Article: Wal-Mart offers to buy Massmart

One of the world's largest retailers Wal-Mart has offered to buy JSE-listed wholesaler Massmart, the SA company said on Monday.
 
So that would mean all the Builders Express /warehouse Chains, Makro & Game stores & Dion Wired.... hmmm interesting!
 
I'm in two minds about this....

On the one hand we all know that Walmart uses some dubious labour tactics and can easily drive all the Mom and Pop stores out of business.

But on the other hand they have some d@mn good pricing and product selection.
 
Garyvdh said:
I'm in two minds about this....

On the one hand we all know that Walmart uses some dubious labour tactics and can easily drive all the Mom and Pop stores out of business.

But on the other hand they have some d@mn good pricing and product selection.
Click to expand...

Do we have Mom and Pop stores in SA?
 
Madman88 said:
Do we have Mom and Pop stores in SA?
Click to expand...

The phrase refers to family run businesses such as corner cafes, smaller shops, butcheries, bakeries, etc. (which may be part of franchise or not).

In the USA, Walmart has been blamed for causing many of those smaller businesses to fail due to their low prices and one-stop shopping convenience.

I'm all for lower prices... but every now and then you want some cheap biltong from one particular store... or the pickled fish that is made at that one cafe. or some freshly baked bread at that corner bakery. When Walmart comes to town... you lose all those smaller options.
 
Garyvdh said:
The phrase refers to family run businesses such as corner cafes, smaller shops, butcheries, bakeries, etc. (which may be part of franchise or not).

In the USA, Walmart has been blamed for causing many of those smaller businesses to fail due to their low prices and one-stop shopping convenience.

I'm all for lower prices... but every now and then you want some cheap biltong from one particular store... or the pickled fish that is made at that one cafe. or some freshly baked bread at that corner bakery. When Walmart comes to town... you lose all those smaller options.
Click to expand...

True but a lot of these people have been rapping the South African consumer, I am sorry but I have no sympathy at all!.
 
I think that Massmart is already doing what wal-mart is doing in America. So I doubt that it will make much of a difference other than the profits will be leaving the country.
 
Garyvdh said:
The phrase refers to family run businesses such as corner cafes, smaller shops, butcheries, bakeries, etc. (which may be part of franchise or not).

In the USA, Walmart has been blamed for causing many of those smaller businesses to fail due to their low prices and one-stop shopping convenience.

I'm all for lower prices... but every now and then you want some cheap biltong from one particular store... or the pickled fish that is made at that one cafe. or some freshly baked bread at that corner bakery. When Walmart comes to town... you lose all those smaller options.
Click to expand...

I understand what it means... But 'm not sure they still exist. Unless you mean the greek caffee on the corner... There is nothing there I want anyway, they're more expensive than the Garage.
I think the market is already divided into convenience stores and mass stores. The PnP down the road is our convenience store, and I wouldn't consider them a Mom and Pop store. I wouldn't be heading to a large store just for a few things or if I'm heading to a braai. Other than that we do most of our shopping at Makro or the PnP hyper.
 
Garyvdh said:
I'm in two minds about this....

On the one hand we all know that Walmart uses some dubious labour tactics and can easily drive all the Mom and Pop stores out of business.

But on the other hand they have some d@mn good pricing and product selection.
Click to expand...

What makes you think they won't just keep the same structures in place? Why reduce your returns by lowering prices to where they should be?
 
porchrat said:
What makes you think they won't just keep the same structures in place?
Why reduce your returns by lowering prices to where they should be?
Click to expand...

Well, Walmart has typically kept their prices low even in places where they have stifled out the competition. Why? I dunno. Must be part of their strategy.
 
Garyvdh said:
Well, Walmart has typically kept their prices low even in places where they have stifled out the competition. Why? I dunno. Must be part of their strategy.
Click to expand...

Either that or monopolies fixing prices unfairly actually get clobbered in the markets it finds itself. In America people just won't pay the inflated prices. They'll go to fairer online retailers instead. Here South Africans are used to paying inflated prices. There is no way a giant like Walmart would kill that cash cow. Here all the competitors are selling goods at a similar prices and there are few enough of them that they can keep the prices high with no real punishment from our Competition Commission.
 
Nerfherder said:
I think that Massmart is already doing what wal-mart is doing in America. So I doubt that it will make much of a difference other than the profits will be leaving the country.
Click to expand...

Mom and pop stores died a long time ago. My folks used to be tearoom owners and it used to be a very profitable business. They could even work side by side with the larger stores like OK, P'nP and others, the real killer for us was when the larger stores extended their shopping hours. The larger stores used to be strictly from 8am to 5pm. We used to make our most money in the early morning rush between 5:30am-8am and the evenings between 5pm-8pm. Once the stores such as checkers etc stayed open longer or opened earlier, business dropped significantly.

Small stores can not compete with entire chains when buying stock and it was that that determined the pricing. I'm all for another retailer as more competition is better for us and they could maybe get around a lot of import laws being the same group.
 
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