Feel free to expound.

My apologies. I thought it was "If I don't like you, I advocate boming, killing, etc, etc, night.".

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Gotta say I agree. I love food and beer. The way I see it, if I refuse to drink ****ty beer (like bud/coors etc), then why the heck should I eat crap?

However, I also envy people that don't have my discriminating palate and can handle microwaved dinners. Sure would save me a couple of hours every evening and a big mess for my wife to clean. To each his own!

Products can be made to a lower spec for certain outlets but won't/shouldn't have the same part number. It can be confusing if products roll up to a common model name or number. The Acme 500 might have part number 12345 (e.g., shorter warranty) for Target and 12354 (e.g., batteries not included) for K-Mart.

Some products of equal spec have different part numbers for different stores, regions, etc. to prevent price matching claims and black/gray market transfers.

Sixto
87 300D

Did anyone catch this week's episode of Leverage?

http://www.tv.com/shows/leverage/the-low-low-price-job-2581142/

Sixto
87 300D

Sure. I do have some products that we get "private label". Mom worked for Sta-Rite which is now owned by Pentair. They made pumps for everyone who wanted. Some were made to lower spec with plastic parts but the Sta-Rite ones were all brass, IIRC, internals.

My point was that if you bought an Acme 400 at Wal*Mart. it is the same as an Acme 400 at Target or whomever. Obviously, if you buy and Acme 400-A, we could be talking about a totally different product than an Acme 400. My old laptop was an Asus G50 series. There was G50VG, G50V, G50VT and G50Vt (Best Buy) and G50Vt-2D. I would imagine they are similar but different.

I would say it is up to the buyer to shop carefully. I found a place that promised to match prices but since the model was different, they wouldn't match it. Called the manufacturer and asked what the difference was. Pretty simple, they said. If we send it to A1, we slap an "XYZ" label on it. Go to Slumberland and we slap an "ABC" label on it. Specs were exactly the same though which got me questioning and calling the factory.

Like everything else, the buyer has to be careful. Could it, as you say be a lower spec made for Wal*Mart as outside? DEFINITELY. Only careful inspection will tell. I have yet to encounter anything that is from Wal*Mart with the same, not similar, same model number as something outside that is made to a different spec. I have found several items that a SIMILAR, not same, SIMILAR to what is outside but made to a lower spec but those have different model numbers.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Yup, the John Deere D170 26HP V-twin 54" riding mower is model number BG20657 at Home Depot and BG20663 at Lowe's.

Sixto
87 300D

If I see that, my assumption that those are 3 different models and should be evaluated differently and not considered the same. Similar, yes. Same, no. Same class as a knockoff Rolex. Looks similar but NOT the same. I don't assume that because it looks similar it is the same. That is something I tend to be sticky about. When someone says it is the same, I always ask if it is EXACTLY the same or not. To me, when you say "alternative", I expect it to be roughly similar. So as an example, when you say that the BP station is an alternative to Citgo, I expect them to be within say a quarter mile of each other and not one her and the other 20 miles away.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

The link I provided indicated it was the entire package, not just salary.

I have no ideal of when the period ended that sales employees of walmart became millionairs on the stocks gifted to them by the company. They must have been some consternation by others at the time.

When the wife was in the hospital for about ten days we existed on TV dinners for suppers. Nothing was mentioned to me during the time. Yet you should have heard the complaints about me once she got home.

It was just expediant for me and even I can manage to microwave something. The first night I burnt some meat and asked them if they had ever had inside barbeque before. They did not really buy it so I switched over to the TV dinners.

Walmart will not be going union any time soon. There are too many ppl that will fill Walmart's jobs for what they will pay. If any individual doesn't want to continue working at Walmart, they will easily be replaced. No one is forcing these ppl to work for Walmart. If they were able to better themselves in pay, they would already be working elsewhere. Just a hunch, but perhaps they aren't qualified to work or be hired elsewhere, is why many are not leaving.

__________________
'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Around here alot of them were union employees at one point for the aircraft industry. For fairly unskilled jobs one worker could make enough to provide for their family, live well, and then some. Now even if both parents work at Walmart they might scrape up 35k a year. That's what kids were making right out of high school going into aircraft assembly line jobs less than ten years ago. Neither was or is now a sustainable pattern.

Walmart needs to smarten up and realize underpaying their workers isn't worth it. Now they have employees organizing and the government mandating them to provide benefits. They eventually lose control and they end up paying anyway.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Then perhaps it is time for those affected to change themselves to something better?

Are you sure they are underpaying them? Considering the quality and loyalty of the workers, I think it isn't.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Employees covered by company health insurance
Costco 82%
Wal-Mart 48%

Insurance-enrollment waiting periods (for part-time workers)
Costco 6 months
Wal-Mart 2 years

Portion of health-care premium paid by company
Costco 92%
Wal-Mart 66%

Annual worker turnover rate
Costco 24%
Wal-Mart 50%

Costco pays starting employees at least $10 an hour, and with regular raises a full-time hourly worker can make $40,000 annually within 3.5 years. Cashiers are paid $10.50 to $17.50 an hour.

Costco also pays 92% of its employees' health-insurance premiums, much higher than the 80% average at large U.S. companies. Wal-Mart pays two-thirds of health-benefit costs for its workers. Costco's health plan offers a broader range of care than Wal-Mart's does, and part-time Costco workers qualify for coverage in six months, compared with two years for Wal-Mart part-timers.

Costco Employment & Careers - Costco Hourly Wage & Benefits

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

There are many facets to this wallmart issue. One concern of mine is if some or many of the employees are being substidized by the public purse to exist. Welfare top ups to living standards for example do exist but are not discussed much.

There is little doubt that wallmart is a very wealthy corporation with sizable earnings and gains of many other natures every year. I hope taxpayers are not having to contribute to their employee cost through their taxes.

It must be an absolute nightmare to try to squeeze by in some areas on what they pay. Also people that are reluctant to move away to areas where there are more available living wage jobs or cannot afford to may be pretty well stuck.

Someone quoted that there jobs are kind of fill in types for older people etc. Or starter jobs for the very young. I agree with that.

Things that I do not agree with are their image as a discount seller. A discount seller to me implies a company selling at minimal markup. This company has more margin in what they sell than any I can think of almost. That has enabled them to expand to what they are today.

As Tyler mentions they should give more consideration to their employee cost area even if it inhibits their continious expansion somewhat. If they do not it may in some way pass out of their control with time.