From: Walter Watts (wlwatts@home.com)
Date: Sun Jan 27 2002 - 02:28:15 MST
The excerpt between the lines is from the full article that appears
below it.
It appears the "American Dream" is turning into a retail-wage nightmare
of singular, cookie-cutter behemoths that subordinate a living wage for
its employees for profits.
Walter
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"It's a real symbol of the restructuring of the American economy, where
we used to have relatively high-paying industrial jobs. I don't see this
as a great sign of what is happening in the economy. It is a situation
where it leaves the workers with lower wages and less (union) leverage,"
said Jennifer Warlick, a professor at Notre Dame University in South
Bend, Indiana, who specializes in labor economics.
Will staff at Wal-Mart's low-key headquarters celebrate their ascension
to No. 1?
"No matter what unfolds people will probably just keep on working,"
spokesman Tom Williams said.
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Wal-Mart Looks Ready to Top Fortune 500
Saturday January 26, 11:19 AM EST
By Andrew Stern
CHICAGO (Reuters) - In a sign of the service sector's growing sway, the
world's No. 1 retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), is poised to top the
list of the world's biggest companies, bumping aside oil industry giant
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM).
Fortune magazine's annual list of the largest companies in the world
comes out in April, but 48-week sales data for Wal-Mart project it to
have recorded in excess of $220 billion in 2001 revenues, topping Exxon
Mobil's revenues by roughly $7 billion.
Some economists suggested Wal-Mart's steady climb up the Fortune 500
list in recent years -- it has been ranked No. 2 the last two years --
indicated it might not be dethroned anytime soon, given its growth
plans.
Wal-Mart's revenues grew 20 percent annually over the 1990s, and it
plans $10 billion in capital spending in
2002, adding stores around the world.
Also not hurting the Benton, Arkansas-based retailer's prospects was
Kmart's bankruptcy this week, creating fresh opportunities for Wal-Mart
to lure price-conscious shoppers.
Fortune magazine predicted back in April 2000, that Wal-Mart would soon
top its list of revenue-producers. Up until 1995, retailers were ranked
on a separate list from industrial companies, but the rankings have
since been merged.
Industrial giant General Motors Corp. (GM), which has topped Fortune's
top spot 36 times since 1954, is faced with global competition in all
its markets, while Wal-Mart's competition is generally seen as local.
Exxon, prior to its merger with Mobil, grabbed Fortune's top spot from
GM from 1974 to 1976 and from 1979 to
1984. But revenues at Exxon Mobil were hurt by the fall in gasoline
prices and a recessionary drop in demand. Bankrupt energy trader Enron
Corp. (ENRNQ) is sure to drop off Fortune's list, after reaching No. 7
last year.
A spokeswoman at the magazine said researchers were not sure yet how
this year's list would shake out.
PRICE IS KING
"(Wal-Mart's likely rise to No. 1) reflects the changes in consumer
spending patterns, and changes in ways of doing business ... that brings
new leaders to the fore and puts old leaders back in the pack," said
Robert Dederick, an economic consultant with Northern Trust Co.
Dederick cited Wal-Mart's exploitation of technology to manage its
business as a model for rivals.
Retail experts said Wal-Mart's blossoming showed that its discounting
strategy fit with consumers' obsession with value.
"I call it the power of price," said Robert Blattberg of Northwestern
University's Kellogg Graduate School of Business. "In the old days, it
mattered where you bought the product. Now retailers are finding
consumers want the best price no matter what the store."
As to what it means for the global economy to have a discount retailer
No. 1, at least one economist said it boded ill for workers in the
expanding service sector.
"It's a real symbol of the restructuring of the American economy, where
we used to have relatively high-paying industrial jobs. I don't see this
as a great sign of what is happening in the economy. It is a situation
where it leaves the workers with lower wages and less (union) leverage,"
said Jennifer Warlick, a professor at Notre Dame University in South
Bend, Indiana, who specializes in labor economics.
Will staff at Wal-Mart's low-key headquarters celebrate their ascension
to No. 1?
"No matter what unfolds people will probably just keep on working,"
spokesman Tom Williams said.
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