Shoppers throng to Target openings

[Dos Equis]

Small break from all the doom and gloom. 

Shoppers throng to Target openings
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer

Just wait until the GRAND opening.

Target stores in Kapolei and Salt Lake held soft openings this morning — to huge throngs of waiting shoppers.

At Kapolei, more than 1,800 people made their way through the doors in the first half hour.

Within 15 minutes, an entire rack of Alexander McQueen dresses had disappeared.

"I have run a lot of Targets (on the Mainland), but I have never seen this level of energy," Kapolei store manager Jon Radtke said.

"This was supposed to be a soft opening, but it's more like a grand opening."

Within an hour of opening, all 600 parking stalls were filled and all 500 shopping carts were in use.

Rachel James, 25, of Wahiawa was there with her 2-year-old daughter Safiyyah.

She said she was doing her part to help the economy.

"I'm buying things I don't need," she said.

James, whose husband Nykita is an Army staff sergeant deployed to Iraq, said she was ecstatic that Target is here.

She said she was so happy she planned to stop by the Salt Lake store, too.

At the Salt Lake store, it was a softer soft opening, with about 450 people entering the store at 8 a.m., though an hour later traffic was starting to back up onto Salt Lake Boulevard from the main store entry on Lawehana Street.

Sara Knudson, an Ewa Beach resident who had regularly shopped at Target until she moved to Hawaii seven years ago, said the atmosphere was classic Target — helpful and energetic.

"The hospitality of the entire team here, you just feel it when you come in the door," she said.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090304/BREAKING01/90304040

[240 is Back]

target costs a bit more than WMT on most items, food included

[Dan-O]

target costs a bit more than WMT on most items, food included

The trade-off is, no WMT shoppers are found in the store.  All in all it's a wash.

[tonymctones]

target costs a bit more than WMT on most items, food included

true

The trade-off is, no WMT shoppers are found in the store.  All in all it's a wash.

and very true

[Dos Equis]

I'm going to check it out this weekend.  I heard Target has better stuff. 

[LurkerNoMore]

I'm going to check it out this weekend.  I heard Target has better stuff. 

Of course they do.  You can't get crappier than Walmart brands.

[Dos Equis]

Of course they do.  You can't get crappier than Walmart brands.

I don't shop at Walmart for "quality."  I bought a bathroom radio the other day and it cost me about $8.  I'll probably use it for years.  That's the kind of stuff I buy there. 

[LurkerNoMore]

I only shop for quality.  Which is why I don't venture inside Walmart.  Ever.

[Dos Equis]

If I'm making small purchases, then price is paramount.  Even with larger purchases, price is a big factor.  Why pay more when you can pay less. 

[Dan-O]

I only shop for quality.  Which is why I don't venture inside Walmart.  Ever.

A lot of items in Wal-Mart are the exact same things you could buy elsewhere, for more $$$.

Take computer parts, for example--say I need a new ethernet card or power supply or whatever--I'll call around all the local computer stores and invariably Wal-Mart has the lowest prices on the same stuff, by a significant margin.  And why pay more?  For the snob appeal?  Fine, pay more if you want to.  Truth be told, I will go to Wal-Mart for stuff like I mentioned.

[Eyeball Chambers]

The trade-off is, no WMT shoppers are found in the store.  All in all it's a wash.

HAHA

Exactly 

[Dos Equis]

A lot of items in Wal-Mart are the exact same things you could buy elsewhere, for more $$$.

Take computer parts, for example--say I need a new ethernet card or power supply or whatever--I'll call around all the local computer stores and invariably Wal-Mart has the lowest prices on the same stuff, by a significant margin.  And why pay more?  For the snob appeal?  Fine, pay more if you want to.  Truth be told, I will go to Wal-Mart for stuff like I mentioned.

Agree. 

I was talking to a small business owner who said he actually buys some products from Walmart and resells them in his store for a profit. 

[Bindare_Dundat]

I shopped at Walmart ONCE. Never again.

[24KT]

If I'm making small purchases, then price is paramount.  Even with larger purchases, price is a big factor.  Why pay more when you can pay less. 

So that the employees who work there can at least earn a living wage, and not have to be dependent on welfare to supplement their Walmart slave wages.

You end up paying more for it one way or the other. I'd prefer to pay up front, rather than dish it out through taxes.

[Dos Equis]

So that the employees who work there can at least earn a living wage, and not have to be dependent on welfare to supplement their Walmart slave wages.

You end up paying more for it one way or the other. I'd prefer to pay up front, rather than dish it out through taxes.

Ah . . . no.  Me going to another store to pay more for products does not result in employees at places like Walmart earn a "living wage."  It just results in me paying more than I should.  Zero connection. 

Your taxes comments really don't make sense.  If you pay more for a product the sales tax is higher, so you're paying more in taxes.   

And no one is forced to worked at Walmart.  Slave wages?      

[24KT]

Ah . . . no.  Me going to another store to pay more for products does not result in employees at places like Walmart earn a "living wage."  It just results in me paying more than I should.  Zero connection. 

Your taxes comments really don't make sense.  If you pay more for a product the sales tax is higher, so you're paying more in taxes.   

And no one is forced to worked at Walmart.  Slave wages?      

Perhaps I phrased that awkwardly. What I meant is that one should make their buying decisions with care.

It can sometimes be better to pay a little more upfront for an item, at an establishment that pays employees good wages that enable them to support their families, than it is to purchase cheaper products, that result in lower wages to employees that require them to supplement their incomes through government assistance. There is something askew about a system that can employ full time workers at rates that do not empower them to at least support themselves, ...or that as a matter of policy, routinely steals their labour.

As for people being forced to work at Walmart? There are plenty who for all intents & purposes are.

When a Super Wal-mart comes into a town, and muscles out smaller businesses to become the only employer, what choice do people have?

There truly is a high cost to low prices.

[Dos Equis]

Perhaps I phrased that awkwardly. What I meant is that one should make their buying decisions with care.

It can sometimes be better to pay a little more upfront for an item, at an establishment that pays employees good wages that enable them to support their families, than it is to purchase cheaper products, that result in lower wages to employees that require them to supplement their incomes through government assistance. There is something askew about a system that can employ full time workers at rates that do not empower them to at least support themselves, ...or that as a matter of policy, routinely steals their labour.

As for people being forced to work at Walmart? There are plenty who for all intents & purposes are.

When a Super Wal-mart comes into a town, and muscles out smaller businesses to become the only employer, what choice do people have?

There truly is a high cost to low prices.

When it comes to garden variety products, I think most people are primarily concerned about price.  Quality is important too, but price is what gets people in the door. 

There is nothing wrong with a system that allows businesses to compete with each other, pay competitive wages, or pay minimum wages (set by the government).  If a person doesn't want to earn minimum wage they have a number of options:  get promoted, get another job, go to school, start their own business, etc.  No one is forced to earn minimum wage.  And for some people, their max potential might be a minimum wage job, or they simply don't have the desire to be a high achiever.   

When Walmart comes into a town and smaller businesses cannot compete, the result is cheaper prices for more consumers and more jobs for the community.  A Walmart store employing hundreds > a mom and pop employing 5 people. 

[24KT]

When it comes to garden variety products, I think most people are primarily concerned about price.  Quality is important too, but price is what gets people in the door. 

I understand what you're saying. ie: magazines, batteries etc, however, the majority of items in Walmart come from China, and I've seen what takes place in some of the "Walmart" factory suppliers there.

There is nothing wrong with a system that allows businesses to compete with each other, pay competitive wages, or pay minimum wages (set by the government).  If a person doesn't want to earn minimum wage they have a number of options:  get promoted, get another job, go to school, start their own business, etc.  No one is forced to earn minimum wage.  And for some people, their max potential might be a minimum wage job, or they simply don't have the desire to be a high achiever. 

That's my point, ...walmart workers often work for less than minimum wage.
Many are routinely required to work off the clock without pay. That's theft of their labour.
  

When Walmart comes into a town and smaller businesses cannot compete, the result is cheaper prices for more consumers and more jobs for the community.  A Walmart store employing hundreds > a mom and pop employing 5 people. 

That simple analogy does not work. Walmart may employ hundreds, but it is not 1 mom & pop store that employs 5 that is forced out. It is often 30 - 40+ mom & pop stores, plus their local suppliers etc., who are negatively impacted.

It doesn't benefit the community if there is only one employer (whose goods are supplied by China) and those jobs don't translate into people being able to to support their families like they used to be able to do. It also doesn't benefit the community when they locate just outside of the city limits to avoid being subject to municipal taxes, while causing the demise of those businesses who use local suppliers, and who do  did generate revenue for the municipality. It also doesn't benefit the community when the surrounding environment is polluted due to Walmart's presence, as has been the case at many of their locations.

Don't get me wrong... I have nothing against China, ...but the end result of all this economic activity at Walmart, is revenues for Chinese manufacturers, while American manufacturers lay off more & more workers.

[Dos Equis]

I understand what you're saying. ie: magazines, batteries etc, however, the majority of items in Walmart come from China, and I've seen what takes place in some of the "Walmart" factory suppliers there.

That's my point, ...walmart workers often work for less than minimum wage.
Many are routinely required to work off the clock without pay. That's theft of their labour.
  
That simple analogy does not work. Walmart may employ hundreds, but it is not 1 mom & pop store that employs 5 that is forced out. It is often 30 - 40+ mom & pop stores, plus their local suppliers etc., who are negatively impacted.

It doesn't benefit the community if there is only one employer (whose goods are supplied by China) and those jobs don't translate into people being able to to support their families like they used to be able to do. It also doesn't benefit the community when they locate just outside of the city limits to avoid being subject to municipal taxes, while causing the demise of those businesses who use local suppliers, and who do  did generate revenue for the municipality. It also doesn't benefit the community when the surrounding environment is polluted due to Walmart's presence, as has been the case at many of their locations.

Don't get me wrong... I have nothing against China, ...but the end result of all this economic activity at Walmart, is revenues for Chinese manufacturers, while American manufacturers lay off more & more workers.

I would imagine most retail stores (including mom and pop stores) get the majority of their goods from China.  I have tried the whole buy exclusively American products thing, and it simply isn't practical.  Too many stores carry "made in China" products.   

If Walmart or any employer is paying less than minimum wage then there are ways to address those illegal practices. 

I have not studied this, but I doubt there is a significant number of communities where Walmart is (a) the only employer and (b) created less jobs than the stores that could not compete. 

[24KT]

I would imagine most retail stores (including mom and pop stores) get the majority of their goods from China.  I have tried the whole buy exclusively American products thing, and it simply isn't practical.  Too many stores carry "made in China" products. 

That's an assumption that's not necessarily accurate. Mass merchandisers perhaps, ...but Mom & Pop specialty stores quite frequently market homegrown goods. 

If Walmart or any employer is paying less than minimum wage then there are ways to address those illegal practices. 

{lol} Sometimes your naiveté can actually be funny. 
It's not like Walmart employees and others workers subject to having their labour routinely stolen haven't tried.

I have not studied this, but I doubt there is a significant number of communities where Walmart is (a) the only employer and (b) created less jobs than the stores that could not compete. 

There are. And it's even more reprehensible because they originally sold themselves as "Made in America",
then they did the 'Bait & Switch' and now it's all 'Made in China'

Great documentary done by a friend of mine is Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price

The Filmaker, Robert Greenwald is a producer, director and political activist. Greenwald is the founder and president of Brave New Films, a new media company that uses moving images to educate, influence, and empower viewers to take action around issues that matter. Under Greenwald's direction, Brave New Films has produced a series of short political videos, including the Fox Attacks and Real McCain campaigns. One of the more notable Real McCain videos focused on McCain's Mansions; after Brave New Films produced this video, McCain notoriously said he was not sure how many houses he owned and a media firestorm ensued. In total, Brave New Film's short videos have been viewed over 40 million times in the past two years, inspired hundreds of thousands of people to take action and forced pressing issues into the mainstream media.

In 2008, Brave New Foundation and The Nation produced This Brave Nation, a documentary series featuring progressive activists in conversation with each other. Greenwald also supervised the construction of the Brave New Studio, a high-tech studio where Brave New Foundation and other organizations can produce content to advance the progressive movement.

In addition, Greenwald is the director/producer of several documentaries: "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" (2006), an expose of what happens when corporations go to war; as well as "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" (2005), detailing the retail giant's assault on families and American values; and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" (2004), about the right-wing opinion factory known as Fox "News". Millions of viewers have seen these films via grassroots "house parties" and independent online DVD sales, a groundbreaking method of alternative distribution. Greenwald also executive produced a trilogy of political documentaries: "Unprecedented: The 2000 Election" (2002); "Uncovered: The War on Iraq" (2003), which he also directed; and "Unconstitutional" (2004).

Prior to his documentary work, Greenwald produced and/or directed more than 55 television movies, miniseries and feature films. Greenwald's films have garnered 25 Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Award. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute. He has been honored for his activism by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California; the Liberty Hill Foundation; the Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Consumer Attorney's Association of Los Angeles; Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the Office of the Americas.


In this clip, Robert discusses in a 2005 interview with Salon what made him decide to make the Wal-Mart film

[Dos Equis]

That's an assumption that's not necessarily accurate. Mass merchandisers perhaps, ...but Mom & Pop specialty stores quite frequently market homegrown goods. 

{lol} Sometimes your naiveté can actually be funny. 
It's not like Walmart employees and others workers subject to having their labour routinely stolen haven't tried.

There are. And it's even more reprehensible because they originally sold themselves as "Made in America",
then they did the 'Bait & Switch' and now it's all 'Made in China'

Great documentary done by a friend of mine is Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price

The Filmaker, Robert Greenwald is a producer, director and political activist. Greenwald is the founder and president of Brave New Films, a new media company that uses moving images to educate, influence, and empower viewers to take action around issues that matter. Under Greenwald's direction, Brave New Films has produced a series of short political videos, including the Fox Attacks and Real McCain campaigns. One of the more notable Real McCain videos focused on McCain's Mansions; after Brave New Films produced this video, McCain notoriously said he was not sure how many houses he owned and a media firestorm ensued. In total, Brave New Film's short videos have been viewed over 40 million times in the past two years, inspired hundreds of thousands of people to take action and forced pressing issues into the mainstream media.

In 2008, Brave New Foundation and The Nation produced This Brave Nation, a documentary series featuring progressive activists in conversation with each other. Greenwald also supervised the construction of the Brave New Studio, a high-tech studio where Brave New Foundation and other organizations can produce content to advance the progressive movement.

In addition, Greenwald is the director/producer of several documentaries: "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" (2006), an expose of what happens when corporations go to war; as well as "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" (2005), detailing the retail giant's assault on families and American values; and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" (2004), about the right-wing opinion factory known as Fox "News". Millions of viewers have seen these films via grassroots "house parties" and independent online DVD sales, a groundbreaking method of alternative distribution. Greenwald also executive produced a trilogy of political documentaries: "Unprecedented: The 2000 Election" (2002); "Uncovered: The War on Iraq" (2003), which he also directed; and "Unconstitutional" (2004).

Prior to his documentary work, Greenwald produced and/or directed more than 55 television movies, miniseries and feature films. Greenwald's films have garnered 25 Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Award. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute. He has been honored for his activism by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California; the Liberty Hill Foundation; the Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Consumer Attorney's Association of Los Angeles; Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the Office of the Americas.


In this clip, Robert discusses in a 2005 interview with Salon what made him decide to make the Wal-Mart film

Not all Mom and Pop specialty stores are threatened by Walmart.  It's the stores that sell the same products that Walmart carries, but for more money.  Anyone who wants to compete on a large scale has to buy foreign made products, until Americans start making better, cheaper goods.  Sad but true. 

What's really funny is how anyone who believes that Bush bribed the media, the CIA controls the media, and the government shot missiles into the Pentagon would call anyone naive.  That said, no one is saying Walmart hasn't made mistakes.  The point was when any business violates the law there are plenty of mechanisms in place to address/correct those violations.  Doesn't mean bad/illegal things don't happen.   

Where are the "significant number of communities where Walmart is (a) the only employer and (b) created less jobs than the stores that could not compete"?   

I watched the first clip.  It's a yawner.  So he found people who were discriminated against, people who aren't happy with their wages, and people complaining about Walmart being so big and successful.  Not news.  Did the documentary include interviews with the thousands of people who are happy to have a job at Walmart?  Or the millions of shoppers who like the store? 

I'd love to see more companies produce products here, and stores buy from American manufacturers, but the sad reality is we are miles behind places like China when it comes to mass producing goods. 

[tu_holmes]

Not all Mom and Pop specialty stores aren't threatened by Walmart.  It's the stores that sell the same products that Walmart carries, but for more money.  Anyone who wants to compete on a large scale has to buy foreign made products, until Americans start making better, cheaper goods.  Sad but true. 

What's really funny is how anyone who believes that Bush bribed the media, the CIA controls the media, and the government shot missiles into the Pentagon would call anyone naive.  That said, no one is saying Walmart hasn't made mistakes.  The point was when any business violates the law there are plenty of mechanisms in place to address/correct those violations.  Doesn't mean bad/illegal things don't happen.   

Where are the "significant number of communities where Walmart is (a) the only employer and (b) created less jobs than the stores that could not compete"?  

I watched the first clip.  It's a yawner.  So he found people who were discriminated against, people who aren't happy with their wages, and people complaining about Walmart being so big and successful.  Not news.  Did the documentary include interviews with the thousands of people who are happy to have a job at Walmart?  Or the millions of shoppers who like the store? 

I'd love to see more companies produce products here, and stores buy from American manufactures, but the sad reality is we are miles behind places like China when it comes to mass producing goods. 

I disagree... Many small shops have been virtually wiped away by Wal-Marts coming into small areas.

Local grocers, book stores, and specialty shops have been destroyed by Wal-Marts opening up in their regions.

[Dos Equis]

I disagree... Many small shops have been virtually wiped away by Wal-Marts coming into small areas.

Local grocers, book stores, and specialty shops have been destroyed by Wal-Marts opening up in their regions.

Not really a bad thing.  They either adapt and compete or close shop. 

[tu_holmes]

Not really a bad thing.  They either adapt and compete or close shop. 

WRONG.

[Dos Equis]

WRONG.

Your opinion.  I like paying less for products.