Walmart: The Musical?

Walmart became so big and scary, a musical was made about the effect Walmart has and could eventually have on our world. The political satire, "Walmartopia" premiered in Madison Wisconsin. "Walmartopia" was composed by Andrew Rohn and written by Catherine Capellaro. This was a full-fledged off-Broadway production of a single mom named Vicki Latrell and her young daughter who, after standing up to Vicki's corporate employer, find themselves left in a future where Walmart runs the world. This musical originated from the term "Wal-mart mom", who is "someone with a middle to low income and a low education level who feels politically conservtive and economically insecure."

Checkout the musical's website: http://www.walmartopia.com
                                 and
checkout this youtube link to watch the Walmartopia trailer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycrHX14Q_FI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycrHX14Q_FI

http://images.cdbaby.name/w/a/walmartopia.jpg

Works Cited:

"The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis." The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"WALMARTOPIA." WALMARTOPIA. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Retail Link

The founder, Sam Walton, and chief lieutenant, David Gloss, began in 1985, developing Retail Link. It took them years to perfect as well as $4 billion, but it was worth it. What Retail Link is is data that is imbedded in the barcodes that pass through the checkout counters that delivers information on costumer behavior. Random Fact: Because of Retail Link, Walmart knows that the number one selling item before a hurricane is beer and that strawberry pop-tarts increase seven times in sales before a hurricane. This program is helpful for Walmart, because it helps them to know what items they need more of during a certain time and helps them stock their inventory. But what was even more important about this program was that it gave Walmart the power to gain control over their suppliers and partner with them. They could do this because Walmart's Retail Link worked so well that their rivals tried to emulate the program, but they did it unsuccessfully, which in returned gave Walmart the power to be able to sell or not sell Retail Link to them, which is another reason why Walmart is so powerful and successful and has so much control over everyone.

Checkout more about Retail Link at:  http://www.wal-martchina.com/english/supplier/rl/rl.htm#what

http://blog.8thandwalton.com/wp-content/uploads/png2012/09/RetailLinkSS_8x2rc.

Works Cited:

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits." What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Taxpayers Costs

Walmarts not only destroy local business and jobs, but they cost taxpayers even more money. Thousands of people who work for Walmart qualify for Medicaid and tax payers are paying the bill. Walmarts cost tax payers about $420,750 per store, per year in low-income housing, health care costs, energy assistance, and free or reduced lunches for Walmart employees and their families because of Walmart's low wages. Walmart is also not the best in being able to pay their own taxes. For example, in 2008, Walmart avoided paying $245 million in taxes by paying rent to itself then deducting it from their taxable income. They also admitted failure to pay $2.95 billion in taxes in 2009.

Just check out this ad about the effects of Walmart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex7NXS5Rw3M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex7NXS5Rw3M





http://www.collabrus.com/collabrus_blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/taxes-20129.jpg

Works Cited:

"Walmart’s Impact on America’s Economy, Environment, and Communities." Local 881 UFCW. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"New Study: Wal-Mart Means Fewer Jobs, Less Small Businesses, More Burden on Taxpayers." NYC Public Advocate. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Hurting Local Business

Local stores have an increased risk of going out of business when located near a new Walmart. As soon as a Walmart is established in a city or a town, small businesses cannot afford to stay open, causing many local stores to have to shut down, meaning fewer jobs. By March 2008, 82 out of 306 small businesses went out of business after the opening of one Walmart in September 2006. Walmart is a huge job killer. They kill three local jobs for every two jobs they creat at their store openings, which in effect, reduces retail employment in every county they enter by 2.7%. Local businesses are much better for our cities and towns because they keep more consumer dollars in our local economy whereas Walmart sends most of theirs out. For every $100 spent in locally owned businesses, $68 stayed in the local economy. But for every $100 spent at Wal-mart, only $43 was left to re-circulate locally.

http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2008/02/03Poor24.jpg



Works Cited:

"New Study: Wal-Mart Means Fewer Jobs, Less Small Businesses, More Burden on Taxpayers." NYC Public Advocate. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis." The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

The Wal-Mart Effect

When Walmart enters a new city or town, something called the Walmart effect starts to occur. A new Walmart will cause local businesses to close, destroys jobs, thus creating fewer jobs for people. Walmart drives down wages for workers at competing local business and increases taxpayers costs. It causes the middle class to drecrease as well as increases pollution. In Maine, during the year 2001, retailers sales of apparel dropped by 28%, hardware dropped 20%, and specialty store sales dropped 17%. This occured just within a few years of Walmart entering their various communties. Another terrible effect of Walmart is their various abandoned stores. Most of Walmart's stores are almost two times the size of the average discount store. This makes these unoccupied stores too large for new store owners to be able to afford and occupy. Walmart is so powerful, it has the ability to destroy a whole community with just one store.

Here is a link to the book "The Wal-Mart Effect" by Charles Fishman:
http://books.google.com/books?id=oq2pgMztlzsC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=how+does+walmart+affect+our+economy&source=bl&ots=UPZ1qDkHFL&sig=B4VskD5jYX6LsWe8DU7mSDWtjJU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dumDUZzLOsPZqgGP2YD4Dg&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBQ

http://crooksandliars.com/files/uploads/2008/07/wal-mart-image.jpg

Works Cited:

"Walmart’s Impact on America’s Economy, Environment, and Communities." Local 881 UFCW. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"New Study: Wal-Mart Means Fewer Jobs, Less Small Businesses, More Burden on Taxpayers." NYC Public Advocate. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"The Wal-Mart Effect:." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.


Kurtzleben, Danielle. "Walmart Struggles to Overcome Environmental Criticism." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 20 Apr. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013.

The Ability to Access

One of Walmart's biggest powers is their ability to be able to connect producers and consumers with efficiency around the world. They are able to sell practically anything anywhere because Walmarts are located all over the globe. Unlike other superstores such as Target, Walmart is a global store and it is the reason why it is so easy for them to be able to sell products world-wide. Because of how huge Walmart is, they are able to get items to places quickly and efficiently. As Walmart grew, they began to change how goods are shipped, produced, and packaging into more efficient and effective ways. Walmart's ability to access helps connect the everything globally because of their ability to establish their self around the world.

Walmart definitely holds a lot of power over other businesses. You might even say Walmart is............


KING OF THE WORLD!!!

 http://www.empowernetwork.com/mkwadu/files/2011/12/king_16_lg.gif



Works Cited:

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Klein, Ezra. "Has Wal-mart Been Good or Bad." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013.

Environmental Practices

Even with Walmarts attempts to help the environment, they still aren't doing enough for the environment. Each year, Wal-mart emmits millions of tons of carbon dioxide. Since 2005, Walmart's greenhouse gas footprint has grown 13.8%. A Walmart supercenter, in one day, will use the same amount of energy as 1,095 U.S. homes. Walmart promotes industrial farming.They also build huge warehouse sized stores that take up huge amounts of land and by selling low quality goods, they encourage waste. The placement of stores outside of the cities require consumers to drive further to get to them, causing mroe gas consumption. Walmart's rapid expansion of their Supercenters and their Sam's Clubs has left hundreds of stores throughout the U.S. unoccupied. Walmart was fined between 2003-2005 $5 million because of the pollution of Connecticut streams and improperly stored pesticides and other pollutants, as well as violating the clean water act in nine states and keeping the Florida state inspectors from monitoring Walmart's fuel tanks.

http://assets.motherjones.com/media/2012/walmartStat4.gif



Watch this video about what Walmart is really doing to the environment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrbQgLJaIck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrbQgLJaIck



Works Cited:

"Walmart’s Impact on America’s Economy, Environment, and Communities." Local 881 UFCW. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Kurtzleben, Danielle. "Walmart Struggles to Overcome Environmental Criticism." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 20 Apr. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013.

The Green Walmart

Walmart announced its plans to become one of the greenest corporations in the world in 2005. The goals that they set for the company were to "Create zero waste" and "To be supplied by 100% renewable energy." They reduced packaging and cut down on waste by producing toilet paper without the cardboard roll in the middle. They also replaced store lighting with energy-saving light bulbs as well as made more room on the shelves for more energy-saving light bulbs. They now use solar energy at more than twenty-two of Walmart's sites. Because of Walmart's overwhelming size and power, they have the ability to cause a ripple effect on the global economy with their sustainability program, thus potentially being able to help the economy even more.

http://thirdsunsolar.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/walmart-with-solar-panels1.jpg



Works Cited:

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis." The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Wages

The average hourly employee at Walmart makes about $24,000 a year working forty hours a week. The reason why workers wages are so low at Walmart is because Walmart passes most of its savings on to the customers. So, even at the world's largest employer, a full-time worker can barely support a family. The average annual pay is below the poverty level for a family of four. Walmart is also the cause of the decline of the middle class because of its low paying jobs. They also drive down wages for workers at competing local businesses- reducing their earnings by 5% per person in the county the Walmart operates in.

http://webhost.bridgew.edu/jhayesboh/badbusiness.gif



Works Cited:

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"Walmart’s Impact on America’s Economy, Environment, and Communities." Local 881 UFCW. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"New Study: Wal-Mart Means Fewer Jobs, Less Small Businesses, More Burden on Taxpayers." NYC Public Advocate. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Working at Walmart

Nothing against people working at Walmart, but Walmart is probably not the most rewarding place to work at, especially if you're a woman. There has been law suits alleging that some store managers force employees to punch out at the time clock, but continue working after their hours are over without being paid. They would also lock their employees in about 10% of their stores overnight and force them to work. Walmart encourages the outsourcing of American jobs and also uses hundreds of illegal immigrants to clean its stores. They also have been accused of discriminating against women. Females held only 1/3 of the managerial positions and 15% of the company's store manager positions, even though they make up most of Walmart's hourly employees, 2/3 to be exact. They also make $14,500 less than male managers.

http://nhlabornews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/tumblr_md96n7KTkR1qasutfo1_r2_1280.jpg

Works Cited:

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Klein, Ezra. "Has Wal-mart Been Good or Bad." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013.

"Walmart’s Impact on America’s Economy, Environment, and Communities." Local 881 UFCW. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis." The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

The Retail Landscape

Walmart has helped in reshaping retail industry as well as the physical landscape. As we Americans began to demand more selection, bigger stores were needed to compensate for the infinitely growing amount of stuff. This caused Walmart to start building bigger stores on the outskirts of towns and the suburbs of large cities because they were too big to build in the cities and towns. These "big box" stores thus became the symbols that now dominate the American landscape. Now, almost 90 percent of America's population lives within fifteen miles of Walmart.



http://www.metroplanning.org/uploads/cms/images/mpc-luncheon-theme-2011-450-pixels-wide.jpg/image-full;max$600,600.ImageHandler



Now watch the rapid growth of Walmart from 1962-2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbYnkg6wYSI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbYnkg6wYSI

Works Cited:

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis." The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

America and Overconsumption

Walmart grew, not only by selling stuff for a lower price than the other stores, but by getting people to purchase more stuff than they needed. The cheap prices and the huge, overwhelming selection of items at Walmart is very powerful when trying to get consumers to purchase more because now they don't have to think as hard about whether to buy the movie or the video game. The result of everything becoming so cheap has lead to America becoming a culture of disposability. Now that we can purchase items so cheaply, like clothes and shoes, we just throw the item out instead of fixing it when is breaks, rips, or tears because the item was so cheap in the first place it wasn't worth repairing.

Now relax and enjoy the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzj1OF7d9m4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzj1OF7d9m4

http://bmorrissey.typepad.com/.a/6a01053662532b970c010536c5d634970b-800wi

http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/overconsumption.jpg 



Works Cited:

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Selection

We Americans are now used to being able to buy anything we want whenever we want it. Walmart has a range of products from electronics and office, movies, music, books, home, furniture and patio, apparel, shoes and jewelry. They also sell baby and kids supplies, toys and video games, sports, fitness, outdoors supplies, auto and home improvement, photo, gift, craft, and party supplies, pharmacy, health and beauty, grocery, and pets. Walmart is a top seller of jewelry, groceries, and photo processing. They are creating even more of their own brands such as Equate vitamins and Ol' Roys dog food, which have become top sellers. Walmart is also starting to move into used car sales, travel, internet access and banking.

Checkout the Walmart website for their whole selection! http://www.walmart.com

also.....

Read this article from the North Carolina State Economist about Walmart: http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/VIRTUAL_LIBRARY/ECONOMIST/novdec05.pdf

http://www.bloomberg.com/image/ic4Z1iCoXMrI.jpg

http://static8.businessinsider.com/image/4f18556becad04941b000069/walmart.jpg

Works Cited:

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Renkow, Mitch. "Wal-Mart and the Local Economy." Ag-econ.ncsu.edu. North Carolina State Economist, Nov.-Dec. 2005. Web. 8 May 2013.

"What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits." What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"Our Story." Walmart Corporate. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Everyday Low Prices

Walmart's huge marketing scheme is their everyday low prices. Just like the commercials say, they'll slash a price on an item if another stores sells that item cheaper. Walmart strives to make good deals on items throughout the whole year, unlike other stores that have sales just once in a while. All dominant superstores now use this pricing scheme, but it was Walmart that first started this trend of everyday low prices. These low prices primarily benefit low-income consumers. Walmart's low prices set the prices for everyone that sells to it as well as everyone who competes against it and thus lowers the prices for the people who don't even shop at Walmart. This shows us just how influential Walmart is.

Read more at this link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/11/24/has-wal-mart-been-good-or-bad/

http://d23fbqh0wbqi2l.cloudfront.net/uploads/Image/news/Finances/walmart.jpeg.jpg?1228323667



Works Cited:

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

Klein, Ezra. "Has Wal-mart Been Good or Bad." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013.

Walmart: Facts and Info

Walmart has become a huge success since it was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Walmart is one of the world's largest private employers with 2.1 million workers. They own over 10,700 stores around the world and they operate in 27 different countries and under 69 different banners. More than 140 million Americans shop at Walmart each week. Thats 88.5 million more people than U.S. Airlines flies a week. Walmart's annual revenue reaches a staggering $443 billion dollars. They became the nation's biggest grocery store in 2002, just fourteen years after they opened their first supercenter, and they accounted for 6% of all retail and food services sales in the U.S. in 2007.

Checkout how Walmart's story began at: http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/?povid=P1171-C1093.2766-L5

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.dailyfinance.com/media/2012/10/walmart-435cs101512.jpg

Works Cited: 

"10 Ways Walmart Changed the World." Business Money 10 Ways Walmart Changed the World Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"Our Story." Walmart Corporate. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis." The Wal-Mart Effect: Poison or Antidote for Local Communities? - Fedgazette - Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits." What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.