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August 12, 2004
A Democratic retailer?
Rampant consumerism is a non-partisan facet of American life, but some left-leaning shoppers might not be comfortable seeing their consumer dollars going to fund some big, bad corporation run by the man.
For instance, Walmart's long been known as a kind of Republican outfit: its founder was a religious nutjob, it grew out of the South, and it pays lousy wages.
Where's a Democrat to shop and save?
Daniel Gross reveals in this column that Walmart's blue counterpart is that mega-super-box retailer, Costco:
...
Pay starts at $10 an hour. About one in six employees is represented by a union, and workers receive nice health benefits. Sinegal has a non-zero-sum view of employee relations. Give people good jobs at good wages, and they'll be more likely to work harder, less likely to leave, and less likely to steal. As Helyar reported, Costco's turnover "is a third of the retail industry average of 64%," and "shrinkage"—the amount of inventory lost to theft—"is about 13% of the industry norm."
Trader Joe's is another good company. Check this out: their employees get Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance, a Company Paid Retirement Plan, bonuses, Life and Accident Insurance, and Paid Time Off. Yikes. I know a lot of people who don't get all this stuff with their jobs. Considering how good their prices are, you really need to reevaluate your assumptions about grocery jobs, salaries, and prices.
Posted by glyphic at August 12, 2004 04:59 AM