Northern Star Online, IL
04-11-06
Wal-Mart is bad for business
Article by: Henry Kraemer
Opinion Columnist
• hkraemer@northernstar.info
In towns across America, windows are boarded up. These little hamlets, many of
which are in the Midwest, look like ghost towns. The mom-and-pop grocery
stores which once embodied America's heartland are now dark and empty.
"For Rent" signs are taped to the insides of windows, replacing food prices and
friendly greetings.
Where are the shoppers? There are still residences in these towns, though they
now seem more dilapidated. People are surely still buying groceries. So what
keeps shoppers out of these quaint, historical stores? The answer lies a few
blocks down the road, at the local Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart has started a campaign to improve its image. This comes shortly after a
Zogby poll found 59 percent of Americans consider Wal-Mart "bad for America."
In response to this sentiment and to such investigative films as "Wal-Mart: The
High Cost of Low Prices," the corporation has hired a team of new public
relations executives to improve its public persona.
As part of this campaign, Wal-Mart flooded the media with its plan to open stores
in urban neighborhoods. It claims these new stores will bring jobs to struggling
areas. Since such plans have barely made a difference in the past, the new
proposition might exist only to sway public opinion.
Since Wal-Mart's inception in 1962, it has slowly driven its competition out of the
market. It holds a near-monopoly over the retail industry. No competitor comes
close to its revenue and influence. Until recently, it was the richest corporation in
the world, only surpassed this year by ExxonMobil.
As students, we can't ignore the positive aspects of Wal-Mart. The company
offers cheap goods, often the only sort we can afford. But this was not always the
case. Not so long ago, students did their shopping at local businesses.
At least they did until the stores had to close, bested by Wal-Mart's incontestably
low prices. Professor Kenneth Stone of Iowa State University found small
towns - not unlike DeKalb - "lose up to 47 percent of their retail trade after 10
years of Wal-Marts opening nearby."
Ten years may sound like a while to us, but in the life of a town, it's nothing. That
huge of a revue loss can devastate a little economy. Local businesses are forced
to close, so the town loses much of its character and often some of its
population. Business owners leave in search of new work. The community
dissolves. You don't have to look too far to see this. Often times, it seems DeKalb
is little more than Sycamore Avenue with a tail.
In a 2004 study at University of California, Berkley, it was concluded Wal-Mart's
low wages and poor benefits put a heavy strain on the economy, costing
California taxpayers an extra $86 million.
This suggests the potential impact on Illinois' economy. As immigrant workers
continue to come here, our economy will more and more resemble California's.
Many of these workers are poor and may very well seek employment at stores
like Wal-Mart.
Since Wal-Mart's workers often live below the poverty line and cannot afford
company insurance, government subsidies are created to provide necessary
health care. Those subsidies are financed by taxes - money from your pocket.
When we feel extra poor, it's difficult to avoid buying the cheapest goods
possible.
But soon enough, we will be graduates, working at jobs that pay much better
than our present ones.
With a little extra money in our pockets - it doesn't have to be much - we can
invest in our community by avoiding such companies as Wal-Mart.
Buy local. It can only help.