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attention walmart shoppers
Attention: Wal-Mart Shoppers
“You are making the choice”

Attention: Wal-Mart Shoppers
Navigating through the aisles of a local Wal-Mart Supercenter, shoppers are making choices of one of those “Great Values”, could they be sacrificing a hometown business to save some money? Ask yourself: are you contributing to the national medical crisis of obesity, is that great bargain an environmental nightmare, or is buying that pork chop you are potentially eliminating a much needed job in a meat packing plant? Consumers are making or contributing to just these very decisions daily, through what is purchased and whom it is purchased from. The tides are changing in the retail grocery business and the once vilified Wal-Mart is the leader and standard-bearer of these changes. Critics have long accused Wal-Mart of changing our local economies, bringing in lower paying jobs, effecting our health and reducing our property values, yet there is little recognition for any of the innovations that have also accompanied those claims. Consumers have reached a crossroads where the good may outweigh the evil. This is a conundrum that is argued on many levels daily, from Washington D.C to rural America, across socio-economic boundaries, and equally passionate on both sides. There is only fact that is for certain, the outcome will have long lasting effects on us all.
It has long been accepted that when Wal-Mart speaks the world will listen, even more so now after their entrance into the grocery retailing arena. The arrival of a Wal-Mart into a community has far reaching effects on that community, its residents, and the consumers who shop their stores. This arrival into grocery retailing has also changed Wal-Mart itself. Corporate image, capabilities, and responsibilities have all been altered as well as the company’s core business model, which was responsible for its meteoric rise to the top of the retailing world.
Wal-Mart has singlehandedly



References: Blattberg , R., Hansan, K. & Singh, V. (2007) Wal-Mart supercenter versus the traditional supermarket, Chicago, Il, Kellogg School Management at Northwestern University. Basker, E. & Noel, M. (2008) The evolving food chain: Competitive effects of Wal-Mart’s Entry into the supermarket industry Grocery delivery. Forbes, Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ups/2013/09/13 Ellickson, P.B., & Grieco, P.L.E., (2012) Density versus differentiation: The impact of Ettinger, J. (2012, March 28). Hey Wal-Mart: Why don’t you RAISE your food prices instead of lowering them $1 billion? Organic Authority, Retrieved from http://www.foxbusiness.com/2013/09/07 Food First, (2010, September 1) did your know that Wal-Mart’s controls more than a 30% share in 44% of major U Fowler PhD. C., (2102) The economic impact of a Wal-Mart store in the skyway neighborhood of south Seattle Huber, B. (2011, September 14) Wal-Mart’s fresh food makeover. The Nation, Retrieved from http://www.thenation.com/print/article/163396/2013/09/07 Humes, E. (2011) Force of Nature: The unlikely story of Wal-Marts green revolution. New York, NY, Harper-Collins. Martens, B.J., Dooley, F. & Kim, S. (2006) The effect of entry by Wal-Mart supercenters on retail grocery concentration. Long Beach, CA. American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting. Mitchell, S. (2011, December 30). Eaters beware: Wal-Mart is taking over our food system [Web blog post] Retrieved from http:// www.grist.org/2013/09/05 Mitchell, S. (2013, March 29). Wal-Mart’s death grip is making life worse of millions of people. [Web blog post] Retrieved from http:// www.truth-out.org/2013/09/05 Mustich, E., (2012, February 22) Wal-Mart’s war on the American foods system. Salon. Worst Nightmare”, Time, 7 August, 2013 Retrieved from http://www.business.time.com 2013/08/07

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