May 22nd, 2010
It’s been over five years since I’ve seen the inside of a Wal Mart store and I hope to live the remainder of my natural life Wal Mart free. It’s been over 15 years since I visited a Sam’s (never been in a Costco…) and I’ll explain why in a future post, but for now I suggest you take a look at the blog post below and read through some of the hundreds of coments. Many, many folks now echo what I’ve been saying about Wal Mart for years…their fanatical zeal for lower prices comes with a price and that price is the loss of millions of good American manufacturing jobs and the destruction of entire domestic industries.
Remember, you too can live Wal Mart free !
Wal Mart Sales Down
Consumer Reports Trashes Wal Mart
March 13th, 2010
Folks are finally waking up and realizing that their local community matters, and that smaller really is better, and that the big box mega stores drain money out of their local economy.
The following web sites have a wealth of great content:
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) proposes a set of new rules that builds community by supporting humanly scaled politics and economics. The rules call for:
* Decisions made by those impacted
* Communities accepting responsibility for the welfare of their members and the next generation
* Households and communities possessing or owning sufficient productive capacity to generate real wealth
Big Box Tool Kit has the resources you’ll need to both beat the big box and to chart a new course for economic development in your community.
February 8th, 2010
I have a great deal of respect for our worthy big box competitors. In fact, they’re geniuses….the only problem is, they’re evil geniuses. They know how to rip people off while making them think they’re getting a great deal, but occasionally they get caught perpetrating their scams, deception and trickery and recently they have been getting caught a lot. Check out the links below to read more:
U.S. Communities contract terminated by Lee Co., Florida School District.
Audit says Office Depot overcharged taxpayers.
Missouri Judgement against Office Depot
States of Nebraska, Georgia, California, North Carolina…they all got ripped off by Office Depot.
Staples Overcharging and Mispricing on Georgia State Contract
SE Florida Better Business Bureau revokes Office Depot membership.
December 3rd, 2009
We are frequently asked how we could possibly compete against “The Big Guys” (meaning our local office products big box outlet). The answer is that we can more than compete, and the reason is pretty simple really: “The Big Guys” monthly utility bill is greater than our lease payment on two locations, our total monthly payroll, all of our insurance payments and our utility bill combined. I cringe to even think about what kind of montly rent they must be paying, but I’m sure it’s astronomical. Our low overhead and cost structure allows us to pass those savings along to our customers, and in addition, we don’t have to make Wall Street happy by hitting quarterly numbers. And believe it or not, through our national distribution partner and buying group, we have purchasing power that allows us to buy product at a price that is competitive with anyone and other than stock for our small retail store, we don’t buy anything until we have it sold…therefore we don’t tie up resources in slow moving inventory
The bottom line is this: there is simply no more expensive or inefficient method of distributing product than stacking it up in a climate controlled big box, brick and mortar store, then paying people to put it out, dust it and guard it while it sits on a shelf, and ultimately waiting and hoping for someone to come in, pick it up and buy it. The shopping mall and big box outlets are dying retail anachronisms that provide an unsustainable business model in an era when cyber-shopping is clearly starting to dominate the consumer landscape.
Our online ordering site Mosdirect.com offers price comparison features that allow us to match and beat our big national competitors.
July 18th, 2009
I know…I haven’t posted in a long time. Oh well, I’ve been busy and just forgot to do it. Here is what is on my mind: The economic collapse has changed retail forever…sure there are exceptions, like bottom feeder Wal Mart who has captured many new customers as they float down the economic scale, but the trend is clear that the Big Box operators are essentially doomed. The reason is simple: the Internet has won. Retail is simply too expensive and inefficient as a method of product distribution…items are stored in an expensive building, sitting on expensive real estate, with expensive utilities and requiring massive amounts of labor to maintain and transact this whole scenario. Not only that, but because of the power of the web, every potential retail customer knows the best price in the nation on any given item, and as mobile technology progresses, they can look up prices while they’re in the store. This means that high overhead retailers must try to compete on price with much more efficient operations…which of course they can’t do. The good news is that specialty and boutique resellers stand to gain, as people will be buying commodity products on the web, and will be looking for “social shopping” outlets and retail stores offering a unique experience.
Personally, I won’t miss the big box resellers….good riddance.
November 5th, 2008
This is funny…but not really…because unfortunately it’s true.
Big Box Mart by Jib Jab
Big Box Mart by JibJab