Originally posted by: C'DaleRider
Wal-Mart makes a practice of going to manufacturers and "asking" that whatever item the company makes be made to such-and-such a price. If the company cannot/will not, Wal-Mart will inform the company that their products will no longer be carried by Wally-World.....ever.
You can see the make-it-to-a-price in lots of products all around Wal-Mart. Levi's jeans, perhaps? WM sells the Levi's Signature line.........a line that NO ONE ELSE sells. Have you felt the thickness of the denim of that line of Levi's? I swear the denim in those things is thinner than jeans that I've owned for 3 years and about worn out.
HP computers, perhaps? Ever notice the model is very similar to the same machine seen in BB/CC, but at the end of the model number is a different set of letters? Go onto HP's and plug in the two different machine models (one from Wally and one from BB) and then look at the specs of the machine. Invariably, the BB machine uses much higher quality components than the Wally machine. I worked on one HP machine a month ago.....from Wally-Mart....compared it online at HP's site to the BB/CC machine.
The BB/CC machine had an ASUS motherboard......the Wally machine had a TriGem m'board. Same with the power supply.....cheaper manufacturer and lower output. The CDRW was a cheaper brand, the memory was scut-brand in the Wally machine, and on and on.
Very little Wal-Mart sells is the exact same as the brand you see in other retail establishments or chain stores.....it's always just a little (or a lot) cheaper in construction, parts, cost and price. But you get what you pay for......and at Wally-Mart, you pay little so you get damned little.