Montreal sponsorship for Frodo

[nrc]

Seems odd that they would wait for the last of the Canadian dates to put special paint on the car. Come on Walmart, the car looks nice and we've heard of you down here, too.

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/content/photos/2006/By800/20060714P_0002.jpg

[racer2c]

I'm surprised to see them on the car as they've been hesitant to sponsor a full NASCRAP car.

[cameraman]

I doubt Wal-Mart Canada will spend money outside of Canada.


Wal-Mart Canada was founded in March of 1994 with the acquisition of the Woolco division of Woolworth Canada Inc. A total of 122 Woolco stores were converted in less than eight months to the Wal-Mart format. The Wal-Mart Canada Home Office is located in Mississauga, Ontario, with over 235 stores and 6 SAM'S CLUBS.

[Accipiter]

I've heard it specualted frequently in NASCAR circles that Wal Mart USA has a policy against sponsoring race cars.

[Andrew Longman]

Walmart's strategy is to be low cost provider. By definition there is only one low cost provider and so almost everything about their culture and business practices is about cutting costs. If you notice they do very little advertising and hence I would be surprised to see them put money to in a somewhat expensive and uncertain sports sponsorship.

(I think their strategy is beginning to change as they have built about as many stores as they can and to grow they seem to be shifting to a method of distribution strategy -- push as much stuff through thier stores as possible, dictating to comsumer companies what products they want, etc.)

Nice looking car though. Looks like an old Reynard. I guess its just for show. Too bad they don't just paint the Lola they will eventually use at Montreal and use it until then. $ I suppose.

[oddlycalm]

I think their strategy is beginning to change Agreed, their new strategy is "All Your Bases Are Belong To US." :thumdown:

oc

[Andrew Longman]

Agreed, their new strategy is "All Your Bases Are Belong To US." :thumdown:

oc

IIRC Walmart just retreated from South Korea. Failed miserably.

But it is amazing the power of Walmart. For example P&G has 1100 employees in Arkansas doing nothing except whatever Walmart tells them they want in their stores. Every consumer company is in the same boat. Even little Smucker has about 200 people there serving the whim of Walmart.

Ever hear the Swiffer story? Brooms and mops are the poorest performing items in a store. Low cost, takes up lots of shelf space, and people only buy them once occasionally.

P&G works with Walmart to develop a product that is collaspable and hangs from a hook in very little shelf space. Even better, people keep coming back for the refills. Walmart started using them in the stores before they sold them to get people interested in the concept. Huge success that redefined a product catagory

[oddlycalm]

IIRC Walmart just retreated from South Korea. Failed miserably.
- snip -
Huge success that redefined a product catagory Guess not every culture is sophisticated enough for stuff like thowaway mops that end up costing 20x the price of just buying a fricken mop and calling it good. :gomer:

Good on the sponsorship though. At this point beggars can't be choosers.

oc

[Hameroids]

IIRC Walmart just retreated from South Korea. Failed miserably.

Not enough trailer parks

[TKGAngel]

IIRC Walmart just retreated from South Korea. Failed miserably.

But it is amazing the power of Walmart.

I had no idea about the Swiffer thing.

The amazing power of Walmart also causes rational people to act like idiots. Driving in the parking lot is taking your life in your hands. There's got to be something about the allure of cheap cr*p that makes people go nuts.

Despite all that, its good to see Wally World Canada sponsoring Ranger.

[jonovision_man]

Walmart is in mega-poop in Quebec over shutting down a store that had just voted for union certification.

Maybe they're tyring to support the local guy to gain favour.

jono

[Tifosi24]

Can't foget the Wal-Mart manager in Quebec that forced his employees to look for a bomb in the store after a bomb threat. No matter how you slice it, Wal-Mart= the evil empire.

[Andrew Longman]

Walmart is in mega-poop in Quebec over shutting down a store that had just voted for union certification.jono

They've closed stores that even sniffed at forming a union. That's the third rail for employees.

More on the power of Walmart. Did you know that P&G has 1100 employees in Arkansas. Masterfoods has more than 300. Smucker as well. All consumer companies do. All these people do is serve Walmart. Essentially Walmart says they want a 40oz Chocolate Easter egg in a purple package for March 1. They give Masterfoods and Hershey 48 hours to come up with a price and a plan. Best wins the business. They tell J&J they want Scoobie Doo Band Aids packeged in boxes of 64. If J&J says we only make them in 48, they tell J&J that they will not be carrying J&J products. So J&J changes their tooling and packaging system to satisfy everyone's biggest customer.

Its just capitalism, but it has completely changed how the consumer business works.

[cartman]

Wal-Mart is awful, they are comparable in the retail world to that bully in grade school that would beat you up and take your milk money every day.

Couple of stories:

My mom worked in the Wal-Mart pharmacy for 15 years. They must have realized at some point that after a minimal raise every year that they were spending too much money on her salary. They must have also realized that they could find some 23 year old that would do her job for about half the pay she was getting. They made up some complete bs reason for letting her go (they said she was habitually late for work which is complete crap, she was probably only late twice in 15 years, she's a very punctual type of person) and fired her after 15 years of dedicated service, just like that. I'm sorry, but if one of my employees is habitually late, I'm not going to wait 15 years to do something about it. Some of her friends that worked there as well told her that after she quit all of her regular customers were upset (some of these seniors get to be good buds with their pharmacists since they see them so often) and quit coming to Wal-Mart when they found out she was fired. This is the way this company conducts it's business. I just really feel that after 15 years of dedicated service an employee should possibly be rewarded, not fired. What a crock. Just another case of evil Wal-Mart caring more about it's bottom line than the employees and customers that make even having a bottom line possible.

The place where I work is in a shopping center that has a Wal-Mart. We used to be across the parking lot right next to Wal-Mart but we're not anymore and here's why: They built a new Super Target right across the street from our shopping center. Well, of course Wal-Mart can't handle having competition, so they decided to convert their store from a normal Wal-Mart to a Super Wal-Mart. In order to do that though, they had to get us, a Thai restaurant next to us and a dollar store to vacate the premises. They basically told the property management of our shopping center that if they couldn't get us and the other 2 stores in question out of their way then they would vacate their store but keep paying rent on the building and leave it an empty shell which could feasibly kill the whole shopping center's business. This is the snide and underhanded way this company does business. Wal-Mart is the 400 lb. gorilla that needs to have it's head cut off. Wal-Mart is in the business of killing other businesses in a very cut-throat and devil may care manner. If saving a few bucks is that important to you, then keep shopping there but I will never set foot in a Wal-Mart ever again as long as I live unless it's a life or death emergency or something. Besides, Super Target is so much nicer, the employess are much friendlier, the store is a lot cleaner and more modern looking and the employees aren't complete morons like most of the ones at Wal-Mart.

end rant, thank you

[Dr. Corkski]

Wal*Mart = terrorist organization.

[Ed_Severson]

Not to pile on, but yeah ... Wal-Mart sucks hard.

There are some things that are more important than money. Were it my decision, telling Wal-Mart to **** off and go try NASCAR would be one of them.

[Andrew Longman]

Besides, Super Target is so much nicer, the employess are much friendlier, the store is a lot cleaner and more modern looking and the employees aren't complete morons like most of the ones at Wal-Mart

In my parts, I am as afraid of the Walmart shoppers as I am the employees. I was so please when we finally got a Target. Everything, including the customers is better.

(NJ only got its first Target about 3-4 years ago. Walmart only got here a few years before that. I watched Zanardi, Vasser and Montoya drive for Target and initially didn't even know what it was.)

[cameraman]

I've never been in a Wal-Mart - a Super Target is "so much nicer"???

Damn, that's a scary thought.

[cartman]

I've never been in a Wal-Mart - a Super Target is "so much nicer"???

Damn, that's a scary thought.

I dunno, it's kind of hard to explain, but when you walk into a Wal-Mart vs. walking into a Super Target, the Super Target just "feels" like a much nicer place to be. Things are stocked better, more clearly labelled, the signs over the aisles telling what's on that aisle are much bigger, clearer and easier to read, everything is cleaner, the employees don't all look like thugs and/or convicts, the employees speak english clearly instead of Wal-Mart's brand of ebonics/redneckese, etc........

I'm sure some of you remember NWA (the rap group) right? We call the "ladies" (I use the term extremely loosely here) that work the registers at the Wal-Mart in our shopping center SWA - Sistahs with Attitude.

[racer2c]

I dunno, it's kind of hard to explain, but when you walk into a Wal-Mart vs. walking into a Super Target, the Super Target just "feels" like a much nicer place to be. Things are stocked better, more clearly labelled, the signs over the aisles telling what's on that aisle are much bigger, clearer and easier to read, everything is cleaner, the employees don't all look like thugs and/or convicts, the employees speak english clearly instead of Wal-Mart's brand of ebonics/redneckese, etc........

I'm sure some of you remember NWA (the rap group) right? We call the "ladies" (I use the term extremely loosely here) that work the registers at the Wal-Mart in our shopping center SWA - Sistahs with Attitude.

In my neck o' the woods, it's all about the clientel. In a Wal-Mart you get scores of obese women whose clothes are too tight dragging around five screaming kids.

Target gets the soccor moms in mini-vans who live in a comfortable cul-de-sac coloniel.

[Andrew Longman]

Not to pile on, but yeah ... Wal-Mart sucks hard.

There are some things that are more important than money. Were it my decision, telling Wal-Mart to **** off and go try NASCAR would be one of them.

Motorsports sponsorship is a whore's game. Tobacco, alcohol, on line gambling, usury lending, male enhancement, etc., owners have never been too picky

But I imagine several of the comments here would make MiJack Conquest and Walmart cringe.

But as for me, I'm with you. I find it very important to pick my clients and partners carefully. I'm of the opinion if I have to hang around people that make my skin crawl, just because they are paying me, then I have done something wrong. I wouldn't want to finally have achieved a dream of running a top race team only to have it ruined by having to spend time in the hospitality tent with some yahoo reptiles from Arkansas.

[Andrew Longman]

In my neck o' the woods, it's all about the clientel. In a Wal-Mart you get scores of obese women whose clothes are too tight dragging around five screaming kids.

Target gets the soccor moms in mini-vans who live in a comfortable cul-de-sac coloniel.

Spooky. You live anywhere near the Phillipsburg, NJ/Easton, PA area?

But as bad as Walmart employees/customers are, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Kmart. As if you can find one anymore.

[extramundane]

The place where I work is in a shopping center that has a Wal-Mart. We used to be across the parking lot right next to Wal-Mart but we're not anymore and here's why: They built a new Super Target right across the street from our shopping center. Well, of course Wal-Mart can't handle having competition, so they decided to convert their store from a normal Wal-Mart to a Super Wal-Mart. In order to do that though, they had to get us, a Thai restaurant next to us and a dollar store to vacate the premises. They basically told the property management of our shopping center that if they couldn't get us and the other 2 stores in question out of their way then they would vacate their store but keep paying rent on the building and leave it an empty shell which could feasibly kill the whole shopping center's business.

If history is any indication, they'll vacate that location as soon as they think they can get tax breaks from another locality. There are literally hundreds of former WM buildings countrywide which now stand empty because they packed up shop and moved a couple miles away, after leaving local retail in such a shambles that there wasn't anyone to take over their old space.

They can sponsor whomever they want, but they don't sell anything I can't get elsewhere, for roughly the same price and for a lot less hassle. They've not received any of my money in about 8 years and throwing a slight bone to Eric Bachelart isn't going to change that.

[Sean O'Gorman]

But as bad as Walmart employees/customers are, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Kmart. As if you can find one anymore.

Hey, I like Kmart. The ones around here aren't too bad, but the nice thing is there are never more than 8 cars in the parking lot so I don't have to deal with crowds or lines at the register.

I don't have anything against Wal-Mart, but the only time I ever go there is when the consultants or whoever they are come in for training classes and give away prizes. I'll usually win something like a DVD player or a 2-way radio, and return it for store credit.

[Andrew Longman]

[QUOTE=Sean O'Gorman]Hey, I like Kmart. The ones around here aren't too bad, but the nice thing is there are never more than 8 cars in the parking lot so I don't have to deal with crowds or lines at the register.QUOTE]

The one left I know of around here has 8 cars in the lot and 4 employees. And entirely self checkout... that doesn't work... and for whom the 4 employees don't know how to fix.

I've been there twice and it was literally impossible for me to give them my money. I left with only the satisfaction that I would not prolong their agony.

[racer2c]

Kmart was really bad. the last one left our town two years ago and I think it was five years earlier that they actual had any customers.



When I was a kid my sis and I would walk two miles to Kmart to spend our allowance on 45's. We loved the ELO records, just as much because they were transparent colors as much for the songs (more so for me as I was in fifth grade and my sis was a sophomore in high school.) I remember them being trashy even at that young of age.



Oh, but the worst was Montgomery Wards (Monkey Wards as my dad called it) in terms of disgruntled employees. It's like you had to beg them to sell you something.

There are four or five Wal-Marts within a ten mile radius of my house. Two are brand new in upper scale neighborhood "retail developments" (you know, it's like a housing development but it's all restaurants and stores...Best Buy, Target, Olive Garden, Wal-Mart, Lowes, Basset etc.) and the others are stand alones and the difference is dramatic.

[Sean O'Gorman]

When I was a kid my sis and I would walk two miles to Kmart to spend our allowance on 45's.

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/1006/goddamncoltlx3.jpg

Wow, and I thought my generation started drinking early.

[Tifosi24]

Target will only get better in the future because they dominate Wal-Mart in terms of supply chain in China. Target realized the importance of China in the future of US retail and sacrificed growth to improve their standing in China and hopefully trump Wal-Mart in the coming years. As an economist, I just don't see how Wal-Mart's cost cutting philosophy can be sustainable. You can only cut costs to a certain point, and then you can't go any further. From an urban planning standpoint, Wal-Mart is teh suck and there is no debating it.