How Wal-Mart is Destroying America and The World and What You Can Do About It [Paperback]

Bill Quinn (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 1, 2000

An updated and expanded continuation of detailed accounts of Wal-Mart's questionable business practices, their not-so-ethical tactics, and their expansion into the global market. Shows concerned citizens how to fight to keep Wal-Mart from invading their towns. Softcover.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

*A tell-all guide to Wal-Mart’s business and employment practices with tips for fighting back.
*Recent charges of sexual discrimination against Wal-Mart precipitated the biggest class action lawsuit in U.S.history.
*A recent study by the University of California at Berkeley estimated that Wal-Mart’s employment policies cost California taxpayers $86 million per year. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

BILL QUINN is a World War II veteran, retired newspaperman, and certified anti –Wal-Mart crusader. He lives with his wife, Lennie, in Grand Saline, Texas. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 171 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press; Rev. & Updated edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580082319
• ISBN-13: 978-1580082310
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,577,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 83 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Capitalism run amuck June 25, 2004

By Jeffrey Leach HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

The last time I spent any time in a Wal-Mart, I think, was roughly ten years ago. Even then, something about the place felt fundamentally wrong. Maybe it had something to do with the overfriendly greeter at the front door, a guy who spent way too much time trying to get my attention. Perhaps the downright filthy appearance of the store set off my internal warning bells. After all, it's difficult to gain a decent impression of a place when merchandise spills onto the floor, products teeter precariously on top of shelving units, and the employees look like they just got out of jail. I left without buying a single item, vowing never to return. And I haven't gone back after all these years. Neither has Bill Quinn, the eighty eight year old author of this slim indictment of America's biggest retailer. The writer, a former journalist and magazine editor, presents a startling array of facts against the House that Sam Walton built in "How Wal-Mart is Destroying America." After reading this book, you will think twice about returning to shop at "The Box," one of the terms Quinn and his sympathizers use in referring to Wal-Mart.

The list of egregious behaviors occurring under the aegis of Wal-Mart, based out of Bentonville, Arkansas, simply boggles the mind. Quinn's key complaint centers on the retailer's anti-competitive outlook, known as "Stomp the Comp," when the company moves into a small town and proceeds to demolish every mom and pop business in the area. Through cutthroat pricing and luring away employees from smaller stores, Wal-Mart takes business right out from under the noses of modest retail outlets. As all other stores in the area shut down, the Box from Bentonville becomes the only significant force in the region. This allows them to lower wages, raise prices, reduce advertising in local papers, and lets them get away with claiming twenty eight hours a week counts as a full-time job. Even worse, Wal-Mart oftentimes closes smaller stores in order to open a regional "superstore," which forces residents of small towns to drive thirty or forty miles to do their shopping. How does this behemoth get away with such activities? Because politicians in many areas fall for the old "jobs, opportunity, tax revenue" mantra chanted by Wal-Mart's bevy of attorneys, engineers, and other assorted boosters. Once the company gains a foothold in your town, the game is over. The retailer takes advantage of tax loopholes, destroys the environment, and eliminates more jobs than it creates.

Quinn outlines many more atrocities. The number of lawsuits lodged against the Bentonville Beast has reached stunning numbers in recent years. According to the book, customers have sued Wal-Mart for injuries sustained from falling merchandise, slipping on objects on the floor, and heinous crimes committed in the stores' parking lots. Employees too have expressed their dismay with the irresponsible employer. One woman filed a claim when the managers at her store dismissed her for dating a black man. Other workers sued over the company's unofficial policy of intimidating employees into working off the clock. Quinn unearthed many vendors whose experiences with the retailer have since led to court actions. Wal-Mart always pushes its wholesalers for deep discounts, and then often returns damaged merchandise in bulk for refunds at full cost. A few smaller companies went out of business after the retailer made a big order and then reneged on the deal a month or so later. It's gotten so bad that many big vendors refuse to sell to Wal-Mart anymore. Quinn goes on and on, listing outrageous behavior after outrageous behavior. Frighteningly, the company is now expanding into other markets overseas using the same shady business models that turned our rural areas into places tumbleweeds wouldn't be caught dead rolling through.

"How Wal-Mart is Destroying America" does have a few problems. Quinn's sense of humor, a fiery rhetoric fused with crotchety old guy attitude, gets old rather fast. I started noticing a troubling tendency to describe Wal-Mart in biblical terms of good and evil. Nothing is more indicative of this fact than a couple of drawings depicting a Bentonville goon sporting horns. Yeah, it's funny, but is this how you really want to make a serious argument? Moreover, the writer's obvious disdain for the retailer clouds his judgment. Is Wal-Mart at fault when a customer slipped on a cough drop? Should we take an ambulance chaser seriously when he claims Wal-Mart stonewalls every lawsuit? C'mon! Of course a lawyer is going to say something like that. I'm not defending the retailer's oily policy of spending mountains of money defending itself against legitimate court claims, but I understand why they do it. Big companies become targets for sue happy citizens very quickly. Should we expect Wal-Mart to roll out the red carpet for every lawyer with dollar signs in his or her eyes? I don't think so.

Still, Quinn's book is a revelation about a company obviously out of control. I suspect the primary reason Wal-Mart gets away with all this stuff is because it goes on in rural areas. If this sort of behavior occurred in New York City, Chicago, Miami, or a few other huge metropolitan areas you can bet we would all get an earful about it. Well, if this book is accurate city slickers may well discover exactly what Wal-Mart is all about before too long. By racking up billions in sales in Rural America and overseas, the Bentonville retailer will soon possess the ability to strong-arm even the biggest cities into submission. Quinn concludes his book with several tips to either cut down Wal-Mart's power or to keep them out of your area. Personally, not shopping at this store seems to be the most prudent course of action. I know I won't ever return.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars What Everyone Should Know About Walmart April 7, 2005

By Samantha

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

a friend lent me this book about a year after a walmart supercenter came to our town of a little over 15,000. I personally found the majority of the information in the book outrageous! I cant understand how we let such a horrible place even exist in america. some things were obvious, like the sweatshops and about them not buy american made products. Other things like how they treat their vendors, cheat on their taxes, and claim to do charity work when all they do is ship the stuff their vendors donate in big walmart trucks so it just appears like they are helping, that shocks me.

i always read other people's reviews of books ive already read in order to comment on what they have said and after reading the bad reviews of this book it doesnt even seem like those people have read the book. They shouldnt be allowd an opinion on a book they have not even picked up and given a chance. They give examples of how walmart has given to charity for their town, but i ask you this, IS THE MONEY COMING DIRECTLY FROM WALMART OR ARE THEY JUST THE MESSENGER? One reviewer was ignorant enough to say walmart was the best thing to happen to the world, a perfect example of someone who has not read the book writing a review.

The most common argument is if you dont like walmart dont shop there. Well i dont shop there, i still have a supercenter destroying my town. bottom line NOT SHOPPING AT WALMART DOESNT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. The purpose of this book is to inform everyone of just how walmart "helps" america. the format is very simplistic, yes, but that is so it can be understood and reach a larger audience.

Walmart is a multi billion dollar corporation that is truely destroying the world. Arm yourself with information and help stop this beast.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A look at what goes on behind the scenes at the retail giant January 26, 2001

By hoagamaniac

Format:Paperback

Some of this book is a little over the top in the sense that it has been used by Bill Quinn as a tool in his epic quest to stop the Wal-Mart machine.

While it may be a little on the obsessive side, it points out a lot of elements of the Wal-Mart empire that they would probably like to keep under wraps. Many of the practices exercised by Wal-Mart surprised me in their audacity. There are many accounts by customers, former employees, and others who have dealt with the beast firsthand. The book also lays out ideas to help communities fight off an attempt by Wal-Mart to move into new territory.

After reading the first half of this book, I was compelled to avoid shopping at Wal-Mart. Not that I shopped there often to begin with, but now I make it a point to look elsewhere for my goods.

I have already talked about the book to some friends of mine, who expressed interest in reading it when I was finished. If you are interested in the underhanded tactics that the largest U.S. retailer uses to insure success, pick up a copy of "How Wal-Mart is destroying America..." and pass it along when your done.