Wal-Martification?
If you seek a five forces analysis of Wal-Mart, please try this page.
Just when you thought the critics of Wal-Mart couldn't possibly go any further afield, that they'd finally stop trotting out the same old shopworn populist rhetoric, that they couldn't misunderstand more the fundamentals of strategic management and economics, let alone the competitive landscape of the retail industry, one comes along and surprises you. Today, that one wrote a piece entitled "The Wal-Martification of America". Cue the violins.
Of course we all feel a little sad when our favorite anything closes down. It can feel like the loss of an old friend because sometimes, in those small shops where everyone knows your name and your preferences, you do make friends and find kindred souls. That said, what alternative is there, really, when a business loses money year after year or is, for some reason or another, no longer economically viable? When there are simply not enough people who want what you have at the price you have it? I can think of one: closing down and turning what was a unprofitable firm into a non-profit organization, a 501(c) 3 , and accepting charitable donations. But even then, some of the same fundamental principles will apply: that organization still must provide some product or service to some group of people who place a high enough value upon it that they are willing to underwrite the organization's activities.
Just when you thought the critics of Wal-Mart couldn't possibly go any further afield, that they'd finally stop trotting out the same old shopworn populist rhetoric, that they couldn't misunderstand more the fundamentals of strategic management and economics, let alone the competitive landscape of the retail industry, one comes along and surprises you. Today, that one wrote a piece entitled "The Wal-Martification of America". Cue the violins.
I don't expect you to shed any tears about Aron's closing. Unless you grew up in L.A. as I did, you've probably never even heard of it. Aron's was this used record and CD store that I discovered 30 years ago. It was a quirky place, an audiophile heaven where there was never any telling what offbeat treasure you might find. More to the point, it was “my” place, a store where I spent endless hours browsing for rarities and oddities you could never find elsewhere. To this day, no trip back to L.A. is complete without an afternoon at Aron's. Or at least, that used to be the case. Recently I read online in the Los Angeles Times that Aron's will soon be closing its doors.
Of course we all feel a little sad when our favorite anything closes down. It can feel like the loss of an old friend because sometimes, in those small shops where everyone knows your name and your preferences, you do make friends and find kindred souls. That said, what alternative is there, really, when a business loses money year after year or is, for some reason or another, no longer economically viable? When there are simply not enough people who want what you have at the price you have it? I can think of one: closing down and turning what was a unprofitable firm into a non-profit organization, a 501(c) 3 , and accepting charitable donations. But even then, some of the same fundamental principles will apply: that organization still must provide some product or service to some group of people who place a high enough value upon it that they are willing to underwrite the organization's activities.
I recently received word that a paper that I co-authored with a colleague from UT-Austin has been accepted by the 
