Has the increase of large chain stores such as Walmart been beneficial to consumers and their communities? Wal-Mart is by far the largest retailer in the United States.
... number of workers eligible for welfare increases. Wal-Mart is said to create "hundreds" of new jobs for communities. It’s hard to find a job these days, so this would surely be great, right? Sure would, but that’s if Wal-Mart delivered! Studies show that for every two jobs created by a Wal-Mart store, the community loses three and in a 1994 report, the Congressional Research pointed out that these so-called new jobs "provide significantly lower wages than jobs in many industries, and are often only part-time positions, or seasonal opportunities." In other words, when Wal-Mart moves into the neighborhood, it devours local businesses and lowers community living standards. It is believed that Wal-Mart’s presence in a community generates tax revenues. A local townsperson named Wayne recalled a Wal-Mart incident that shows Wal-Mart appetite for putting local businesses out of business. “In our town, they located a regular Wal-Mart in a large shopping center, which was co-anchored by a large supermarket across the street. Wal-Mart agreed to the restriction, ‘no other food stores.’ Then, they decided they needed to be a Super Wal-Mart and sell groceries, so they wanted out of the contract. The managers refused, reminding them that the purpose of the contract was to keep promises made. Wal-Mart tried to threaten the town to get its’ way. The managers reminded them they signed a contract. Therefore, Wal-Mart left, leaving us with a huge building no one could possibly fill. But wait- it gets better. Wal-Mart told the city, "If you don't let us locate our new Super Wal-Mart in one of your parks, we'll leave the county, and go just over the county line." The City, knowing political suicide when it saw it, refused. Wal-Mart then located their new store across the county line, depriving our City and county of sales tax revenues.” The bullying nature of Wal-Mart shows that Wal-Mart does not care about its communit...