So all this Wal-Mart-screwing-with-the-economy stuff I've been going on about? Here's how it works:
Let me relay this story I heard recently from an old friend of mine who I hadn't seen in many years. He's employed, in management in fact, by a decent sized and well established Central Illinois manufacturer. He told me he no longer shops at Wal-Mart because [their] buying practices...directly burned his employer.
Here's what he says happened. His employer supplied Wal-Mart with a large number of the items they manufacture. In fact, Wal-Mart was a huge client of theirs. One day, Wal-Mart came to them and said they were, from now on, only going to pay a certain amount for the product. This was an amount significantly lower than what they had been paying. So, my friend's employer decided the only way they could afford to accept this new low amount was to relocate some of their operation to Mexico where wages were less costly. That's bad enough but it gets worse. Apparently, Wal-Mart got wind of the plan to move some of the manufacturing to Mexico and then came back, citing the lower Mexican manufacturing costs, and dictated an EVEN LOWER price to this manufacturer.
Questions? Comments?
