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I don't know MikeyToo...you could probably just look up walmart.com and look at the picture on their home page...that is pretty much what they ALL look like anyway...LOL...Kidding. I'm glad Bottineau is getting one. I know people always trash them, but they have everything you need under one roof.
I don't know MikeyToo...you could probably just look up walmart.com and look at the picture on their home page...that is pretty much what they ALL look like anyway...LOL...Kidding. I'm glad Bottineau is getting one. I know people always trash them, but they have everything you need under one roof.
I read a recent article in one of the Minot papers about Bottineau saying that the Kanuks are buying anything/everything they can in Bottineau because of the currency difference. From used cars to just about anything in the grocery stores, even Pamida has mentioned an increase in traffic from our neighbors to the north. Seems there are always minus/plus when it comes to these exchange rates. The opening of the new Wal-mart should add to the Bottineau economy, hence an improvement in the local tax base. I'm wondering if larger cities like Grand Forks that are situated not far from Canada are also reaping the increased traffic flow from the Canadian shopper.
Having grown up in the rural Midwest and experienced the arrival of Wal MArt, all I can say is good luck. Withing several years the downtown was nearly emptied with everyone going out of business with only a movie theatre, optomestrist, and antique stores open. The economy has been severely crippled and now even all the towns antique stores have closed. If you think about it, most of the money Walmart makes is piped out of the town (and state) and as a result there is less money circulating in the community. What a shame, but Midwestern folks seem to be more complacent in regards to Walmart unlike like places here in California where mass campaigns and protests take place to keep Wal Mart out
I read a recent article in one of the Minot papers about Bottineau saying that the Kanuks are buying anything/everything they can in Bottineau because of the currency difference. From used cars to just about anything in the grocery stores, even Pamida has mentioned an increase in traffic from our neighbors to the north. Seems there are always minus/plus when it comes to these exchange rates. The opening of the new Wal-mart should add to the Bottineau economy, hence an improvement in the local tax base. I'm wondering if larger cities like Grand Forks that are situated not far from Canada are also reaping the increased traffic flow from the Canadian shopper.
In answer to your question about Grand Forks....oh yes we are seeing a very large higher than normal influx of canadian shoppers as winnipeg and its pop of over 600,000 is only 2 hours away (well not including border stop). Places like Target, Kohls, Old Navy, and others are majority Canadian sometimes of the day from looking in the parking lots. But it's good news as most of us welcome Canadians....and Grand Forks and the new CanadInn Hotel and Resort is marketed strongly to Winnipegers.
Having grown up in the rural Midwest and experienced the arrival of Wal MArt, all I can say is good luck. Withing several years the downtown was nearly emptied with everyone going out of business with only a movie theatre, optomestrist, and antique stores open. The economy has been severely crippled and now even all the towns antique stores have closed. If you think about it, most of the money Walmart makes is piped out of the town (and state) and as a result there is less money circulating in the community. What a shame, but Midwestern folks seem to be more complacent in regards to Walmart unlike like places here in California where mass campaigns and protests take place to keep Wal Mart out
Well, I presently live on the Central Coast of California, moving back to ND next summer and I have seen/read first hand about Wal Mart at least in this area of California. Yes, there have been many attempts in various areas on the central coast to keep Wal Mart out, but most attempts have failed because new Wal Mart's keep springing up. I will not go to Wal Mart (my wife will) because everything is in such disorder when I have been there. I prefer Target because there merchandise is of better quality than Wal Mart. For the every day products that you can get almost anywhere else, Wal Mart is okay I guess. Hopefully the Wal Mart in Bottineau will be more orderly.
I had first hand experience in selling products to Wal Mart. I use to be a designer for a small electronic appliance company in the Minneapolis area. We sold food dehydrators, jet-stream ovens, bread machine, etc.. Selling to Wal Mart was a real challange, as Wal Mart buyers want you to almost give the products to them for FREE. They say, well if you don't sell to us for the price THEY have in mind, they will find someone else. Well, guess what, we almost gave the products to them with very littler profit so we can get our Name exposed. What a way to run a company... But, that is why they can sell so cheaply because product for product its hard to compete with them. The consumer is still the winner in the end. So, yes, Wal Mart is good and bad at the same time. Hopefully for Bottineau, it will be a good thing. Only time well tell..
I sometimes think it is unfair for people to criticize rural states like ND when they embrace companies like Wal-mart for accepting them into their communities. You have to remember a small town in California is MUCH different than a samll town in North Dakota. In California, a small town still has a large population within a few miles of each little town to support their post office, along with antique shops, coffee shops, etc... and shopping options are much more accessible ( few miles down the road to the next town and local stores) compared to ND small towns, where the next closest small town could be 50 miles away, and a large enough town with a large grocery store could be 100 miles or more. A small town in ND is lucky to have a school or post office, let alone a store. When wal-mart comes into a small town that does not provide the selection and prices the current small town stores can provide, you can't blame and expect the locals to spend their money on the store that charges 1/3 more for the same product that they can get cheaper at Wal-mart...selections and variety in small mom-pop stores are limited also. It is nice if you can support your local stores, but when you don't have any local stores in your town to support(and if they do exist, these stores have to or want to charge more because they know they can) wal-mart is a welcome site for many small town folks. Example, a ND town of 2,000 people might have a small grocer, furniture store, barber shop, hair dresser, bar and restaurant, but the local variety store may carry only a couple blenders, limited number of toys, hardware, etc... and charge lots of money for them. Many times you can drive 100 miles and shop and still save money than buy local. I think wal-mart coming into rural areas is a god send to the locals, but people from larger areas cringe (but they forget they have the Targets, K-marts, etc... to also choose from that might not be in their town, but only 10 miles away in another town). We in the small towns are just happy to be able to go into a store and find what we need for a reasonable price, without having to drive 100 miles to the Minots, BIsmarcks, Willistons, etc... to get variety for less.
I am of two minds about Wal Mart.
Yes a truly rural community has limited resources, and Wal Mart provides a greater selection. It also attracts other big-box stores and growth. WalMart has a highly sophisticated locating system; they utilize not only Janus marketing studies and projections, but their own. Where they locate, you can expect growth. Sometimes the local stores are higher priced, too, and are run out of business because they simply cannot compete with WalMart's mass marketing ability. WalMart does provide mass employment for depressed areas, but the salaries are lower than they promise initially. Also, their insurance rates are so high that many people simply cannot afford them.
I worked for the local WalMart in our rural area. I started as a part time night cashier and quickly became manager of the Garden/Christmas Department. Since I have an affinity for plants as well as Christmas, the fit was ideal for me - I thought. However, WalMart wastes so much and is so purely about corporate profit that they handicap themselves. They prefer to fire folk rather than use a little thought process to make scheduling work for everyone. They demand overtime work from their employees - not just during the usual rush seasons (which everyone understood) but constantly, and would use every trick in their arsenal to not pay the overtime wages. They played favorites - and not to the hardest working and most dedicated members of my staff, but to those of political correctness. Finally, when I was ordered to do some very dangerous work without any protection, and became injured, they refused to take me to the ER but took me to their own doctor instead, where he claimed I was able to go back to work. I went to my own doctor who referred me to an ortho surgeon who treated me at my own expense - and I was demoted and threatened with firing for "refusing" to work. I had three torn ligaments.
That plus the fact that, during the 'wheat gluten' recall in the animal food products, WalMart refused to pull the poisoned dog and cat food from the shelves for over three weeks.
I am all about capitalism, but WalMart is all about money. Their fruits and vegetables as well as their flowers are of the lowest quality possible. They are all about quantity, not quality. They believe it is better to provide a cheap product with built-in obsolescence that might last a year, maybe two, and then you will have to come back and buy another. This way they have repetitive business. People simply do not understand (WalMart is now aggressively going after the 'green' market) that when you fill landfills with cheap products, and buy more cheap products, you are not protecting the environment, and you are crippling your personal economy over time.
The straw that broke this camel's back was when WalMart sent a "Merry Christmas" letter to all employees from Sam Walton's son, thanking all of the people who worked for minimum wage in his stores for putting $5 million dollars into his personal pocket that year. Sam had to be spinning in his grave so fast he had to hold on to the handles to keep from getting dizzy.
Last edited by SCGranny; 11-19-2007 at 06:48 AM..
Reason: addition
Granny, that was such an informative post. I have friends who worked for Walmart and your story seems to match some of the things they've said. They basically have no respect or consideration for any of their employees. I remember one gal who worked over in Mn. and was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her twin grandchildren in SD. She saved every hour of vacation that she could as soon as she knew they were on the way. Of course, she was excited so it was no secret to management. Well, the babies came and she asked for her vacation. They wouldn't let her go even though she had earned it and was eligible for it. They told her, "You'll take your vacation when WE say you can have it." She was devastated cause I honestly believe she is the type of person who was an excellent employee.
THEN the last Sat. before Christmas in 2006, we learned that a few Walmart stores had received bomb threats. Our local store was one of them. As everyone was working and the store was filled with shoppers, they noticed the police dept., detectives, etc. going through shoe boxes and scanning through the entire store. They tried to keep it quiet, but it later came out that our store manager had received a bomb threat. Of course it went back and forth as to who was to blame for not evacuating the store. Management said it was the higher- ups and the higher-ups said they leave it up to local management. Anyway, long story short~it seemed that they had no concern for their employees or the many Christmas shoppers that were in the store at the time. Their only concern was getting all that money from sales.
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Death by Wal Mart
But, that is why they can sell so cheaply because product for product its hard to compete with them. The consumer is still the winner in the end. So, yes, Wal Mart is good and bad at the same time. Hopefully for Bottineau, it will be a good thing. Only time well tell..
