The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman Alan Sklar narrator

The Wal-Mart Effect
By Charles Fishman
Narrated By Alan Sklar
Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
Tantor Audio

Author Charles Fishman

  
                                       

Alan Sklar has a deep masculine voice that is easy to listen too. He reads at a steady pace without unnecessary pauses. He reads like he is actually reading the story and not just trying to get through it. His intonations are expressive of what he is narrating. He is a pleasure to listen too.


Whether you love or hate Wal-Mart this book should be at the top of your reading list. If you love them after reading this book you may not feel so much affection, if you hate them you will hate them more and maybe even see not just the bad they do but some of the good. If you are on the fence then you might remain on the fence. In the 1980's Wal-Mart was new to me. I'd never heard of them until spending some time in Kentucky. At that time it was  fun dropping in to buy some inexpensive things. I remember I bought a set of drinking glasses for less than ten dollars. Four sizes and I think six of each. I still have some of them. I just never gave a thought to why some things were so much cheaper than some other stores. Perhaps because there are always discount stores around.

In the 1990's I again had the opportunity to visit Wal-Mart. Most things were made in America. I spent a lot of money at the holy shrine of Wal-Mart at that time. The bargains were just irresistible. Again I did not question why the prices were so low. Now it's a challenge to find a single thing in Wal-Mart that is made in America. The pet food fiasco was not only a horrible and heart wrenching event it opened my eyes to the fact that I had no idea that some things I thought were made in America, actually were buying the ingredients from China. When I started examining the labels I saw  items 'packaged in California' or something similar. This shows that the item is out sourced to another country, usually China. They are only packaged and shipped to stores in America.  I am not against another country doing well and exporting goods and thereby improving their economy. This is slowly emerging to not be   the case.

The Wal-Mart Effect will really open your eyes to how Wal-mart is so secretive, that even putting together this book was a challenge for Charles Fishman. The reality is they bully manufactures to cut cost thereby lowering the selling price at Wal-Mart. Read the book and see how they have put companies out of business, forced them to cut cost by out sourcing. And the quality of what you buy at Wal-Mart and pay more for at another store (not big box) is not the same product.