It has always been my impression that each Walmart store carries what
sells in each region. You don't see swamp coolers for sale here in the
Pacific Northwest (although Home Depot did try and sell them!) Each store
and its management troll for considerable time over sales data trying to get
to the customer what they want the most. If better quality items of a
certain kind sell better than the cheap stuff in one area, they get the clue
real fast. No two Wal-Mart's stock is the same; it varies heavily by the
location.
Walmart is one of the ultimate marketeers in that they provide the
market what they want. I want to buy milk at a good price and Walmart does
it. I need a pair of jeans, and the selection is always good. They sell
what everyone else sells, but in larger selection and quantity. Just as
many of you go to Harbor Freight for an item that you deem good enough for
your needs, so many of us go to Walmart to provide the same thing. I've
noticed on occasion that the cheapest item might be American made.
Competition is good because in the end you the customer win. Walmart has
had a noticeable effect on inflation in that it has slowed the growth of it.
Many of you own Toyotas because you can get a good car at a good price, and
the market obviously determines the quality level. If price was the only
issue, we'd all have Yugo's and Geo Metro's rusting in the streets,
abandoned. Walmart is no different. If Walmart operated according to how
some of you think they should, we'd still be buying domestically made cars
from manufacturers who would be happy to sell us what they think would be
good enough, and that's an old market model that the Japanese proved highly
wrong.
Walmart, when hurricane Katrina hit, was one of the first stores to
open, despite some being heavily clobbered and still not cleaned up. As the
hurricane was slamming the area they were already trucking generators and
emergency supplies to the area, staging them in safe areas waiting to send
it in. Walmart gave more money than any other organization, if I remember
correctly, and they did it without a second thought. In the immediate
aftermath, you could just show up and without any cash get what you needed,
be it a generator or a bottle of soap. Find another American company that
did anything like it at all. They didn't do it because they were trying to
make loyal customers any more than Tylenol pulled all their products to
avoid the lawyers. They did it because it was the right thing to do. That
massive act of generosity and getting the customer what they needed is an
incredible thing for me, and has the secondary effect of creating awesome
brand loyalty. Ironically, they are the largest single donor to education,
yet the teacher's unions despise the company. Go figure.

I'm not a die hard fan of Walmart, but I go there when I know they have
what I need. I have a large family, so my grocery budget has to go far, and
there is where I can do it. I know the quality level of what they sell, and
usually its good enough for my needs. It works the same for millions of
other Americans as well, so I know I'm not alone in that sentiment. You
don't get to be on the top by doing it wrong, but they also know that those
at the top will get a whole lot of flack from those who don't like seeing
capitalism so successful.

I'm off my soap box now.