good thing?

[nightprowler]

what do you think...good, bad, or somewhere in between?
http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/25/news...tune/index.htm

[piemma]

Well, I read the whole article and, unless I mis-read something, this is the first instance I have heard of where Wal-Mart is actually promoting ecology. GOOD FOR THEM!!! and good for us and the fish of the future.

[zacs]

I will say that in theory, on the surface, it is a good thing. But I really don't belive it will help much. I think that it is more PR and in the end walmart will value lower costs more than anything...

[Swimmer]

It has to benefit the company more....

[Sluggoslinger]

In the end they'll probably drive the price down and have the fisherman working for them for minimum wage and no health benifits following a million little Wal-Mart rules. They'll have to wash their hands before returning to the deck...

Its a really complicated argument but I don't like what wal-mart has done to the country. They may sell for less and bring allot of convenience to the market but nothing beats the mom and pop stores.

This is just some PR B.S. before they rape the alaskan fisherman of their freedom.

[gone fishin]

I agree - PR all the way. Did anyone hear that Wally world is unionizing in the orient ?? China I think. They are fighting Unions here in the US of A constantly. After all it would be a killer if they had to pay union wages and bennies! That would also insure that the green cards were legit and the senior citizens they hire would get more than enough hours to produce bennies for them.

Maybe China refuses to sell or supply them without the unions.

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by zacs

I will say that in theory, on the surface, it is a good thing. But I really don't belive it will help much. I think that it is more PR and in the end walmart will value lower costs more than anything...

bingo.. bottom line is that walmart hurts small businesses, people loose jobs because of them, etc..

walmart sucks.

[spence]

In general it's a good thing. What Wal-Mart does have is an ultra streamlined supply-chain and a tremendous amount of leverage.

The more the consumer behavior can drive better species management, the better off we'll be.

But in the end, you have to question how an expanding potental for demand (via more stores) is really sustainable, given that the typical Wal-Mart shopper is very price adverse, where as the typical Whole Foods shopper doesn't really care...they just want good fish.

-spence

[Finaddict]

All I can say is be leary of WalMart ... as discussed above, the company does not do anything that does not benefit the company/company management. IMHO, WalMart getting into the seafood business - trying to dictate terms to the fishermen is a bad thing. While the company is not currently dictating rules to fishermen, look at what they did with RFID (radio frequency identification) software ... it hurts a lot of smaller players and has built up an entire industry -- but a small one at that.

Also, they have pharmacies and some have mini medical clinics -- which are a good thing for the average person who cannot afford exhorbitant costs of healthcare ... and now WalMart is going to have a banking arm ... yes, they will be competition to local banks.

The company is so big, they are sticking their tentacles into everything ... watch out ... it will not likely help the average person in the long run ...