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A mom and pop can't adjust a perpetual inventory as accurately as a big box. Walmart knows exactly what the public will buy before they order it from the manufacturer.
You can't beat that with a mom and pop. A mom and pop eats too much devalued inventory to survive. It's why Walmart has such good prices. It's never sitting on inventory. It's priced to move it.
So... if ya wanna be a mom and pop, you gotta either sell specialty merchandise or be a value added reseller.
A good example is our local bike shop. You can buy the same Chinese parts and make your own bike for a couple hundred less than the bike shop, but those guys will put it together right. It'll have some upgraded parts from what you buy at Walmart. But it's not practical to wholesale dump a bunch like at Walmart.
There is still room for the mom and pop store. People are just gonna have to get a little creative. One example is our old clothier/tailor store in old town. Now they sell varsity jackets. Really, really nice varsity jackets.... so it's a living.... The family has been running a business there for 60 years. It still works. You just gotta get a little creative.
Walmart's thing is prices, and I look around at the employees sometimes and think they look like someone killed their dog. If they called me a "team member" it would probably only remind me that if they could pay me any less or treat me any worse, they probably would.
All that chirpy, upbeat horseshit in lieu of a livable wage is about enough to make a guy choke.
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