Impact of Wal-Mart on the Us Economy
Impact of Wal-Mart on the US Economy
With over 5,300 stores in the United States, Wal-Mart has become one of the fastest growing retail chains in the United States (Rossi, 2005). Their many stores are not hard to find as you travel along many of the highways in the United States. With low prices and great deals it has become very difficult not to resist the inviting people greeting you at the door and massive signs that draw you to buy from their stores.
Since the opening of its first store in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1962, Wal-Mart has gradually spread from its starting point in the South and Midwest to dominate the suburban and rural retail market across the United States. Having effectively taken over these markets, Wal-Mart’s most profitable opportunities for growth are now outside the United States. However, the company has also begun to move aggressively into those more densely populated cities that have so far been off limits, either for lack of space or due to local policies, which do not allow large companies like Wal-Mart to build new stores in these areas because of its negative impact on small businesses and the local economy (Wal-Mart, 2010).
There has been plenty of research done on the impact of Wal-Mart stores on local and national economies to including jobs, taxes, wages, benefits, manufacturing and existing retail businesses. Most of the research has shown that Wal-Mart lowers area wages and labor benefits contributing to the current which have made good middle class jobs decline. With lowering wages Wal-Mart pushes out retail jobs more than they actuality create and the results also show more retail store are closing their doors. There has been no indication that smaller Wal-Mart stores scattered throughout a dense city will in any way diminish these negative trends. Rather, such developments may actually result in more widespread economic disruption (Wal-Mart Facts Sheet, 2010).
Every time a new Wal-Mart store opens it kills three
With over 5,300 stores in the United States, Wal-Mart has become one of the fastest growing retail chains in the United States (Rossi, 2005). Their many stores are not hard to find as you travel along many of the highways in the United States. With low prices and great deals it has become very difficult not to resist the inviting people greeting you at the door and massive signs that draw you to buy from their stores.
Since the opening of its first store in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1962, Wal-Mart has gradually spread from its starting point in the South and Midwest to dominate the suburban and rural retail market across the United States. Having effectively taken over these markets, Wal-Mart’s most profitable opportunities for growth are now outside the United States. However, the company has also begun to move aggressively into those more densely populated cities that have so far been off limits, either for lack of space or due to local policies, which do not allow large companies like Wal-Mart to build new stores in these areas because of its negative impact on small businesses and the local economy (Wal-Mart, 2010).
There has been plenty of research done on the impact of Wal-Mart stores on local and national economies to including jobs, taxes, wages, benefits, manufacturing and existing retail businesses. Most of the research has shown that Wal-Mart lowers area wages and labor benefits contributing to the current which have made good middle class jobs decline. With lowering wages Wal-Mart pushes out retail jobs more than they actuality create and the results also show more retail store are closing their doors. There has been no indication that smaller Wal-Mart stores scattered throughout a dense city will in any way diminish these negative trends. Rather, such developments may actually result in more widespread economic disruption (Wal-Mart Facts Sheet, 2010).
Every time a new Wal-Mart store opens it kills three