false 4 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 13 01:53:45 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 25 14:11:27 -0700 2007
You're going to learn a lot about Wal-Mart reading this book. If you're in a hurry, much of the writing is anecdotal and you can skip over quite a bit. Important studies that actually give you concrete information are discussed in Chapters 6 and 7.

The author shops at wal-mart, the very first paragraph starts on a positive note for the corporation. However, it will become evident that the book is written in a bias against wal-mart. Unfortunately, much of this bias ends up in sentimental writing and omissions of scholarly knowledge. For example, the general consensus in the greater world of Economics is that trading overseas is generally more beneficial than closing doors to international trade. Regardless whether this is true, Fishman neglects to even mention (and then counter) such arguments. So I am left without further insight in this area, and then suspicious of what other omissions there are that are giving me only a partial view of the issues.

Statistics are often explained to us rather than given to us - at times he compares categories, but you can't understand the comparison unless you look at the original source because he doesn't explain what each category means. He cites, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Toward the end of the book Fishman asks a question I was wondering since page 1 - how much better is to to shop at other stores (ie. best buy, target, sears,etc.) He does absolutely nothing to answer this question - he only mentions it because it is indeed an important question. Despite his inability to answer many such questions he raises, he does encourage and call for others to research these. Fishman has definitely convinced me that Wal-Mart is a phenomenon that ought to be studied before it's too late (i would say kinda like global warming.)

There is a chapter titled "The Power of Pennies." Yes, consumers have some control with how they spend their dollars. This chapter does nothing to enlighten the reader on what would be a wiser purchase (or even non-purchase) with one's money. While that isn't the intent of this book, he insists repeatedly that Wal-Mart is an unstoppable force, showing that even people who have been screwed over by Wal-Mart still shop there. He repeatedly states that there is nothing to do but shop there. How is it that I've been in a Wal-Mart maybe five times in my ENTIRE LIFE, yet have always lived in the states? Clearly it is not a necessary practice to shop at Wal-Mart - if people can afford X-Boxes and iPods, they can afford the extra pennies. While Fishman does mention Starbucks - who makes a business doing the exact opposite of Wal-Mart (raising prices versus lowering), yet omits any tools or ideas we can draw from this (rather brief) comparison.

All in all, quite enlightening, but like most books I read such as this one, I am highly skeptical when the reasoning is not all that logical and there are clear omissions that the reader either will be unaware of or, if aware of them, be irritated by.]]>