The good that Wal-Mart does
Tuesday September 2, 2008
Categories: Varia
People like me love to beat up on Wal-Mart, but let me say a word on the company's behalf today. I'm watching Gov. Bobby Jindal on TV right now, giving a lengthy and detailed briefing about the storm. I'm deeply...
Filed Under: Wal-mart
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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And let one of your left-leaning Democrat fans be among the first to second you. I'm not keen about everything WalMart either, but I do shop there for some of my staples, and they reliably come to bat in emergencies.
This has nothing with being a friend of those in need, Wal-Mart is going for the money. He who open first, gets the customers.
Wal-Mart still pays substandard wages and has no health benefits and will close rather than let their employees organize. Even if it was the only store in town, I would not shop there.
Uh, Scruffy--maybe if Wal-Mart was the only store in town and you shopped there, you could change your com name. No offense, I just got a kick out of the irony.
I actually like Wal-Mart. The mom and pops stores are usually dirty, with old cans and bad meat and less than charming service.
A lot of us feel this way towards megachurches, ie Rick Warren's in Socal, but suspect that he also has done a lot of good. Wasn't he instrumental is QUICKLY raising support of some kind to folks in Indonesia after their catastropic tsunami? Maybe it's the kind of action that only WalMarts and megachurches are positioned to do?
Scruffy,
You must have a short memory. After Katrina Wal-Mart officialy said to loot their stores. They gave managers at ground level in Katrina hit areas total leeway to break open stores, pharmacies and distribute supplies FREE OF CHARGE.
Besides, even if they charged, its not like they are price gouging to take advantage of the situation. They are still the cheapest place in town. That is who I personally would prefer to open first, especially in hazardous conditions like the aftermath of a hurricane.
Last winter when the majority of my state (yes my STATE) was without power due to an ice storm, WalMart did the same thing. In my small town where WalMart is the only grocery store in the area I have to say it was a godsend. It was a pretty impressive sight if you were on the highway coming in from Arkansas the day after the storm...a huge convoy of semi-carrying generators.
Rod,
It's bad down there. A hell of a rain band is now going into Baton Rouge, and the place could get several more inches of rain this afternoon.
The city, from what I read and hear, is a total mess. Worse than Betsy, officials say. WJBO has non-stop coverage, and some Internet connectivity (obviously, being that I'm listening on the Internet), but no phone service.
Little electricity in BR. Sheriff says he thinks power will be out for several weeks in some areas of the parish.
On the bright side, George's is open. Burgers . . . yummmmmm.
Back in 2003 or 2004 Richmond Va was hit by the remnants of a hurricane. Most of the town was without power for at least 10 days. My neighbor Super Walmart kept folks supplied with water, food and whatever was needed. their distribution system was amazing and their store employees did yeoman work keeping the shelves restocked. The trailer loads of water and ice were amazing. They had so much available that there was no pushing and shoving to get stuff. Folks saw that there was plenty and they behaved accordingly.
Their system knows what is needed most following such disasters and they are able to deliver in a timely manner.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/HurricaneRita/Story?id=1171087&page=1
sorry hit the submit button to quick. this story provides additional insight into how WalMart learns from disasters
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=170704702
this link takes you to a pdf file that explains what WalMart did following Katrina and Rita
http://walmartstores.com/download/2231.pdf
and here is the WashPost's story about heir efforts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090501598.html
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