Looks like Wal-Mart never caught on to South Korea shoppers. I guess everything was already cheap at the mom and pop stores!

Quote:

The world's largest retailer is pulling out of the peninsula--where its wholly owned Wal-Mart Korea arm has struggled since 1998. Scott's firm on Monday said that it will sell its 16 local locations to Shinsegae, the Pacific Rim nation's No. 1 discount chain, for some 825 billion won ($882 million). Among the top five discounters in the Asian nation, Wal-Mart Korea ranked last in 2005. The Associated Press quoted company spokeswoman Beth Keck as saying that the Korean business had full-year sales of some 750 billion won ($787 million), but had a 2005 loss of 9.9 billion won ($10 million).

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Why should anyone pay an American company to import Chinese stuff and resell it in Korea? That only made sense when Korea didn't do that. Throw out the middle man. Years ago, Wal-Mart was a good store in the US. Sam Walton had an idea to buy only American goods and sell it at the lowest price to benefit the public and also make a decent profit. Buy America was his theme. It was a nice idea for America. He died, and the company moved on to forsake the buy America plan, and bought Chinese. They could not be undersold. They moved into an area and forced out all the competition. They ruined the mom & pop stores throughout America. Their only competition is the Dollar Store type of retail, which bought out the mom & pop stores for pennies, then resold for a profit. Korea doesn't need Wal-Mart.

Is COSTCO next? Although Walmart's policies and practices are frequently under scrunity they provide competition to the market. This helps with price control. The problem is there is no incentive for WALMART to clean up their practices. They also do not have a very good employee policy. How can we get their attention? shop elsewhere and spead the competition.

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Chill

Wal-Mart is a bigger monopoly than Microsoft ever was. What happens when a Wal-Mart opens up in a town? All of the small businesses related to stores, food and other Wal-Mart stores get crushed. At least Microsoft beat on big boys like Apple and Netscape. Wal-Mart beats on the small business owner! No small business can match Wal-Mart's pricing power.

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That's pretty funny. Walmart leaving somewhere. It's usually the other way around.

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BOOM, BOOM. Out goes the Lights

I may have heard wrong on Fox News, but is Wal-Mart selling out? Something about becoming E-mart?

Not joking either, i really heard it.

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CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

in Korea- haven't heard about elsewhere.

Yep it was just in Korea, looked it up on google. Wal-mart is selling and leaving Korea.

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CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

carrefour is also pulling out of korea...the lotte group is rumoured to be keen to buy them out and were floating around some ambitious plans to the london stock exchange and merchant banks for funding in january