WalMart: Friend or Foe?
Wal-Mart: Friend or Foe?
Wal-Mart has branded stores in all 50 states and in over 27 countries. Wal-Mart started with humble roots in 1962 by Sam Walton in the small town of Bentonville, Arkansas. Within thirty years, the small local discount retailer grew to one of the largest retail companies in the United States of America. Now it stands as the largest retailer in the world. As the largest retailer, Wal-Mart has gained many detractors. In "The Case for Wal-Mart," Karen De Coster and Brad Edmonds recognize how people “like to attack bigness” (632). Many believe Wal-Mart offers low wage jobs with few employee benefits, discriminates against women, and among many other issues, doesn’t give back to the community (631). In contrast to the constant barrage negative attacks, Wal-Mart proves beneficial to the community. Wal-Mart prides itself on being an equal opportunity employer to such a degree it has the most diverse group of employees anyone can imagine. Most Wal-Mart stores are the anchor that provides a steady stream of consumers to other much small businesses in the area. Beyond providing quality jobs for the people in and around the store, Wal-Mart brings convenience, lower prices, and provides help to those in need. The quality jobs that come with a Wal-Mart store provide employment and income to the members of the local community. A small retailer is most likely a family run business offering only a few jobs with little upward growth for those employees. In comparison, a single Wal-Mart store may offer around five hundred jobs. While most of the jobs are low wage jobs, Wal-Mart is not much different that other retailers (De Coster and Edmonds 632). However, those jobs at Wal-Mart come with competitive wages and comparable benefit packages to other retail businesses. With over a million employees, a motivated Wal-Mart employee has many opportunities for job growth within the department, store, and corporation. Working a low level job at Wal-Mart will
Wal-Mart has branded stores in all 50 states and in over 27 countries. Wal-Mart started with humble roots in 1962 by Sam Walton in the small town of Bentonville, Arkansas. Within thirty years, the small local discount retailer grew to one of the largest retail companies in the United States of America. Now it stands as the largest retailer in the world. As the largest retailer, Wal-Mart has gained many detractors. In "The Case for Wal-Mart," Karen De Coster and Brad Edmonds recognize how people “like to attack bigness” (632). Many believe Wal-Mart offers low wage jobs with few employee benefits, discriminates against women, and among many other issues, doesn’t give back to the community (631). In contrast to the constant barrage negative attacks, Wal-Mart proves beneficial to the community. Wal-Mart prides itself on being an equal opportunity employer to such a degree it has the most diverse group of employees anyone can imagine. Most Wal-Mart stores are the anchor that provides a steady stream of consumers to other much small businesses in the area. Beyond providing quality jobs for the people in and around the store, Wal-Mart brings convenience, lower prices, and provides help to those in need. The quality jobs that come with a Wal-Mart store provide employment and income to the members of the local community. A small retailer is most likely a family run business offering only a few jobs with little upward growth for those employees. In comparison, a single Wal-Mart store may offer around five hundred jobs. While most of the jobs are low wage jobs, Wal-Mart is not much different that other retailers (De Coster and Edmonds 632). However, those jobs at Wal-Mart come with competitive wages and comparable benefit packages to other retail businesses. With over a million employees, a motivated Wal-Mart employee has many opportunities for job growth within the department, store, and corporation. Working a low level job at Wal-Mart will
Cited: De Coster, Karen and Brad Edmonds. “The Case for Wal-Mart.” Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. 11th ed. Ed. Laurie and Stephen R. Mandell. New York: Bedford, 2010. 631-634. Print.