Hmmm....strip clubs may have drunken, horny, younger skewing men - might need security, I can see that. Rock concert - younger skewing crowd on assorted drugs, I can see that. Shoppers of generally respectable backgrounds trying to save a few bucks....better keep an eye on them. WFY will happen in this nation if a real crisis ever occurs, upsetting the apple cart of our suburban sheeple entitlement mentality?
This was truly disgusting. They were advertising laptops for something like 369 dollars, the sort of machine that someone who isn't tech savvy would want. Also, this was a Walmarts, which means the patrons aren't totally flush with cash. Walmarts didn't lose a dime on these doorbusters. They get people in the door and Walmarts sells groceries, as well. Out all the retailers, only Walmarts is showing a profit, their stock trading in the low 50's to 60 dollar range. Most of the other retailers are in big trouble. Macy's had a terrible earnings report. Odd, there were no incidents at Circuit City, and they NEED the patronage, in the worst way, as they are only a few steps from chapter 11. Sorry, Walmarts is responsible. They are a very low end retailer offering highly desireable durable goods to a clientel that is hard pressed to feed themselves. They should have known. This is not the first time one of their employees met with tragedy.
I think it says a lot when there is a greater need for security and crowd management while shopping than at strip clubs and concerts. It says a lot, and nothing good.
I'm not sure how that alleviates the problem. I saw Nine Inch Nails play in Council Bluffs the other night. They had "no moshing no crowdsurfing" on display everywhere. Even on the damn wristbands. Guess how many people that stopped?
Responsible for being a smart business maybe. You say it yourself. Everyone else is in trouble. But Wal*mart is figuring out how to remain profitable during tough times. They're providing people "highly desirable durable goods" to people who, by your own admission, couldn't afford them elsewhere. God bless Wal*Mart and God bless the United States of America.
I don't understand why he was there in the first place. Yes it's sad that he died of course, but if you see a big mob of people you need to, you know, not stand in the way of it.
I am not sure what the store could have differently but one thing is definite in my mind about this... this should never have happened. Security footage should be anakyzed and if possible prosecution for murder to those responsible.
Another misunderstanding. I'm not saying I'm too good for Wal-mart. I shop there too. I'm not one to where 'the best' clothes, and certainly don't 'have to have' a brand name label. what I said was, specifically, those items that have a 'too good to be true' price are not worth that price. Period. They are not. Those items will stop working before New Years. Don't believe me? Go buy one next year and see what it gets you.
You are quite incorrect. Lots of the "too good to be true" items sold at Wal*Mart are decidedly worth the money. As others have pointed out, Wal*Mart sells "loss leaders", otherwise known as good quality merchandise sold at a loss in order to draw people into the store with the thought that, once there, they'll purchase more. My wife and I purchased one of your "guaranteed to be dead by New Years" DVD players for her mother, from Wal*Mart on Black Friday three years ago. Guess what? It's still running. As for the "dead by New Year's"....well, fortunately, Wal*Mart also has a good return policy for defective merchandise. If it dies before then, you can take it back for a refund or exchange.
Do they really? Then why is for every one 'mother-in-law' story, I have fifteen that says differently? I bought a couple of those dvd players a couple years ago. 4 actually. one for my bedroom, one for my son, one for the living room and one for my sister-in-law. By June the following year all four were dead. Some friends bought one of those thin, flat screen hdtvs - a wal-mart brand - it never worked and wal-mart still has refused to return the money - it's been tied up in court for two years now.
Meh. Interesting argument. This specific example isn't an issue for me since I don't recognise Walmart as an "individual" with "rights".
All the hand-wringing in this thread..... It's really very simple. Stores like Wal-Mart (and others) gleefully encourage this kind of mob scene. They openly embrace it, they brazenly egg it on. They fail to employ any kind of legitimate, effective security and/or crowd control. After creating this frenzy, they simply unlock the doors and let people flood in. The stores are 100% to blame. But as with everything else in this society, it will take a massive lawsuit that will drag on through the courts for several years before anything is changed. Liability risk is the only thing that corporations understand. And it's the job of the courts to impose that penalty on them.
Bullshit. 1) No one has friends that stupid. 2) Wal-Mart wouldn't tie it up in court over a TV. I've sold probabl at least an engine a month to Wal-Mart for the last two when their oil change hombres have done dumb things like not screw a filter on or actually replace oil when they do an oil change. Wal-Mart settles, as do most companies with money.
You're right. Probably not "court". But, rather legal negotiations and other crap like that that I have absolutely no interest in.
That's impossible. Everybody knows that if a company file for bankruptcy, all the employees are out of jobs and its places of business are boarded up. Occasionally, a hobo playing a harmonica will be stationed in front of a tattered "OUT OF BUSINESS" sign.
I have a $7 iron and a $7 toaster that I bought at Wal*Mart a year and a half ago. Both still work as advertises. And if they didn't, they've more than paid for themselves.
Most everything I buy there lasts. I was speaking specifically about the 'too good to be true' sale prices for their black friday sales. Why are you people not getting this?
Also true. I HAVE bought stuff that tore up incredibly fast....and I HAVE run through several consecutive exchanges. I once bought a wireless keyboard and mouse set that quit working in a month, took it back and exchanged it....that one started typing all "v"'s uncontrollably in like ten days and I exchanged it again...i made it to the fourth one until I got one that worked. But I only paid once. On the other hand I've bought phones and VCR's and DVD players and such there which last forever. Usually when I have crap like that keyboard I identify the manufacturer and avoid that company and I do okay.
I know what you mean. I very often find myself in the ignoble position of having to defend Wal-mart. If it's such a horrible rotten place that no one would have shop at, why are they doing so much business?
