Not that we need signs of our economic crisis, but Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke made a chilling observation this week at an event talking about the company’s operations. Duke said his customers are simply “running out of money.”
The most chilling aspect of this statement is that Wal-Mart is not just the largest retailer but the store with a demographic that is most representative of the country’s economic profile. Wal-Mart averages 140 million shoppers weekly to its stores in just the United States alone.
Duke observed that the store is facing serious pressures because his “core consumers [are] under a lot of pressure.”
Source: CNN
Gas prices are not on the rise because of worldwide rising demand…at least not entirely so; not even mostly so. If that were the case, why did they go down after 2008? World demand suddenly abated? No. It is called speculation. This is dollars chasing higher yields, driving up the cost of fuel.
Don’t believe the hype.
Robert,
That was classic….I did not see it coming either….lol….
I’ll have to say I didn’t see that one coming . . .
This weeks tornados through the southern states were GODS wrath on the TEA PARTY. Will you tell the FEMA workers who come, bringing you FOOD and a place to SLEEP, about how you have paid enough TAXES and you don’t want HELP.
Will you not accept the LOW interest GOVERNMENT loans to help rebuild your HOMES.
Sam’s Club is owned by WalMart and it sells tires with guarantees. I spent $200 on tires yesterday at Firestone. My husband wanted to buy the tires at Blain’s, a Wisconsin chain, but I insisted we go to a national chain so we could get a warranty we could use in any state. We’ve all been trained to go to national chains.
raff:
“Have you taken the Lambo for a test ride yet??”
I think tom has his eye on a bigger fish.:=)
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=maybach+exelero&aq=4&oq=maybach
But you know on a broader scale this is why things are like they are,businesses are looking for suppliers that will deliver at a cheaper price,the corner store gets bypassed for the $1.00 store or a Walmart,in our area we have a $1.99 any garment cleaner the dry cleaner down the block is out of the mix.it goes on and on.
I’m quite sure you all know what I’m saying everybody looking to save.We just had toll collectors on our NJ Turnpike take a paycut,they say that with our ez pass system(electronic tollS,no collectors)it cost pennys to collect a toll,but with a human it cost about $1.15 to collect the same toll.
Just examples of why the worker and their wages will never be the same.
tomdarch,
from one Illinois resident to another, I agree it would be nice to see the Wealthy become less wealthy, but I suspect it won’t happen for awhile yet. Have you taken the Lambo for a test ride yet??
I must count myself in here also,for Swarthmore mom my wife is in total agreement with your statement:
“Swarthmore mom 1, April 29, 2011 at 11:37 am
Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar are taking customers from Walmart. Prices are cheaper.”
Maybe the race to the bottom is nearing the finish line. WalMart’s low wage scale pushes down all other wages. I saw in a video of one of Paul Ryan’s hometown meetings that the problem with the economy is that wages and benefits are too generous, impeding business growth… I suppose we can always bring back serfdom. Or did that already happen?
Easy fix … have them use cash … lots more of that is being “made” (printed) than money is being “made”.
Go ask Yogi when he is ten feet tall …
rc,
From one typo challenged typist to another, you are most welcome.
YOU ARE A VIRUS MAKER..!!!
..GO A HELL..
Buddha
Thanks for the comments. The question mark was a typo.
It’s a race between an engineered decline of one consumer block and the rise of others. In a global economy the people with the wealth can afford to engineer the decline of one nation to acquire greater wealth so long as another nation or consumer group arises to take up the slack. Consumers are workers.
I recall my high-school economics teacher being all giddy with the prospect of turning the Japanese, Koreans, Mexicans and, someday, even the Russians and Chinese into consumers for our goods. We would get their resources in trade. He was big on reciprocal engagement, low tariffs and manufacturing partnerships with other countries to develop a strong, well paid worker/consumer base in those other countries (that would buy our manufactured goods) because a rising tide lifts all boats”.
He didn’t anticipate that economic manipulation on that scale would, at some point, make almost any group of consumers (workers) expendable until the last frontier of consumers were developed and exploited. He thought that a wise government in harmony with big business would be in charge of the effort. He thought such a plan at some point, some generations from then, would turn America into a virtual utopia.
Bud,
The Clown is sooooo …. presidential, isn’t he? Golly, he’s such a class act.
He also railed on China last night and how “tough” he would be … but conveniently forgets that his own The Clown Men’s wear line is made in … I’ll give you a hint … it’s not the U.S. of A.!
Imagine – if both The Clown and Lush Limbaugh both closed their traps for even five minutes, it would go a long way in reducing global warming …
Swarthmore mom 1, April 29, 2011 at 9:36 am
Blouise, For some reasons, Americans think they are entitled to cheap energy.
You mean like this guy?
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/04/trump-loses-cool-over-saudis-and-fking-price-of-oil/
SwM,
“Blouise, For some reasons, Americans think they are entitled to cheap energy.”
=====================================
Sorry, I had to go out for awhile but you are quite correct when you use the word “entitled”.
Now, there is also the fact that with more and more fuel efficient vehicles coming out of Detroit less and less gas will be required. Greedy stockholders in oil companies can’t be expected to abide reduced dividends because Americans are buying less gas … time to get those prices up so the greedy little pigs can continue to enjoy their swill.
Martin Fitch
1, April 29, 2011 at 12:33 pm
I wonder how Lamborghini dealerships are doing these days, though?
——————————-
Like the one that opened at the “peak” of the recession a couple of blocks from my office? (it’s adjacent to the Michigan Ave. and Oak Street high-end shopping area here in Chicago.) They aren’t exclusively a Lambo dealer, but along with their Bently and Bugatti lines, they’re doing very well, thank you very much. If you’re in the mood for a new toy, they’ll gladly put you on the waiting list for a Veyron (US$2.6 million, 8 mpg city, 3 mpg at 200+ mph) I literally just heard the poorly muffled exhaust noise of an inadequate-genitalia-mobile as it drove down Oak Street.
For a while now, I’ve been using the term “short sighted” to describe a lot of these right-wing policies. It’s interesting to see the effects of these policies biting the right-wing profiteers in the ass.
all I can think of is the Simpsons episode where they go to the 66 cent and 33 cent stores
“The 99cent store is for Elitists!”