wrote in message news:4a0f30a5-a16a-4d74-8a9d-

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I don't know how they whip Walmart employees into feeling good and
acting positively for such a low-paying job. Maybe they're just
selective about who they hire, and Kmart simply can't find anyone to
work for them, so they hire anyone who can stagger through the front
door.

I noticed the same thing too, and always ask the employees why. One guy, a
WWII vet working the door (and security!) gave me one good reason: Wal-mart
was the only place that would hire someone in the their '70's. He came to
work not for the money, but because he enjoyed having something to do and
interacting with the workers his age. If you look around, you'll see it's
true - not many companies hire older workers.

Another reason for Wal-mart's success is their incredible logistics. They
basically don't "own" the inventory on much of their shelves - it belongs to
the vendor who gets it back if it doesn't sell. That vastly reduces their
inventory holding costs and their risk if the product turns out to be a dog.
They involve themselves in every step of the supply chain and are constantly
exerting pressure on vendors to do things more efficiently. As I am sure
some posters will note, sometimes a little *too* efficiently so that the
items don't hold up.

When I went to buy replacement batteries for my Firestorm drill, it turned
out that buying a Wal-mart kit that contained two new drills each with a
spare battery (four, total) cost less than two replacement batteries from
the manufacturer, B&D.

When I used to take my handicapped Dad shopping, the Target near me had only
two rather ratty electric shopping scooters and they demanded he leave his
driver's license at the courtesy desk to use one. Loads of extra hassle (to
deposit and retrieve the license 100's of feet from the door we came in) and
risk. While poor naive Dad was quite willing to leave his license with a
total stranger who apparently just threw it in box on the customer desk, I
said no - we'll leave a $5 deposit if you sign a receipt but leaving Dad's
license was out of the question. Wal-mart, on the other hand, has plenty of
scooters that require no license or deposit - we've never had to wait for
one, and unlike Target someone makes sure they are plugged in and recharged
after every use. We spent close to $500 on each trip so Target's practicing
some pretty false economy.

Also, unlike, say Home Depot, if you look like you're having trouble,
employees don't avert their gaze and run in the other direction. My guess
is that they do a lot of "honesty shopping" - sending in Wal-mart agent
unknown to the employees to test clerks for helpfulness and the ability to
direct a customer to the correct product or area.

On the flip side, I came across an article on the net about Wal-mart using
the urine test given to all prospective employees to also check for
pregnancy so they wouldn't hire anyone likely to be drawing health insurance
and maternity benefits soon after hiring. Not sure of the veracity of that
claim, though.

Plenty of people hate Wal-mart with a passion because it's got a bad rap
with liberals. g I remember getting my most liberal friend to finally go
into one of the bigger stores they have in the US in Laurel, MD. Her cart
was full within an hour and all she could say is "you can get *everything*
you need in one trip!" The store, recently remodeled, is SO big that even
the employees don't know where everything is and have to consult a store map
to direct customers.

--
Bobby G.