Posted on 12/01/2006 11:51:30 PM PST by JohnHuang2
I loved my friend, Sam Walton. I still do.
I first met him when he was just getting started. At that time, he operated a scant 4,000 stores or so – still just a homespun, hometown storekeeper who had turned a little five and dime store into a giant national retailer.
A perpetual twinkle in his eyes, he exuded the enthusiasm of a much younger man who was seeing his impossible dream materialize, his vision of making excellent products available to millions of folks just like him, at prices lower than any other retailers thought possible.
His vigor, his energy, his obvious delight at surprising customers with real bargains was contagious; he loved popping in, unannounced and unexpected, at some of his stores and meeting the folks shopping through the aisles and even waiting on them, setting the example for his startled employees and showing them how much fun it was to meet people's needs and to make them feel really appreciated.
Eventually, it became common knowledge that he drove a pickup truck, loved to hunt out in the fields with his beloved dogs, and that he was a devoted family man and deacon in his local Methodist church. A bunch of kids called him "Daddy," and he and his wife, Helen, lived an amazingly simple, ordinary life in little Rogers, Ark.
And man, he loved this country. He always looked for American-made products, and if he couldn't find an American manufacturer to supply his stores, he was known to actually help local suppliers expand, so that they could fill his massive orders.
Example: One day, he noticed that the baseball gloves he was marketing were made in the Far East. "Why is this?" he asked his product managers. "Baseball is an American game. Can't we find American-made baseball gloves?"
He personally contacted a manufacturer, in Oklahoma, I believe, and asked if his company could fill Wal-Mart's orders. The startled man told him, "Why, Mr. Sam, I'd love to. But I just don't have the capacity, the workers, to do what you need. I'd have to double or triple my equipment, hire more workers, spend more money than I have!"
Sam's response was, "Let me help you. I'll place my orders with you; I'll help you expand so that you can fill 'em. I want to sell American-made baseball gloves in my stores." And that's what they did.
And now the American phenomenon known as Wal-Mart has spread all over the world, to Germany, Mexico and now soon into India and China! Though some criticize the sales behemoth, Sam's relatively simple vision keeps growing: Buy in huge volume, shave the prices to the bone, and make good products available to the folks at bargain prices.
Why am I telling all this?
Well, I was asked by Neil Cavuto to join a panel on his show this week to discuss "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving, and the sudden fear expressed by much of the media that Christmas sales might be lower than expected, mainly because Wal-Mart reported same-store retail sales 0.1 percent lower than projected! The headline in USA Today was "Markets Pull Back on Fears of Slump."
And the article began, "U.S. stocks dropped the most in more than four months Monday after a falling dollar and a 'sales slump' at Wal-Mart heightened concern that an economic slowdown will curb holiday spending."
Sales slump? 0.1 percent less than projected giant sales? I asked Neil why he wanted me on the show, since I'm not a noted economist. He responded, "I want somebody that will have something positive to say."
And of course, that's what I did, most happily. I pointed out that Wal-Mart's online sales were up a reported 42 percent, so of course that might diminish store sales somewhat, but that online and store sales figured together added up to a whopping increase over previous years and any published projections! What "slump"?
And then USA Today reported, "Consumers spend 19 percent more over holiday weekend"! Further, they reported, "The unemployment rate was the lowest in five and a half years; employers are raising wages and increasing workers' hours. In October, average weekly earnings after adjusting for inflation rose 1.7 percent, the second consecutive monthly gain and the biggest increase in more than a decade"! What "slump" is anybody talking about?
But another story in the same paper, not prominently positioned, really rattled me. Our Ford Motor Company announced it's using all its north American plants, trademarks, patents and even some intra-company debt as collateral to secure $18 billion in loans to help fund the company's attempt at restructuring over the next two years! And General Motors is doing something similar, borrowing some $6.1 billion! These are our American giants, struggling because our fellow citizens are rushing to buy foreign products, succumbing to the marketing and discounts and fears of rising fuel prices.
I believe we need some more manufacturers – and customers – who think like Sam Walton. He figured out how to meet Americans' needs and desires, with American-made products. And his customers were, and still are, happy to buy American. (Admittedly, not even Sam and his successors have been able to sell only American-made products in this global economy, but this was always his desire and intent.)
And while I'm at it, I'm glad Wal-Mart is advertising "Christmas sales" this year, and not just meaningless, vapid "Holiday sales." Don't know about you. It's a free country, but if I see an attractive bargain offered in a store that's ashamed, or too intimidated, to refer to the season as "Christmas" – I'll find a store that knows what the season, the holiday, is about.
And I'll buy there, hopefully American!
Nice story about the baseball gloves. How many other American manufacturers received similar treatment from Walmart, I wonder.
That case highlights one problem with giant retailers like Walmart, their purchase orders are so large that only large manufacturers can supply them. And if a manufacturer raises output to fill their needs, then that manufacturer is placed in the position of relying on more orders to keep the increased plant and workforce busy. At that point, Walmarts' got them just where they want them.
Not always. Wal-Mart also caters to local tastes, and often stocks items that are only of interest to customers in a specific area (or even a specific store). This generates sales opportunities for even the smallest businesses.
Remember when we were being told that manufacturing wasn't all that important, that the USA would be even better, relying on the "SERVICE ECONOMY"? Now it's apparent that the wages paid for service work aren't so good.
Maybe the future belongs to "Process Servers".
Can you provide some examples?
And...can a small business get paid the same for its goods from Walmart, as it gets from small retailers?
- Sportsware with local team emblems (down to the high-school level)
- Souvenirs for local tourist attractions (postcards, mugs, coasters, etc.)
- Maps for local fishing holes and hunting areas
- Certain flowers/cacti/plants which only thrive in very specific parts of the country
- Certain ethnic foods (only sold in areas with large populations of that ethnicity)
IIRC, Methodists have Stewards; Baptists (and several others) have Deacons. But I never heard of a Methodist Deacon.
I have a friend who works for one of the largest Drug Store Companies in the U.S. and he says 90% of the non drug items they carry are from China. Sam is not the only one buying from China.
If you can't find many products made in America ask the environmentalists and the unions who drove business out of the country.
" i'm stressed trying to find ANYTHING "made in America" at my local Wal Mart now "
Your point overlooks alot of American companies that have products at Walmart,
Doritos, Coke, eggs, milk, Purina, ect.
Most of the food products are from America,
and the rest of the stuff I don't normally buy anywhere.
You have post a small statement with few words but, it explains volumes with Americas manufactures.
A lot of things at Walmart come from local suppliers, especially in the garden department. I wonder if there shouldn't be a patriotic buy American push on cars.
If you can't find many products made in America ask the environmentalists and the unions who drove business out of the country
You can still find many, many products made in America. They tend to be very high quality and the vast majority of Americans cannot afford them.
I can not think of Pat anymore without thinking of his ill-fated heavy metal album!
As soon as they step up quality control and produce a quality product.
Nice op-ed by one of America's nicest people. But I still can't get over his heavy-metal album and especially "Stairway to Heaven" which might be one of the funniest things in history. At first, I thought it was Tom Jones, which was hillarious, but then learned it was Pat, which made it insanely funny...
Note the "real story" about the -0.1% at Walmart.
Me too, but my stress is relieved by shopping elsewhere.
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