Wal-Mart plans $50 billion "buy American" push

[Redfairen]

Source: Reuters

Wal-Mart Stores Inc will buy an additional $50 billion in U.S.-made products over the next decade in areas like sporting goods and high-end appliances in what the world's largest retailer called a bid to help boost the U.S. economy.

.......

Wal-Mart said the plan to buy more U.S.-made goods is an effort to create U.S. jobs and spur economic growth. Critics countered that the company and other retailers could help the economy by paying better wages and offering workers more regular hours.

.......

The moves received a cool reception from critics who claimed Wal-Mart does not pay its workers enough and slammed the retailer for selling too many goods made in lower-cost countries like China. The company is also under pressure over its sourcing practices, particularly after a deadly fire at a Bangladesh factory that made Wal-Mart clothes.

Wal-Mart's U.S. unit says about two-thirds of the goods it buys for its stores are made, sourced from or grown in the United States, citing data from its suppliers. It did not give a dollar amount for how much it pays for those goods, or what percentage the increased domestic sourcing would bring.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/15/us-walmart-us-idUSBRE90E0MB20130115?feedType=nl&feedName=usdai

[niyad]

1. hmm, perhaps if they hadn't outsourced all their manufacturing to other countries, they would

not have to have a "buy american" push. they could even pay their workers a decent salary, not lock them in, not have them work off the clock, etc., etc.

I don't care what they do, have not set foot in a wal-mart in over 17 years, don't ever plan to, either.

[kestrel91316]

8. I've only been to Walmart 4 times in my life, and I'm 55. And I don't think I've spent more than

about $50 there, total. And that was almost entirely on loss leaders, lol.

I hope to never set foot in one again.

[DissidentVoice]

22. My opinion of Walmart is unchanged

I have not made a purchase at Walmart in well over five years.

I have not entered a Walmart in almost four years.

I had a classmate in college who worked at Walmart. The horror stories you've heard about the way they treat their associates - they're all true, and then some, according to my classmate.

This is nothing more than "grandstanding" on behalf of Walmart and does not change my opinion of them one iota.

My opinion of them, and my continuing individual boycott, will not change until, at bare minimum, they allow their workers the choice on whether to organise or not.

[Populist_Prole]

2. A day late and a dollar short

Especially galling since they more or less wrote the book on squeezing suppliers to chase the cheapest labor, which gutted the working class....their customers.

I'll bet their "Buy American" will be defined so broadly that all a item has to do is have a US based ( read: paper pushers ) operation.

Sorry for the surly...but my ass is chapped by the whole issue.

[freshwest]

17. I agree - it's likely to be a scam. Someone like the groups watching them may report back.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

36. My mother worked for a company that...

supplied WalMart with some of their sunglasses. This was in the late 80s/early 90s when they had their original Buy American push. Her job? Remove the Made In Mexico sticker and replace it with a Made In The USA one. A scam if I've ever seen one.

[freshwest]

37. Oh wow. I remember the original 'Buy American' WalMart. Back then it wasn't hard to find USA made.

It was a major selling point for people to go to WalMart. So they were lying even back then. Disgusting. Thanks for the info.

[Ellipsis]

3. Big Woo... That translates to 5 Billion a year over 10 years. They spend 262 Billion annually now.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

19. ^this^

approximately 2%.

[DollarBillHines]

51. It will all be produce

Nasty effing produce, at that.

[Ellipsis]

54. milk

[DollarBillHines]

55. That's it

From bankrupt dairies

[Canuckistanian]

4. Too little, too late

Walmart bears responsibility for the destruction of the American Middle class.

But carry on with your PR campaign.

[RiverSong]

6. Unfortunately it will work on the lowest common denominator, which is what they intend anyway. nt

[Canuckistanian]

9. Yup

Welcome to DU, BTW

[OswegoAtheist]

39. Same with their "hiring veterans" PR stunt

WalMart stands to get ~$7000 in tax breaks per veteran hired, for 100,000 vets (assuming 100K vets apply) over 10 years. That's about 1 vet for every 7 stores each year, but the sheer numbers look great in a headline.

Oswego "also, love the user name and avatar " Atheist

[customerserviceguy]

15. My thoughts exactly

I will never go into one of them again, haven't been for a very long time.

[Sherman A1]

30. Precisely

Well Said!

[alp227]

5. CYA evasive PR.

[appleannie1]

7. Sam started out 'ALL AMERICAN' It was his greedy offspring that went to Chinese and India products.

[Art_from_Ark]

42. I think the problem really started

when Wal-Mart was listed on the stock exchange and became hostage to Wall Street.

[Wellstone ruled]

10. How about all those ex-G.I.'s at

8 bucks per hour. All done with Government subsides. Give us a break,do these twits really think we will buy this charade.

[Tikki]

11. Means more proprietary items...which I would never buy from Wal*Mart.

Pay your workers a real wage and give them health benefits......Make that your USA FIRST message.


Tikki

[primavera]

12. This from the undisputed king of third world sweatshop production

I suppose it's a step in the right direction, but since MalWart has built its empire killing American jobs, it's hard to imagine these guys, of all people, being genuinely concerned about the US workforce.

[DainBramaged]

13. .....

[liberal N proud]

14. When Sam was alive, the used to promote locally made products in their stores.

Space inside the front door featured and noted products made in the community where the store was located.

Once Sam was gone, everything about WalMart changed.

[niyad]

20. you do remember that dear old sam managed for years to get out of paying even minimum wage,

using the "small business exemption" and then went to court to try to keep doing it? the man was nothing but blood-sucking scum--the only thing that changed when he died was it got worse.

. . . .



Walton was good at playing "modest" despite the fact that he was the richest man in America when he died in 1992. But he achieved success by making sure that other people--especially the clerks, cleaners, truck drivers and other workers who make Wal-Mart run--didn't.

Walton admitted as much in his autobiography. "In the beginning, I was so chintzy I really didn't really pay my employees very well," he said. "We really didn't do much for the clerks except pay them an hourly wage." The "beginning" has lasted over four decades now.

Mr. Sam did everything he could to avoid paying even the minimum wage. The Labor Department investigated Walton for his illegal practice of using a "small business" exception to the minimum wage. When the Labor Department ruled against him, he sued in federal court to keep paying his workers below the minimum wage. Fortunately, he lost.

In the 1960s, the first attempts were made to organize Walton's workers--by the Retail Clerks Union, one of the forerunners of the present-day United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW). Connie Kreyling, a worker at the Mexico, Mo., Wal-Mart, was fired for trying to organize a union, and fought for two years to get her job back.

. . . . .

http://www.ncrp.org/news-room/news-2005/399-the-horrible-house-of-walton

[xtraxritical]

26. I was an Auditor for the Retail Clerks Union in the late '60s early '70s.

[liberal N proud]

32. But he also made a lot of cashiers in those days retire as millionaires

Through the stock programs and other incentives.

Working for WalMart at those times was like working in a family. It was a completely different atmosphere and the management cared for their employees.

[niyad]

35. please cite actual stats for that

[Selatius]

41. Pretty shitty family if you ask me, paying below minimum wage. nt

[patricia92243]

16. Many, many times, "made in USA" means assembled in USA. Was actually manufactured in China, etc.

I have found it very difficult to buy things actually manufactured in USA. Lot of things say they are made here, and when I get the details - they say "imported."

[Left Coast2020]

28. Exactly. Gap and Hillfinger made pants in Saipan which is U.S. territory

But not offical state. Stayed in the Pacific Island Club (1999) directly across street from this sweatshop paying crap per hour. I've written about this here before.

Wal-Fart? Can't trust them as far as I can throw them. No crediblity with me whatsoever.

[matt819]

18. what a joke

Walmart's annual sales are in the neighborhood of half a trillion dollars. With average annual purchases of $5 billion and assuming, let's say, a 20% markup, that would be an additional $6 billion in sales of American-made goods, for the "huge" percentage increase of roughly 1.2% in American-made goods.

Sure, this may be good news for some American suppliers, but it's jack-shit overall. To say nothing of what happens to American suppliers who are then forced to cut costs and destroy their quality and reputation to meet Walmart's price demands.

Thanks, but no thanks.

[diane in sf]

21. If Walmart is concerned about the economy, they should pay their workers living wages.

[OneMoreDemocrat]

23. Sorry I can't add a bitchy Walmart post...

Good for them.

$50 Billion is going to add a lot more to the economy than a bunch of people snarking over their keyboards will I bet.

[Sherman A1]

31. Well,

The article states that one of the areas included in this push is sporting goods. One wonders just how much of that category will be guns?

[hatrack]

45. As noted both above and below, 2% of their purchases

Get a grip, please.

[brentspeak]

49. I don't detect a pattern here

Nope, no pattern at all.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021867720#post3

OneMoreDemocrat (853 posts)
3. Not entirely accurate...

Thu Nov 22, 2012, 12:28 PM

What's missing from most of these screeds is that Walmart doesn't just sell crap. Hundreds of companies from Kraft to Disney to Johnson & Johnson fall all over themselves to get their products into Walmart stores.

It is easier to demonize Walmart (it makes you super cool and Progressive), than to look at the whole picture and to spread the blame around to all of the guilty quarters.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022199649#post28

OneMoreDemocrat (853 posts)
28. Eh, doesn't your knee get tired from all of the jerking it has to do...

Wed Jan 16, 2013, 08:50 PM

Until YOU can do something to employ Veterans maybe you should be happy that someone is doing SOMETHING besides sniping from behind their keyboard.

Good for Walmart, good for Veterans.

(In response to the thread, "How Walmart Helped Make Newtown Shooter's AR-15 the Most Popular Assault Weapon in America"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2015874

OneMoreDemocrat (853 posts)
5. Whew...

Mon Dec 17, 2012, 09:06 PM

Thank God someone is here to place the blame in the right place.

I figured Walmart would be named before too long.

People want guns, Walmart sells them...I doubt very much it's the other way 'round; but whatevs.

[PSPS]

24. $50 billion/10 years = 2% of their purchases. And ask Vlasic how being in a Walmart "helps business"

What they should do is pay their workers more. The last I heard, part of their orientation for new employees was instructing them how to apply for public assistance.

[jsr]

25. Exactly. 98% still made in China.

[KurtNYC]

46. Yes. An average $5 bil out of $446 bil annually

I wonder if this isn't less than they already buy? 2% of what's on the shelves?! 2% ?? Considering that most paper products are made here -- diapers, paper towels, etc. that should be 2% right there.

I wonder if there are stores in China that average 2% American-made product.

[JDPriestly]

29. I wonder how they will define "made in the U.S.}?

And I wonder how much of the goods they claim are made in the U.S. are food products? That doesn't really count.

[Earth_First]

33. A few end cap products...big deal

It doesn't escape the fact that Wal Mart is vehemently opposed to the US worker.

[malthaussen]

34. Thought they'd already bought America. n/t

[cbrer]

38. How about some health care, assholes?

Shipping prices must have gone up. This is a marketing ploy pure and simple. Walmart always has one objective.

Period!

[underpants]

40. "Made in America' WAS the Walmart motto -try finding an image on the internet

$50 billion over 10 years is ....yeah this is tough $5B a year. They buy $260B a year so this would be about 3% of their buying.

[Drahthaardogs]

43. If they do this, pay above minimum wage, and offer their employees some benefits

I might consider shopping there.

[hatrack]

44. Too late!

It's not just that Wal-Fucking-Mart remains the industry standard for outsourcing jobs and buying cheap Chinese crap, and has been for 30 years and more now.

It's that their bullshit is oh-so-transparent. Like they're ever going to be believed on a PR move like this. It is to laugh.

[lynne]

47. In Hawaii they have an area for locally made items -

- it's been that way for at least the past 7 years. An area of the store was devoted to island made items. Large selection and great prices. Not sure if they do that in other regions but it's the best place to get souvenirs when in the islands.

[samsingh]

48. they must be in trouble

[Incitatus]

50. WOW! 5 billion a year! What's that like 1% of their annual sales?

[Sekhmets Daughter]

52. What crap....

$5 billion a year is a drop in the bucket...

[eilen]

53. Made in a prison is still Made in America. http://www.scprisonindustries.com/ NT