Saturday, April 01, 2006

Proof Of American Ingenuity

Chocolate is proof that God exists, since nothing that good could occur by chance. But this post isn't about that.

Today I was at Sam's Club--a division of the evil Wal*Mart chain which, as a teacher, I'm not supposed to shop at but since I, as a non-union-member, couldn't care less what the unions think I shop there anyway--and what did I see on display in the middle of one of the aisles? Why, Twinkies with banana-flavored filling!

If that isn't ingenious, I don't know what is.

6 comments:

Le Meems said...

Hmm as a teacher I'd think, despite your political viewpoints, you'd be more inclined to avoid retail chains that destruct the environment (through cheap, flimsily produced goods), destruct mom and pop America (through Supply Chain Managament) and desecrate shipping and distribution models with all of WalMarts internal and privatized demands and methods.

Good thing you are teaching the poor children of Sacramento and not where I live. Though, its sort of just as bad.

Ugyh!

Darren said...

Actually, I teach the rich students of Sacramento.

And I hold no love for mom and pop stores, if by that you mean "stores that have higher prices".

And desecration of "shipping and distribution models"? I didn't know they were sacred.

You libs carry "rooting for the underdog" to the extreme. You can't stand a winner, can you?

Anonymous said...

Yo Ohh La La

“Hmm as a teacher I'd think, despite your political viewpoints, “

Gee, isn’t this stereotyping…I mean, just because of his chosen profession he’s got to be a brain dead leftist. Please, be more tolerant of different views. In my profession (I’m a cop) I have to dead with stupidity every day.


“you'd be more inclined to avoid retail chains that destruct the environment (through cheap, flimsily produced goods),”

Oh, then I’ll go to K-Mart (opps, sorry, they are stealing the Wal-Mart supply chain management for their stores)…ok Sears, that’s an oldie but a goodie…damned, forgot, it’s also dying because people want quality and price, which Wal-Mart supplies (Full disclosure, I’m a former employee of the Evil Empire from Arkansas and a stockholder). BTY, if you don’t shop at Wal-Mart, which is implied by your message how do you know about the quality of its goods? And if the quality is so poor, why is it Wal-Mart is still in business? The American consumer has a strange habit of deciding “This guy is selling me crap, I’ll buy across the street.” Beautiful case in point is the American Auto Industry.

“ destruct mom and pop America (through Supply Chain Managament)”

Hate to tell you, Mom and Pop was dying a long time before Sam Walton started to expand outside of Bentonville AR. Have you ever heard of Time Saver? Other small chains that replaced the Mom and Pop little grocery stores that used to dot the American landscape. BTY OLL, are you one of those people who longs for the day of the family farm? Just curious…hate to have reality intrude on your reality TV worldview, but it’s also an aberration. Mom and pop has a place in society, but it’s not at the front of marketing and sales. OLL, did you see that BS in 60 Minutes a few years ago about the opening of a Wal-Mart in Gonzales, LA, that the owners of a “mom and pop” bike shop said put them out of business. At the end of the “un-bias” report they showed the Wal-Mart building closed up and the news reader (I think it was Steve Kroft) was saying “this is how Wal-Mart left Gonzales after closing mom and pop” or words to that effect. A minor detail Steve forgot. That Wal-Mart was closed because of the Super Wal-Mart that was opened a half mile down the road. How would I know that you ask? My father lives in Gonzales, I’ve seen both the old store and the open Super Wal-Mart.

OLL, what does “Supply Chain Managament” (it’s spelled Management FYI) have to do with it. It’s simply how Wal-Mart Industries looks at how to fill floor/shelve space. Put simply, you have X amount of selling space on the floor and shelves. Wal-Mart will fill it with stuff that sells. If an item doesn’t sell, they will cut the price until it sells, even if they must take a loss. Then they will take the space and fill it with something that people will buy. I think that’s called providing the consumer what they want…what a radical concept. And OLL, this I’m adding to just burn you. You know who’s adapting this model? The Department of Defense. It’s a way of being more flexible with supplies going out to our units. Sam Walton I know is smiling about that.

“ and desecrate shipping and distribution models with all of WalMarts internal and privatized demands and methods. “

I looked at the definition of desecrate, “To violate the sacredness of; profane.” There is nothing sacred about supply and demand. It’s very simple. You must provide Mr and Mrs America a product or service that are willing to spend their money on. If you don’t, you won’t get the consumer’s money and if there is a big enough demand, someone else will fill that requirement. What a far out concept. Sam Walton and his company have done that. Can you be a little more specific about what is profane about this? In English please.

“Good thing you are teaching the poor children of Sacramento and not where I live. Though, its sort of just as bad. “

I’d be glad to have Darren teach any of my nieces or nephews. Unlike the idiots of “education higher learning”, he teaches them how to do his specialty, math.

“Ugyh!”

Whatever….OLL, just take a walk in the real world and get a clue.

PS: This is a bit of torture…I gave up sweets for Lint. I have 2 weeks to go until chocolate ice cream…with chocolate chips!

Anonymous said...

Actually, I suspect you'd benefit if Darren were teaching in your school district, since I believe he knows that "destruct" is not a verb (hint: the word you're looking for is "destroy," and you should sue your school system for letting you out of the sixth grade without knowing that.)

And speaking of Sam's, it's about time for our bi-weekly visit.

Anonymous said...

Not that Wal*Mart needs any excuse to exist, but I'd sure have thought that an environmentalist like Ooh La La would be *pleased* about Wal*Mart's consolidation and efficiency where transportation is concerned. As to the Mom and Pop shops, Wal*Mart brings more jobs to communities than it eliminates. The net rise in community jobs is about 50 new jobs for every new store after a few years (it's higher, not lower in the interim) and the buying power of the average local goes UP.

The only thing that bugs me about Wal*Mart is the shareholder money wasted on various energy-efficient heating and lighting systems that don't net a cost savings, as well as all that forested land they buy and set aside in dedication to each new store opening. That's money that should be in the shareholder pockets or on the shelf reducing prices, not servicing ungrateful louts like Ooh La La.

Anonymous said...

Supply Chain Management is my thing, after all (operations, decision sciences) and I'm not sure what she thinks she's talking about, but Wal-Mart's system is a big reason for their success. When you buy a product, the system automatically places another on order, so Wal-Mart doesn't have to waste a lot of money on inventory, and they almost never run out of anything they carry.