and YOU get to choose the fucking fabric. It's also pretty rare that you're in a situation where an old-fashioned Arrow or Geoffrey Beene just won't cut it. I've never had some motherfucker tell me, Gee, that was a great presentation, but why the fuck are you wearing Geoffrey Beene?

quote:

ORIGINAL: LTRsubNW

My shirts cost 17 bucks (yeah, I know....but I've checked, and your stories about sweat shops just ain't true) and they look better than anything I USED to buy from Nordstroms for $125.00 ea.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 9:39:52 PM

princessofdeath

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welp lets see.. my two cents here.. ive worked for walmart for a while now.. and im always forced to take my breaks even if i dont want them.. depending on how long you work you get from an hour to a half an hour plus one or two fifteen minute breaks.. (completely fair in my opinion).. the pay isnt bad and i love working there.. the people are awesome and treat you nicely.. i dont see what all the bitching is about.. i love walmart and i love working at walmart.. and i probably spend 3/4 of my pay there each week.. hehe.. nice discount on the stuff too.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 9:56:20 PM

Lordandmaster

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When you have a family, pod, you might have a different attitude about this. A job that's great for a 19-year-old might not be so great for someone with more responsibilities. Most people who work at Walmart can't afford to spend 75% of their paycheck in the store because they have to use that money to support themselves and their families.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 10:04:40 PM

princessofdeath

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thats completely true.. it might change.. but i also know people who work there.. one is a single mother.. who has no other form of income and owns a beautiful house and her daughter alway looks amazing.. and a single female who is in the process of buying a rather nice house.. and neither of them ever complain about the pay..

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 10:35:36 PM

SlaveAkasha

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Not sure what they do there, but they must be special to make that much. With a full 6 yrs experience working retail, and other jobs, I made a whopping 6.30 an hour. My friend that works there, has been there over ten years, never misses, had great reviews and makes around 10.00 an hr. Yes, that is a decent amount for retail, but if you add in that she can't afford the insurance they offer, and she has to try and pay a home payment, and all of her other bills, it's not very much. Even her discount of 10%, can't make up for her not having enough to pay her bills, or to buy her medicine when she needs it.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 10:41:00 PM

Sinergy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: LTRsubNW

I shop at WalMart. I love the place.

Hello A/all,

I am happy you can buy a $17 shirt at Walmart that you would have paid $125 for at Nordstrom.

I dont shop at either.

But rabid Walmart shoppers dont actually realize that they are paying a lot more for that shirt than $17.

Walmart teaches their employees how to apply for things like food stamps, medicare/medicaid, section 8 housing, etc., which their pay is low enough to allow their employees to qualify for.

What this means is that the shirt you thought you were paying $17 for actually costs a lot more because your tax dollars are used to keep the Walmart employee alive.

The CEO of Costco thinks that this is a poor business practice. I will pay a bit more at Costco for something because I truly believe in the spirit best described by the Xhosas word "Ubuntu." This word transliterates (somewhat) to the idea that "I am because we are" or "people are people because of people." I wont be party to illegal activities, abuse, etc., because person(s) A want to put down person(s) B. There is a connection I have to other people, and how I treat them reflects my respect for that connection.

Fun fact of the day: A couple of years ago, China (who make a huge percentage of Walmart products) refused to allow Walmart to open Walmarts in China because China does not approve of the way Walmart treats their employees.

Just me, could be wrong, but there you go.

Sinergy

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 10:42:25 PM

Emperor1956

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ahh...a derailment of a thread waiting to happen:

quote:

Lordandmaster: Yeah, I know whatcha mean. I've always thought prices like that for dress shirts were insane. You can have one tailored for less than that, and YOU get to choose the fucking fabric. It's also pretty rare that you're in a situation where an old-fashioned Arrow or Geoffrey Beene just won't cut it. I've never had some motherfucker tell me, Gee, that was a great presentation, but why the fuck are you wearing Geoffrey Beene?
quote:

ORIGINAL: LTRsubNW

My shirts cost 17 bucks (yeah, I know....but I've checked, and your stories about sweat shops just ain't true) and they look better than anything I USED to buy from Nordstroms for $125.00 ea.

I don't know much about WalMart -- the ones IN Chicago are pretty crummy, but I love 'em on road trips in rural areas. Costco always strikes Me as overrated. I like Target. And I shop online.

BUT I do know men's shirts, from the sales point of view (how do ya think this po' boy got thru college?) and from the wearing point of view...and LTRsubNW I'm calling you out. (and LaM you can play along).

If you really were spending $125/shirt at Nordstroms, you were probably getting the John W. Nordstrom shirt (or were you getting a designer?). They run from $95-150. The J.W. is one of the finest off the rack dress shirts made, and it bears the same resemblance to a $17 WalMart shirt as a mid-priced Mercedes does to a Pinto*. Yes, they are both cars. Yes, they both have 4 wheels. If that's all that matters, drive the Pinto.

A J.W. is 100% cotton, usually 60 singles, often 80, always 2 ply.(NOTE: If this stuff doesn't mean anything to you, dear reader, just keep in mind the Mercedes vs. the Pinto). What are your shirts, LTR? Plastic? If you are wearing ANYTHING 100% cotton and $17, I'm amazed and skeptical. But it could be possible. Still, there's no comparison.

The J.W. is single needle tailored. It has a full placket, and true pleats. The buttons are always shell, except for certain custom runs which are mother of pearl. The shirts have a gorgeous hand, they launder wonderfully, and they last. But yes they are $125 and up.

By the way, your WalMart shirt is made...where? Indonesia? China? The JW used to be made in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania by the Fleetwood Shirt Company (I'm not sure all of them are still made there). hmmmmm. Weren't you getting all smarmy about how "American" WalMart was vs. Costco?

Now I don't wear many JWs. They are pricey, and they tend to have an athletic cut, and my shoulders no longer taper as neatly to the hips. I wear some Paul Frederick shirts, a lot of Lands End (we'll see if Sears ruins them) both of which are also made in the USA by custom shirt makers...and I wear custom made shirts, which, as LaM says, run me less than the off-the-rack JWs.

Am I a snob? You bet I am. BUT -- and this is something you may not get, LTR -- I'm a snob for quality, NOT for labels. I don't care what label my shirt has, and I don't care where I get it...Bluefly or Overstock.com or Nordstrom Rack. I LOVE scoring a great $175 shirt for $40. I'd wear a WalMart shirt in a minute if it approximated the quality of a good man's dress shirt. But it doesn't. And it looks cheap when you put it on, and shabby after you launder it a few times. I don't drive a Mercedes (65K+ on a car is just silly, even if you have it to spend) but I don't drive a Pinto either...and if I DID drive a Pinto, I wouldn't go around claiming it was a Mercedes to bolster my politics.

LaM, Geoffrey Beene is a perfectly respectable off the rack shirt (made by Phillips Van Heusen). Why wouldn't you wear 'em? They are midprice, fairly good quality. Arrow is a sad story of a once great product run down. I have some for casual wear, but with a suit? Naaah. and LaM, wanna know something *whispers* clients DO look, and they do notice what you wear. If you wanna dress cheap and sell cheap...go ahead. If you wanna dress money and sell money (which I do, usually)...you don't wear an Arrow shirt for the presentation.

Go ahead, LaM...I dare ya to post on men's suitings *GRIN* .. no...don't.

E.

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*When I first wrote this note, I compared a Bentley to a Pinto...but the JW isn't a Bentley...its a Mercedes, or a nice Lexus. A Sulka shirt is a Bentley.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 11:02:12 PM

Sinergy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Emperor1956

Go ahead, LaM...I dare ya to post on men's suitings *GRIN* .. no...don't.

Hello A/all,

I have a few hand tailored silk and/or cotton shirts in my closet that were made for me in Hong Kong. They look smashing on me. It helped to be with a flight attendant, who sewed designer clothing before becoming a flight attendant, and could pay the $5.00 she haggled the tailor down to on a flight to Hong Kong.

The relationship ended before I could go on one of her flights and have a custom tailored silk suits and a tuxedo made for me for $100 US.

Would not know it to look at me most of the time. Im a longshoreman. Shorts, t-shirt, flip flops.

People I have been with have told me how surprised they are at my sense of taste and style, since they say they would never know it looking at me.

Stealth. The only way to fly.

Sinergy

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 11:07:45 PM

juliaoceania

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Sinergy

quote:

ORIGINAL: Emperor1956

Go ahead, LaM...I dare ya to post on men's suitings *GRIN* .. no...don't.

Hello A/all,

I have a few hand tailored silk and/or cotton shirts in my closet that were made for me in Hong Kong. They look smashing on me. It helped to be with a flight attendant, who sewed designer clothing before becoming a flight attendant, and could pay the $5.00 she haggled the tailor down to on a flight to Hong Kong.

The relationship ended before I could go on one of her flights and have a custom tailored silk suits and a tuxedo made for me for $100 US.

Would not know it to look at me most of the time. Im a longshoreman. Shorts, t-shirt, flip flops.

People I have been with have told me how surprised they are at my sense of taste and style, since they say they would never know it looking at me.

Stealth. The only way to fly.

Sinergy

Yeah, but we are in California.... most people wear flip flops and shorts like it is a uniform. And you look just fine in them...

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 11:50:12 PM

Kedicat

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Wal Mart is neither good or evil. They are playing the game that we have set the rules for. I work for a company that is still privately owned, by the man who started it and his son now. They have certain personal standards of conduct, honesty and honour. Some customers that have passed us by for bribes and empty promises, have come back to do business with us.

The bad thing is corporatization. It absolves all of responsibility and guilt. It becomes a disconnected bottom line. And corporations do what they are supposed to do. What we have allowed and legislated them to do. A corporation is akin to a mob. It is divorced from it's actions, the shareholder always invisible in the mob. ( mob as in large group, not mafia )
We can only change the methods of Wal Mart and its ilk, with many changes to legislation, international treaties etc...And taking the short term pain for the long term gain. Some gain would come in the very short term though. Some pain last a bit long.

We made WalMart and such. We must remake them.

< Message edited by Kedicat -- 10/15/2006 11:51:43 PM >

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 11:54:05 PM

Kedicat

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A note about the concept.

DON'T USE the self serve machine checkouts!!!!
Save a job or two of at least the worst type. Consider that even the gadgets used to run personless checkouts aren't likely made in North America.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/15/2006 11:57:25 PM

UtopianRanger

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Besides the fact that Wal-Mart is essentially a de-facto agent of the People's Liberation Army, it's among the slimiest corporations on the planet. I rarely if ever shop there for shit....no matter how much someone tells me I can save. I'll gladly pay extra for genuine American, Canadian or European- made clothing - It's ten times better.

Repost :

How bout the policy of hiring senior citizens and then taking out life insurance polices on them with out them knowing about it, and then naming yourself as the beneficiary? They were recently convicted in Texas of this practice. Hell... the only thing worse than that practice was John Poindexter's scheme of letting speculators bet on the next terrorist attack in the futures market. This is just but one example of the pattern of highly unethical behavior that surrounds how they treat work force. I hardly think Sam Walton would have operated in a similar manner.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid%3A93226

- R

< Message edited by UtopianRanger -- 10/15/2006 11:58:56 PM >

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/16/2006 12:02:45 AM

Kedicat

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quote:

ORIGINAL: UtopianRanger

Besides the fact that Wal-Mart is essentially a de-facto agent of the People's Liberation Army, it's among the slimiest corporations on the planet. I rarely if ever shop there for shit....no matter how much someone tells me I can save. I'll gladly pay extra for genuine American, Canadian or European- made clothing - It's ten times better.

Repost :

How bout the policy of hiring senior citizens and then taking out life insurance polices on them with out them knowing about it, and then naming yourself as the beneficiary? They were recently convicted in Texas of this practice. Hell... the only thing worse than that practice was John Poindexter's scheme of letting speculators bet on the next terrorist attack in the futures market. This is just but one example of the pattern of highly unethical behavior that surrounds how they treat work force. I hardly think Sam Walton would have operated in a similar manner.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid%3A93226

- R

Hmmmm Do you actually have to hire a senior to be a benificiary?....I like those odds better than the lottery. How big a percentage should I give their real relatives to thin the slime layer?

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/16/2006 1:52:44 AM

LTRsubNW

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Sinergy
Fun fact of the day: A couple of years ago, China (who make a huge percentage of Walmart products) refused to allow Walmart to open Walmarts in China because China does not approve of the way Walmart treats their employees.

Just me, could be wrong, but there you go.

Sinergy

Actually, China has 11 WalMarts.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/16/2006 2:21:59 AM

Kedicat

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quote:

ORIGINAL: LTRsubNW

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sinergy
Fun fact of the day: A couple of years ago, China (who make a huge percentage of Walmart products) refused to allow Walmart to open Walmarts in China because China does not approve of the way Walmart treats their employees.

Just me, could be wrong, but there you go.

Sinergy

Actually, China has 11 WalMarts.

They save a bundle on shipping.

< Message edited by Kedicat -- 10/16/2006 2:23:02 AM >

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/16/2006 4:55:23 AM

MizSuz

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Emperor1956

ahh...a derailment of a thread waiting to happen:

<snip>

BUT I do know men's shirts, from the sales point of view (how do ya think this po' boy got thru college?) and from the wearing point of view...and LTRsubNW I'm calling you out. (and LaM you can play along).

If you really were spending $125/shirt at Nordstroms, you were probably getting the John W. Nordstrom shirt (or were you getting a designer?). They run from $95-150. The J.W. is one of the finest off the rack dress shirts made, and it bears the same resemblance to a $17 WalMart shirt as a mid-priced Mercedes does to a Pinto*. Yes, they are both cars. Yes, they both have 4 wheels. If that's all that matters, drive the Pinto.

HA! A Pinto! He used a PINTO to call you out, LTR! HAHA THat is too rich. Never mind that he's RIGHT (and echoing what I've been telling you for years)...it's the fact that he used a PINTO for comparison that cracks me up. Should we tell him that you think the pinto is the quintessential dating machine??? hahahaha

quote:

ORIGINAL: Emperor1956

A J.W. is 100% cotton, usually 60 singles, often 80, always 2 ply.(NOTE: If this stuff doesn't mean anything to you, dear reader, just keep in mind the Mercedes vs. the Pinto). What are your shirts, LTR? Plastic? If you are wearing ANYTHING 100% cotton and $17, I'm amazed and skeptical. But it could be possible. Still, there's no comparison.

The J.W. is single needle tailored. It has a full placket, and true pleats. The buttons are always shell, except for certain custom runs which are mother of pearl. The shirts have a gorgeous hand, they launder wonderfully, and they last.

DOH! There goes someone talking about quality and how to see it! In case you missed it, LTR, you CANT get these features at Walmart and people who know it when they see it know it.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Emperor1956

Now I don't wear many JWs. They are pricey, and they tend to have an athletic cut, and my shoulders no longer taper as neatly to the hips.

Now THIS could be the crux of the situation with the Walmart shirts, eh? Less 'athletic cut'?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Emperor1956

Am I a snob? You bet I am. BUT -- and this is something you may not get, LTR -- I'm a snob for quality, NOT for labels.

Oh my, do I hear an echo in here???

quote:

ORIGINAL: Emperor1956

..wanna know something *whispers* clients DO look, and they do notice what you wear. If you wanna dress cheap and sell cheap...go ahead. If you wanna dress money and sell money (which I do, usually)...you don't wear an Arrow shirt for the presentation.

ABSOFRAKKIN'LUTELY. Anyone with knowledge regarding quality garments will notice. Someone who can afford to and HAS worn both ends of the spectrum knows. Most business execs (the ones who write the big checks) know (even if it was their wife that taught them the difference simply by making sure the GOOD shirts were in the closet).

But I think before we start talking thread/needle counts, full pleats and plackets we should address what does and doesn't 'match.'

Jeans and/or khakis with a Walmart button down (often plaid), topped by a pin stripe suit jacket...well...it's just WRONG. Tennis shoes, in this situation, just round the whole 'wrongness' out. It screams wrong, usually at the person with the wherewithall to write that big check.

If it must be jeans or khakis then wear a SPORT COAT. If it's a pin striped jacket then wear the matching pants and a tie, and DONT wear a walmart shirt and tennis shoes.

If the meeting is important enough to wear a suit coat for, then do it right and don't go in looking like a rube. Better to wear jeans and a collared pull over professing the need to be on a jobsite later than to go in thinking you look smashing when you're screaming "I don't know how to discern quality but I'm here to convince you to give me your money."

But what would I know? I HATE to shop (anywhere) and being in a Walmart is a lot like being stuck in a nightmare to me.

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RE: Our Friendly Neighborhood Wal-Mart - 10/16/2006 5:06:11 AM

MizSuz

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Kedicat

A note about the concept.

DON'T USE the self serve machine checkouts!!!!
Save a job or two of at least the worst type. Consider that even the gadgets used to run personless checkouts aren't likely made in North America.

I'll stop looking for self checkout first when I am once again assured that I'm not going to have to deal with a surly check-out person who hates life. One of the things I noticed first when moving to the NE is that very few clerks at a checkout counter will look you in the eye up here. What's up with that?

I have a cousin that worked for Sam's Club for years. He didn't like it much and inevitably had to find another job when they AGAIN reduced his health care benefits and increased his copay for same...and he was a lower manager. I can't imagine what it's like for single parents trying to raise a family on the Walmart corporate ethic.

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