Save Money…Live Better?

Walmart, previously know as Wal-Mart or even Wallyworld, recently changed its slogan from “Always Low Prices. Always.” to “Save Money. Live Better.” Having recently read the wonderfully written The Wal-Mart Effect, as well as having seen “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price,” I started wondering about Walmart’s new slogan. “Save Money. Live Better.” Sounds good in theory. But does shopping at Walmart really result in saving money or living better?

Save Money. Does Walmart really save people money? Sure, the products that it sells are cheaper than those found at Target or many other stores, but given that the quality is often quite poor, it’s quite reasonable to wonder whether people end up spending more on replacement items because the initially cheap Walmart item became unusable so quickly. Anecdotally, I know of a lot people who go into Walmart with a list of things to buy, but end up walking out with quite a few impulse buys thanks in part to the layout of the store and the prices of the items. Did any of them really save money? That’s questionable at best. And there’s the workers. Not just the workers who are directly employed by Walmart and earn less than poverty level in spite of working full time. I’m wondering about the workers whose jobs were either shipped overseas or eliminated all together by the juggernaut-that-Sam-Walton-created. People whose businesses were forced to close, whose livelihoods were ended. I doubt very much that they are saving money.

Live Better. Who is living better? Is Joe Schmo down the street living better because he has a brand-new, crappily made flat-screen tv? I doubt it. Walmart feeds our materialism, our need to accumulate more and more stuff. Suddenly, instead of having to save up and plan in order to buy new things, doing the research to find the best product at the best price, we can buy cheap electronics and toys imported (from China predominantly) without nary a second thought about whether we actually need or can afford said product. It’s so cheap, so why not? Is this a good thing? Is this living better? Hard to make a definite or accurate conclusion about this, but more than likely, no, it’s not living better. Focusing so much on the materials, on the stuff, leaves us little time or attention to focus on other things like family. Like society. Like the fact that the Walmart way is built on the backs of workers halfway around the world who could never in a million years afford the products they are making and shipping to the United States.

It’s interesting that one of Walmart’s clothing brands is called Faded Glory. I’ve remarked to the Mister on more than one occasion that Faded Glory is a pretty crappy name for a clothing line. I mean, come on, Faded Glory makes you think of a run-down, desolate small town in the middle of nowhere. Not exactly the inspiration for buying clothing, right? But, perhaps, in the Walmart world, calling the clothes Faded Glory was an optimistic substitution for the real truth of the matter: No Glory. After all, how many Americans have lost factory jobs because of Walmart’s relentless pursuit of lower prices, causing companies to move manufacturing overseas? How many people work in barely humane conditions for a mere pittance in a far away so that Walmart can sell remarkably low-priced apparel? Walmart branding one of their clothing lines “Faded Glory” would be like Heidi Fleiss saying she’s merely in the service industry.

I’m not saying that Walmart is evil or greedy. It’s a corporation and its corporate culture appears to be centered around providing consumers with low prices. At any cost. So focused on the bottom line that everything else is lost along the way.

I have to admit that until recently, I was an enthusiastic Walmart consumer. Lower prices were just awesome. Sure, the fresh produce was terrible, but it was cheap! And yeah, a lot of the products, whether electronic or furniture, were absolute crap, but it was cheap! And sure, parking and navigating the store itself was an exercise in frustration, but everything was cheap! And the employees always appeared miserable and unwilling to help, but everything was cheap! So, I continued to shop there. But after our recent move, the nearest Walmart is 11 miles away. Suddenly, my daily or every other day trip to Walmart had to be put off to a weekly trip. I had to start buying last minute needs at other stores. And more and more, I began to realize how much different things were at other stores, both local and national-chain, in comparison to Walmart. Workers, for the most part, at other stores actually smiled and were helpful. The items at other stores, while relatively more expensive, seemed of better quality, especially the food. I started to dread, more and more, the weekly trip to Wallyworld. It became the last stop, the dreaded stop, that anchored my weekly shopping run. The news stories about Walmart, the effect it was having on the areas it moved into, as well as worker lawsuits, environmental concerns – a whole laundry list of issues - started to penetrate my consciousness. I began to realize that my saving a couple of bucks a week at Walmart was costing others far, far more. And that was something I was not prepared to continue. I made my last Walmart run approximately 2 weeks ago – I really hope it was my last. A clearer conscience, even with a lighter wallet, is a much better way to live.