-Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world.
-Its a $244 billion dollar business (FY 2003) that employs 1.3 million people in the USA and creates 1 out of every 20 jobs.
-It has some 4700 stores worldwide, 3000 and growing in the USA
-It sells 19% of all grocery store food in the US
-It controls 30% of the US staples market (paper towels, toothpaste etc) and plans to increase that to 50% by 2010
-It handles 16% of all pharmacy drug sales in the US and plans to increase that to 25% by 2008
-A full-time job at Wal-Mart is 34 hrs per week
-Salary for sales 'associate' is about $8.23/hr ($13,861/yr)
-Salary for cashier is about $7.92/hr ($11,948/yr)
-Wal-Mart could pay each employee a dollar more per hour if the company increased its prices by a half-penny per dollar. For example, a $2.00 pair of socks would then cost $2.01. This minimal increase would annually add up to $1,800 for each employee.
-Wal-Mart is good for lawyers, they were sued 4851 times in the year 2000 and have thousands of open cases
-Wal-Mart sees citizen organized opposition to 1 in 3 proposed new stores
You can think of it as the American equivalent of the British East India Company which pretty much ruled the world at one time
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Yes, Wal-mart is big. But how did they get there? By using what Al Norman calls "corporate welfare." Norman in his book "The Case Against Wal-Mart" tells a story about our own Governor Pataki! Governor Pataki showed up in Johnstown, New York to give Wal-Mart 1) a 650,000 captal grant, 2) a 250,000 employee training grant, 3) up to 1 million in roadway improvements and 4) sales tax abatements and funding for water and facility improvements provided gratis by the Fulton County Industrial Development Agency.
(Norman, page 89.) Wal-Mart didn't need this money. But they took it from Pataki and they take it from many others. The problem with this is the "little guy" gets ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! If a small business owner asked for this kind of money they would be denied. Is the system fair? Absolutely not! Wal-Mart should be paying their fair share like everyone else. If they want to come in, let them pay for any improvements that are necessary. One of the reasons Wal-mart is so big is because of corporate welfare. It's time to stop this! Let them use their own money to build!
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