"As the nation’s largest banks stay stingy with credit and a growing portion of the population has no bank at all, major retailers are stepping into the void. Customers can now withdraw cash at an A.T.M. with a prepaid card from Walmart, take out a loan at Home Depot for a kitchen renovation or kick-start a new venture with a small-business loan from Sam’s Club. This year, Walmart even started to test selling a life insurance policy." ("On the New Shopping List: Milk, Bread, Eggs, and a Mortgage")
How many aspiring bankers dreamt of working at Costco? How many finance majors compete for those super-selective summer internships at PetSmart?
Everything old is new again. In days of yore, local barbers tended to their communities' medical needs, offering therapeutic bleedings alongside more traditional tonsorial services. Perhaps all this crossover retailing will inspire a return of such time-honored traditions: Come in for a wash and cut, and, while you sit 'neath the hair dryer, have your appendix removed by the onsite surgical staff.
Meanwhile, traditional financial institutions will react as you might expect. I look forward to the Bank of America creperie: The special rooty-tooty-fresh-and-variable-interest-rate breakfast platter will be delicious.
Showing posts with label Wal-Mart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wal-Mart. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Nobody's Good-Looking in Wal-Mart
Just an observation.
Understand: We're NOT saying that nobody attractive ever goes into Wal-Mart; WOS and YNSHC alone refute that theory. Rather, there's something about store itself that acts like some kind of beauty-sucker. Probably the pervasive atmosphere of worker exploitation. Or just really bad lighting.
We know, we know: "Solipsist, what are you even doing in Wal-Mart? The place is pure evil."
It is. . . but check out these prices! We're only human; we're not immune to the seduction of the rollback special. A six-pack of tube socks for $2.98--WITH A BONUS PAIR OF SOCKS! Are you kidding?!?!
Wal-Mart does pose something of an ethical dilemma to the socially conscious shopper. We don't approve of Wal-Mart's effect on locally-owned businesses, and we are even less sympathetic to their labor practices. But when times are tight, it's hard to resist a bargain. And while we lament the fact that the store treats its employees--particularly its female employees--in less than desirable ways, we realize that it is these very workers who depend on the low prices that Wal-Mart provides.
We take comfort in the thought--the hope, really--that Wal-Mart may become something of a victim of its own success. After all, if so many of their customers are also their employees, they'll almost have to start paying better--if only to maintain their customer base. In the meantime, we'll do our best to resist the lure of . . . of. . . . . .
Chicken pot pies: 3 for $3,00?!? We've got to run.
Understand: We're NOT saying that nobody attractive ever goes into Wal-Mart; WOS and YNSHC alone refute that theory. Rather, there's something about store itself that acts like some kind of beauty-sucker. Probably the pervasive atmosphere of worker exploitation. Or just really bad lighting.
We know, we know: "Solipsist, what are you even doing in Wal-Mart? The place is pure evil."
It is. . . but check out these prices! We're only human; we're not immune to the seduction of the rollback special. A six-pack of tube socks for $2.98--WITH A BONUS PAIR OF SOCKS! Are you kidding?!?!
Wal-Mart does pose something of an ethical dilemma to the socially conscious shopper. We don't approve of Wal-Mart's effect on locally-owned businesses, and we are even less sympathetic to their labor practices. But when times are tight, it's hard to resist a bargain. And while we lament the fact that the store treats its employees--particularly its female employees--in less than desirable ways, we realize that it is these very workers who depend on the low prices that Wal-Mart provides.
We take comfort in the thought--the hope, really--that Wal-Mart may become something of a victim of its own success. After all, if so many of their customers are also their employees, they'll almost have to start paying better--if only to maintain their customer base. In the meantime, we'll do our best to resist the lure of . . . of. . . . . .
Chicken pot pies: 3 for $3,00?!? We've got to run.
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