One of the problems I have with Walmart is some of their unusual, maybe unethical, business practices. Most obvious to anyone who has done business with them from a vendor side is their contract for vendors. I've never been in an arrangement with them personally but I have a friend who 'almost' was until he read the terms of the contract.
The guy is from here in Greenwood, he and his dad used to run a very successful restaurant on Lake Greenwood named Blazers. Their last name is Britt. They retired from the restaurant business but they made an awesome shrimp dip, so awesome that they started making, packaging and selling it at grocery stores and delis all over the state.
So when Walmart built one of their 'super stores' here the Britts naturally approached them about stocking Blazer's Shrimp Dip in the food section. They met with the buyer at Walmart and all was going well until the issue with the contract.
It seems when Walmart puts a product on sale, they never lose any money, the vendor has to carry that burden. For instance if Walmart wanted to put Blazer's Shrimp Dip on sale at half price, from say $6 per container to $3 per container, my friend had to take the loss, not Walmart. If the dip went past it's 'sell by date' and had to be discarded, my friend took the loss, not Walmart.
Now my friend had the dip in all the major Southern grocery store chains, Bi-Lo, Food Lion, Winn Dixie, Publix and the Piggly Wiggly. Yet Walmart was the only one with a contract that in rare cases could actually have the vendor owing them money for their own product.
Naturally Mr. Britt and son walked on that deal as would I.
And this begs the question: Does Walmart require major big name vendors to sign the same contract?
For instance do they require Mattel®, Shakespeare®, or the Chinese companies to sign the same vendor agreement as the local guy Joe Smalltime? I seriously doubt it, if so they'd probably have a lot fewer products to display on their shelves.
Last edited by Mergie Master; 07-27-2009 at 05:46 PM.
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