Monday, June 27, 2005

Wal-Mart vs. Target

Have you ever wondered why the Left absolutely hates Wal-Mart but says nary a bad word about Target stores?

They both have huge discount stores. They both pay low wages with so-so benefits. They both employ a lot of part-timers.

Here's a clue.

Wal-Mart was founded by the very Conservative and very religious Sam Walton.

Target is part of the same chain that owns Marshall Field's. Marshall Field's, at least here in Minnesota, used to be called "Dayton's". Yes, as in Democrat Senator Mark Dayton, who's family has been royalty here in Minnesota for ages, and who bought him a Senate seat that he wasn't smart enough to even attempt to keep.

I honestly don't think that there are a whole lot of people out there that know that little fact.

Does anyone think that it's a coincidence that the name was changed at the same time Dayton won his Senate seat? Me either.

Target may be a local company, but do you care to guess where I shop (when I have to)? And ladies, no more buying shoes at Marshall Field's.

7 comments:

  1. Gee, and I was wishin' and hopin' they'd open a Target here... I really like Wal-Mart, but I do try to buy stuff from them that says either 'made in Canada' or 'made in U.S.A.'...

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  2. I've known plenty of people who work for Target. Their treatment of employees is no better than Wal-Mart's.

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  3. Just an FYI, but Marshall Field's and TJ Maxx and all the others are owned by Concord Buying Group, which is based in Framingham, Mass. If Target used to be Dayton's, I have a feeling it was bought out by Concord.

    I know the fashion buyers within the company, but that's about it. My knowledge ends there.

    RG

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  4. RG, I guarantee you that you don't need to scratch very deep below the surface to find a Dayton or two in Concord Buying Group.

    Target didn't used to be Dayton's. All of the Marshall Field's used to be named Dayton's department stores here in MN.

    Maybe they sold off part of their empire, but my guess is that they were absorbed into said group.

    I'll have to look into it deeper, but it all happened at the time that Mark (Run Away!) Dayton gained his Senate seat. I guess it's possible that they sold MF's to buy that seat for sonny-boy.

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  5. Here's the history: Target was its own company, acquired in the early 90s by Dayton-Hudson. They picked up MF a couple of years later, and then became Target Corp (Target did way better than the dept. stores). They turned all of the department stores into Marshall Fields, and then Target Corp sold off all the MFs to the May Corp., which is now the company that owns Macy's and Bloomies (and I think its Marshall's that's owned by Concord--those discount stores). So Marshall Fields is okay for the shoes, though Nordstrom is much better.

    I worked for Marshall Fields back when it was owned by Target, and they treated their employees like crap (trust me--I was one), but they gave same-sex partners benefits in health care, etc. They also give a huge amount of money to the Democratic party. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, VERY Republican. No suprise there, really.

    You can check out what companies are favored by democrats here: http://www.buyblue.org/ I generally use it to know which companies to avoid at all costs.

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  6. Regarding the meme that Wal-Mart is a "large store that persistently maltreats the people who work there". I have heard this line before, and based on personal experience, I have a very hard time believing it.

    Based on conversations with friends and family members who have worked at Wal-Mart, the treatment is not bad. Rather it is exactly what one would expect for that sort of job, and is quite in line with other employers that are within the same class (that is, primarily employee low skilled, often part-time workers).

    As an example, my brother actually liked working at Wal-Mart while he was going to school. They worked around his schedule, had reasonable benefits given that it was just a low wage part time job, and the work wasn't too tough... I am not sure what else you can expect from that type of job.

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  7. Exile, there's one big reason the left hates Wal-Mart... Wal-Mart doesn't kowtow to them, but aims to sell to everyone, regardless of age, income, or self-perceived social class. I may have to rant on this sometime soon.

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