Wal-Mart Essay

Wal-Mart is one of the largest companies in the United States. There are many different opinions people hold about whether or not Wal-Mart is good or bad for our nation. In my opinion, I believe that Wal-Mart is both good and bad for our economy. First of all, I feel that Wal-Mart is positive for our economy because they have the lowest prices. Wal-Mart has opted to ensure that their prices are as low as can be and they have done a fantastic job keeping their promise true. Wal-Mart keeps their prices low by importing goods from foreign countries so that they can sell them at a cheaper price. Wal-Mart also competes with smaller grocery stores on lower prices, and this competition also helps shoppers save more money. Grocery stores; however, are usually a lot more expensive and there is not as much of a variety in items as there is at a Wal-Mart. It is more convenient for people to shop at Wal-Mart where they can find anything that they need without having to shop at multiple different stores and waste a lot of time and gas. Wal-Mart is also good for our economy because the store is quite large and, therefore, hires many people. Wal-Mart hires many retired people so that they can pay them lower wages. Retired and older people have a harder time searching for jobs and Wal-Mart provides many opportunities for them. Wal-Mart is also good for our economy because there are many stores throughout the entire country and Wal-Mart alone has a higher GDP than most countries in the world. Wal-Mart has many positive aspects on why it is good for our economy, but it also had many negative. Wal-Mart can also have a negative impact on our economy because it destroys more jobs than it actually creates. When a new Wal-Mart is built in a town, it could damage smaller “mom and pops” businesses by causing them to collapse. A new Wal-Mart destroys jobs by putting local merchants out of business. In the Wal-Mart movie we saw in class, a small hardware store that had been open for many decades closed down after a Wal-Mart was built at their town. The close down of this hardware store left some unemployed. The same is said for the company of, Rubbermaid. After the cost of plastic went up, so did the cost of making many Rubbermaid items. Wal-Mart refused to raise the Rubbermaid prices at their store and gave the company less shelf space until it eventually went out of business. The close down of this company left thousands unemployed. All of the company’s machinery was auctioned off. Wal-Mart does hire