First, it was Jobs and that Wal-Mart pushes out small business.
Who is it going to push out? What companies are going to shut down if Wal-Mart comes to town? Dretzkas, a used bike shop, a used appliance store and a Laundromat? Is it just empty fear?
Can somebody, anybody, tell me who is Wal-Mart going to run out, especially downtown? I walked the shops and didn’t see one that will be knocked out.
30 Minute Photo, Acme Electronics, Cudahy TV & Monitor Services, Dretzkas Department Store, Radioshack, Supreme Cellular, Walgreen’s, Packard Plaza Barber Shop, CVS, Dunham’s
Now these places may or may not see some loss: Radioshack, Walgreen’s, CVS, Dunham’s, Fishing Hole, Pick n save, K-Mart, Merchandise outlet, Aldi, Family Dollar. Big Lots (oh, they are gone already)
If we don’t let Wal-Mart in, will that make everything better? High paying jobs will come to Cudahy?
I wish high paying jobs for unskilled workers were around. It is no longer the 60’s anymore, where you could drop out of high school and get a job like that. People need skills today. I am tired of people talking as if everyone that works at Wal-Mart is the sole provider for the family. Most families are dual income. Many of these types of jobs supplement other income or are for those still in school. Even though the perception for Wal-Mart is employing single or unmarried persons with three kids, not all of the employees at Wal-Mart fit these two categories, which, by the way, the persons who do fit those categories are thankful for Wal-Mart being in their area so they have a job!
Then because Wal-Mart finds products outside the U.S.
I love how people let the manufacturers off the hook and it is the big, bad Wal-Mart that is at fault. Is this all about items only sold at Wal-Mart?
But, to their credit, they have developed an extremely efficient supply chain structure, one that has become a model for other businesses, and this has propelled them to the number one retailer in the world. That sounds like someone admiring Wal-Mart, doesn’t it? Understand that idealism is not always concordant with business realities. Is Wal-Mart a Monopoly? Is this not Capitalism? Everyone except the government is in business to make money. Is it fair for a store to charge customers $1.99 for a can of cat food, where another store sells it for $2.99? Ask people living way up north how much things cost when your nearest store is 80 miles away.
History lesson -
Migration of manufacturing jobs from the U.S. to China and other East Asian countries. That is what is happening from the 1990’s to today. Anyone remember the 80’s when Mexico was all the rage? Automakers moved down there in droves. Remember the 70’s, it was Taiwan and Hong Kong? Remember the 60’s it was Japan?
Anyone see a business cycle? Manufacturing jobs move to where the employee cost is the cheapest, then move on to the next. You can ship in cheap raw goods from anywhere, but labor costs are different. Would you like to know once the standard of living increases in China and workers get paid more where the companies will move to? To the countries in Africa which are less developed.
As I dust off my economics book, it is all because of “comparative advantage.” Is a Ford car made in Mexico American or is a Toyota car made in Tennessee American? Are both or neither? What about Toyota’s business practices where just last year a man died at a plant after working over 48 hours straight with no breaks? Does it matter?
Then it was Wal-Mart that does not increase the standard of living
The standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people, and the way these goods and services are distributed within a population. It is generally measured by standards such as income inequality, poverty rate, real (i.e. inflation adjusted) income per person. Other measures such as accessibility and quality of health care, educational standards and social rights are often used too. Examples are access to certain goods (such as number of refrigerators per 1000 people), or measures of health such as life expectancy. It is the ease by which people living in a time or place are able to satisfy their wants.
Having a Wal-Mart in Cudahy would, by definition, increase the standard of living. Wal-Mart is not replacing jobs, but adding jobs and the availability of goods.
BadgerCare and Wal-Mart Health Benefits – Came under attack.
2004 BadgerCare 1,813 employees & dependents $1.8 million 1st
2004 Medicaid 1,952 children (incl. above) 1st
2005 BadgerCare 1,252 workers & dependents $2.7 million 1st
I hope you didn’t miss an important part - workers & dependents
Year 2005
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=328286
The biggest employer of BadgerCare recipients was Wal-Mart, which had 809 of its employees
According to the state analysis, Wal-Mart had 897 workers enrolled in BadgerCare in March and a total of 1,673 when family members are included. That's down slightly from 904 employees and a total of 1,699 in March 2006.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=623312
Notice family members vs. workers
In June 2007, the state Department of Health and Family Services posted an updated list of Wisconsin employers with the largest number of employees (or their dependents) participating in BadgerCare, the state’s health insurance program for low-income working families. At the top of the list was Wal-Mart (largest Wisconsin job provider at estimated 30,000 jobs), which had 897 employees enrolled, plus an additional 776 dependents. The Department projected the annual cost to the state of those enrollees at $3.7 million. Other employers at the top of the list were McDonald’s (248 employees; 149 dependents), the non-profit healthcare provider Aurora (193; 162), and home improvement chain Menard (163; 184). The 116 employers with 15 or more employees on BadgerCare were said to cost the state a total of $23.9 million a year.
So for those upset, don’t shop Wal-Mart, Meanards or eat at McDonalds or see a doctor at Aurora!
In case you don’t get the Milwaukee Journal or missed it in Wednesdays 1-23-08 business section here is the link:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=710228
Here is a recap:
Wal-Mart says 93% of workers are insured
Wal-Mart said that 79% of its work force - or almost 1.1 million full-time and part-time associates - were eligible for health benefits in its most recent enrollment period. That contrasts with 57% of workers in the retail sector.
From Muskegonow.com
Wal-Mart is generous
There are others in the community who defend Wal-Mart and favor building the supercenter in the city. Dennis Koehler Sr. praised the company for its donations to civic organizations and charities.
"Wal-Mart takes very good care of its employees," Koehler said, noting his wife is a department manager at a Wal-Mart. "They move a lot of people up and there are bonuses."
Target matches Wal-Mart prescription drug program
Source
Wal-Mart said in a release that Wal-Mart Stores, Neighborhood Market and Sam's Club pharmacies would now fill prescriptions for as many as 350 generic medications at $10 for a 90-day supply.
A spokeswoman for Target said that the retailer "understands the challenges guests are facing in the current economic environment."
In 2006, when Wal-Mart launched its $4 generic prescription drug program, Target followed suit a few days later.
So look who the leader is.
I am also so tired of people finding a single or exception to how back Wal-Mart is to employees. Here is what Target did: TARGET CORP. TO PAY $95,000, IMPLEMENT TRAINING FOR FAILURE TO ACCOMMODATE DISABLED WORKER
Source
How about Costco – Just don’t be a woman looking for advancement
On January 12, 2007, the Court granted Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification and certified a class consisting of all current and former female CostCo employees nationwide who have been denied promotion to General Manager or Assistant Manager or denied promotions to Senior Staff positions since January 3, 2002.
Source
Any and every large company will at some point have problems. Those that use thing like that are a weak argument and anyone with intelligence understands that.
It was show me success stories.
In Pewaukee, a Kohl’s grocery store was built with additional space for several small retail shops. Only a couple of those small shops were filled and after a couple years, then Kohl’s groceries were gone. Pick-n-Save took over that store and still only a couple small shops.
Then a Wal-Mart was coming! The small shops began to get occupants as new proprietors banked their success on the Wal-Mart traffic! An out-lot building was put up for a nice coffee shop and other businesses. Then the Wal-Mart hate crew showed up and almost put these small businesses out of business. The “I don’t like Wal-Mart – so you should not have a Wal-Mart” people held up the new store so long, it almost bankrupt at least one store owner that I personally know, others did not make it, likely for the same reason.
The Wal-Mart is in and the shops are full or almost full. More strip malls and restaurants keep popping up. Now an office supply store and large Rec-Room store and Bw3 are a couple blocks away. Pewaukee is thriving!
Do you want to know about Delafield at HY83 and I94? How about Onalaska near Lacrosse or the 2-3 year old store on the south side of LaCrosse, or I94 exit 89 at the Dells. These are stores that I frequent and have seen the businesses boom around. Wal-Mart is good for business and the community and Muskego.
So many of you have said show me a thriving community, the proof is all around us.
Just look around Germantown, Delafield, Pewaukee, West Bend, Mukwonago, and the list goes on. As long as you look at the suburb Wal-Mart’s and not the ones in Milwaukee, you will see how well Wal-Mart can work. Would you call those place dirty non-upscale cities? I would feel safe living in any of those just as I do in Cudahy.
Just for Cudahy it was – Mayor McCue’s campaign platform was “NO” Wal-Mart!
Show me where it says that he still has it up http://ryanmccue.com/Platform.html
What it really says is: Wal-Mart: I do not think that the City of Cudahy should provide a $12 million tax subsidy to the world’s biggest retailer. Residents may not even see the tax benefits from the development for 20 years.
Add I agree that Wal-Mart doesn’t get a TIF, and they are not! So if he was campaigning on NO Wal-Mart it is not there!
What does McCue want on the Ice Port Site?
He has said offices and a convention center. While talking to Elizabeth Sanders in the
The Business Journal of Milwaukee on May 16, 2008 - Cudahy is ready for hotel, convention center Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue is making the case.
If you remember Continental Properties' proposal includes both.
Show me a Big-box retailer has economic benefit
From the J/S
WAL-MART
Big-box retailer has economic benefit
Letter writer Pamela Fendt made several incorrect assumptions about Wal-Mart ("Don't welcome store," May 13).
She incorrectly stated that Wal-Mart is using the state's publicly funded health insurance, BadgerCare. This program is not used by stores. It is set up for individuals. Being a Wal-Mart employee is not an eligibility requirement for BadgerCare, which is based on income and other factors. These folks would be getting BadgerCare whether or not they worked for Wal-Mart.
While it's true that Wal-Mart has used public subsidies, Fendt ignored all the revenue it brings to the state through sales taxes. Without taxes, BadgerCare would not exist.
The claim is made that for every job Wal-Mart creates, 1.4 retail jobs are eliminated in the local economy. Economists have questioned this claim. At the University of Missouri, economist Emek Basker found that a Wal-Mart's move into a community increases employment.
We shouldn't forget the jobs created indirectly from Wal-Mart's distribution network. Many local businesses buy supplies from Sam's Club.
Successful economies are diverse. Big-box retailers like Wal-Mart contribute to that diversity.
It was look at Crime and the substation
The Franklin PD asked Wal-Mart to put it in – Again asked and answered before. The reason was not because of Wal-Mart the reason was just a location so they did not have to drive all the way to hwy 100, so yes, you knew the answer. Call and ask the Police Captain. I am glad you know more then the real police of Franklin. Was this crime reports you have show just the Wal-Mart crime with the criminals stating how bad Wal-Mart is? My parents live just 10 blocks from it in Franklin. Come on, check with the police Captain or Chief! Call them. Even the Cudahy city people know the answer, they have called.
Any business is a magnet for crime. Look at all the bank robberies. Should we close all the banks? Common sense should prevail.
Then it was I was not asked for the Wal-Mart
You can’t for the life of you remember being asked by anyone what I think about the Wal-Mart/Wave proposal? Mainly you were asked at the open public meetings. The Mayor did/does not want it to be a referendum on it. It was asked of him to do so!
Next Wal-Mart did send out a lit drop about the Wal-Mart. By the way, over 80% of Wisconsinites shop at Wal-Mart and the number is about the same from Cudahy. Most of the time Wal-Marts get the approval in a referendum. Just look it up!
It will hurt Cudahy’s Image
I don’t think Wal-Mart neither hurts or helps Cudahy's reputation among the south shore suburbs nor does anything to hurt Cudahy’s image. Does Wal-Mart hurt Germantown’s image? If you answer it honestly, you know it does not, just as Wal-Mart will not hurt Cudahy’s. The Wal-Mart has not hurt Germantown. No effect. So for you only way to look at it is will it improve. Sorry it doesn’t work both ways. One way or the other. Wal-Mart has no effect. (By the way, what is this “Cudahy Image” you are afraid of hurting?????)
Cudahy’s Imagine right now is what bars and the smell from Patrick Cudahy?
What is the image of Cudahy? Some think of the amount of bars we have, the smell of Patrick Cudahy, industrial, the parks, crime, a city losing companies and people, old, poor, dying, trucks, aged, old JC Penney’s outlet store, dirty, high taxes, pay loan, used car lots, and tariff free zone. That is the comments I have received while traveling around the metro Milwaukee are asking people.
Why is Wal-Mart okay for Delafield, Pewaukee, Germantown, Mukwonago, Muskego, and Franklin’s image? Do you think the Mayor of those cities feels the same as Mayor McCue? Has McCue even talked to his counterparts? By the way, all of those cities have higher income levels then Cudahy! Is that not what we are trying to achieve? Maybe having a Wal-Mart and increasing the standard of living has something to do with it.
Wal-Mart’s image is in harmony with Cudahy! Both working classes. My brother-in-law lives in a $750,000 home in Germantown and doesn’t feel Wal-Mart degrades his city. He loves to shop and save money. When you think of Germantown or Franklin, honestly, do you think of Wal-Mart? Does Wal-Mart even represent a city’s image?
As I have said before, the community makes the store, not the store makes the community.
If you look at the story, “City's image needs a boost before shoppers will come”
http://www.cudahynow.com/story/index.aspx?id=729610
It states “Area business owners shared ideas for promoting economic growth in Cudahy, including opening a movie theater, a national-franchise restaurant and a name-brand outlet mall.”
I am positive the wording outlet mall just scares and makes Mayor McCue cringe. If we are trying to improve, our image will and outlet mall that sells – scratch and dents, seconds, discontinued items improve our image?
How is Wal-Mart not coming to town going to help our image? What about the crime and amount of bars and problem bars, oh wait Mayor McCue when asked about the problems presented by taverns, McCue pointed to the charitable work and team sponsorships of many bars and chuckled and said the city has "a very fine police department" to take care of any problems.
So if you think bars are a problem in Cudahy McCue doesn’t!!!!!!!!!!
Why does Cudahy need a Wal-Mart?
Cudahy needs the convenience. Why do we need gas stations in Cudahy? The Supercenter part draws from just 4 miles away. Retail stores look at 7-9 mile radius. Choices!!! Economic increases as people drive into and around Cudahy. Sales Tax and revenue.
Here is what it really is about – Unions, more correctly, lack of unions
The biggest problem people have is it is non-union. Period!
Chicago was held up as the bright and shinny land.
Chicago doing well? You really mean the burbs right?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5069992/
Alderman Emma Mitts countered that people in her West Side ward need the jobs that Wal-Mart can bring.
"Take a ride in my area and see what I am dealing with day in and day out. There's a lack of jobs and opportunity," she said.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=19286
The new Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location opening Friday in suburban Evergreen Park received a record 25,000 applications for 325 positions, the highest for any one location in the retailer’s history, a company official says.
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/03/chicago-gets-hi.html
Chicago Gets Highest Sales Tax in U.S.: 10.25%
Most of Chicago’s Wal-Mart issues are again union. Large grocery unions. That is why the size limit was place in Chicago. Always comes back to unions. Dems/libs for Reps/con against. Why have all of this pretence with claims of other things. That is the issue. Just say it!
The real big problem for Dems/libs is Wal-Mart would rather close a store then let it unionize. I wish people could just come out and say the real reason.
The biggest problem people have is it is non-union. Period! That is the biggest hang-up. That is why libs hate it. It took all that just to get to the real problem.
Would you have been happy with Target?
Yes. I would rather have Wal-Mart to save money, more money then Target. Yes, I would have been happy if it were Target as well. I don’t love Wal-Mart. I am a supporter, but to say I “love Wal-Mart” is not correct.
If this Wal-Mart doesn’t happen, the lawsuit from Sportsite IS REAL! Sportsite WILL follow through, it is not just talk. McCue has backed Cudahy in a corner. Most of you “No” Wal-Mart people just don’t understand it was a vote on land use not Wal-Mart. As a whole, you are just happy that the vote was NO without understanding it was wrong for the agenda. Even the Great Greg Kowalski who champions himself on procedures and government correct-fullness in Franklin is taking a blind eye to the fact the vote was wrong for the agenda. He was just happy to was shot down.
FYI did all you know that the majority of our hospital employees with our big corporate healthcare's we have here in Milwaukee county can NOT afford their companies healthcare, The dietary and EVS employees at Columbia-St Mary's, Aurora, Wheaton, Pro Health, and Froedtert Hospital /Community Memorial, along with Advanced Healthcare, their dietary aids, evs aids if not out sourced like Advances are so their even paid less) and even white collar office jobs are paid so POORLY that they can't afford their own companies health insurance, so JUST don't point fingers at WAL MART, our healthcare corporations right here in Southeastern WI are just as bad if not more, the only high paid are NURSES , MANAGERS, DIRECTORS, and Doctors. Each CEO at each hospital corporation is making over a million a YEAR, so just don't say it's Wal-Mart there are plenty of working people who are low so low they can't afford to BUY the insurance their companies offer.......WAKE up, unless you are one of the overpaid teachers or nurses who can afford this- Kerry, Cudahy
