It is interesting reading all of your responses.
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Originally Posted by Hayward
I think it's interesting to see this model regardless. I'd actually hope to see it get more detailed. Reason being, it's an interesting study for comparison to say a large downtown department store.
I think the biggest unfortunate thing about Walmart is the lack of a good shopping experience. You walk into a big warehouse and it's absolutely dulling to the senses. Yet when I walk into a major downtown department store it's a thrilling experience. We sacrifice a lot to save a few bulks. A little extra money can go a long way.
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^ Having personally spent some time working on the sixth floor of Macy's Downtown Seattle, another Macy's which was in a large shopping mall, and now working about 75 miles south in a rural Walmart store, I am lucky enough to have seen both retailer formats from the inside. Those are two very different worlds, so I definitely appreciate what you are saying... and using that experience as perspective, I see an opportunity in this model to represent a degree of attention to detail which wouldn't otherwise happen.
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Originally Posted by vid
But people who work at Walmart can't afford to actually build up savings. You aren't saving anything when the only option you can afford is Walmart. Saving implies that you could have afforded to go to another business to buy an item, but went there instead. Very few people who shop at Walmart can say that. If anything, the instant gratification lifestyle promoted by Walmart it itself a demotivate. People no longer have to put any effort into achieving things. Those who don't won't be rewarded with promotion, so why bother? What a horrible world to live in.
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^ The point you make is valid; but the topic is much more dynamic than just being about Walmart, or the retail sector. Ultimately, there is no question about the fact that the per capita value of unskilled labor is falling; and there isn't any question about the fact that the - as you put it - "instant gratification lifestyle" - is damaging. Nevertheless, Walmart doesn't really promote that as much as it feeds on it. If people want what Walmart sells, it sells what they want (just like Macy's, or any other store); and the more they buy, the cheaper it gets. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Walmart employees can't afford to save their money; but even if that is the case, the pay median at Walmart isn't really much different from other retailers. Ultimately, life is hard and economics can be a cruel business; but what I see and appreciate about Walmart goes beyond that. It is is the core idea that when you make people from all over the world buy and sell - trade - together you are doing something positive for humanity; and I've seen lots of stories - to some degree I am one of them - of people who started off at Walmart and really did find a career and an opportunity, to a greater or lesser degree, to better themselves as a result. To quote someone else loosely, "Walmart is one of the few companies left which will give someone with just a high school education a chance to run a 70 million dollar a year facility." I've seen that happen. Anyway, who knows. I'm not saying that Walmart is perfect, or is the savior of the world, or anything like that.
Apparel racks now have some detail instead of just being square cubes. I spent some time replacing shelves on the apparel side counters with clothing pegs. Minor adjustments continue, as I update the model to reflect the floor layout of the actual store which I am replicating. Tire & Lube Express and the outside of the building still need detail. I've still got to add stack bases and features to the main action alleys, and redesign the steel sections which are a bit too high. As is the case with my other model, I'm a bit constrained by limited computer capabilities, so much of the eventual detail is on standby waiting until I have the new system required to take it to the next level.
