good thing?

[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 ...