I've just heard on the news here that Walmart is negotiating a takover bid of Massmart Holdings here in South Africa.
Massmart runs such department stores as Game, Dions and Makro, where you can buy anything from Garden Furniture, Household Appliances, Computers and Car Parts.
Do you think if Walmart took over we'd see an improvement in quality of service and products sold?
Just curious...
I can't say. Walmart here sucks, its a magnet for trouble. In other areas of the country its a well run store so I'm not sure. Check out customer feedback online through a google search.
Wal-Mart wields sufficient purchase and pricing power to crush competitors. Competition creates differences in service and product quality.
There is a funny website re: people seen at Wal-Mart.
I have always been pleased with Walmart. It is everything you want in one place and the prices are good. You can't beat that .
In the US, Walmart plays a big role because there is not much competition. In my country (Germany) they tried to set foot. After 7 years of trying and losing $350 Million each year, they folded tent. The local competition (big discount chains) was just too powerful.
I'm not a big fan of Walmart. While I do occasionally shop there, it's the last place that I want to go.
#1 Gripe: They "only" offer censored music. And they may not tell you about it either. meaning it's not marked on the package. But then they sell movies with an R rating...so I totally don't understand it
#2 Gripe: Their buying power often causes local shops and smaller players, that have been serving the community for years and years and years to have to close shop. That's just sad. So many of the mom and pop shops offered such better service, but couldn't afford to stay in business.
In the UK Walmart have taken over ASDA. ASDA sells food, drink, clothes, household and gardening goods and some small electrical stuff (tvs, radios, cameras, phones etc.)
So far Walmart don't seem to have made any change in their operation at all.
They still don't sell pc games.
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