The Effects of Big Business on Local Economies and Small Business
Are those discounts you’re getting at a “Big Box” chain store better than the prices offered at smaller, privately-owned stores? These low prices at stores such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target may actually be hurting the local economy more than helping or improving it. Big businesses may also put a damper on the creativity and innovation that a new small store or business may have to offer. By having the money spent sent to other parts of the world, the practice of outsourcing and cost cutting measures may be affecting your area’s economy negatively and dramatically. The main question is whether or not these larger businesses are causing a loss of sales to local businesses, and whether or not the businesses in question are really hurting your local economy.
One of the greatest business men of the 21st century, Samuel Walton, once said, “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else” (BrainyQuote). He would go on to create the world’s largest retail environment, based on this very statement. Sam Walton was the founder of Wal-Mart and did so even with modest beginnings. His father, Thomas Gibson Walton, was a farmer. Before his father’s decision to try making a living as a farmer, He was previously a mortgage broker. He later came to discover that he wasn’t making enough money to comfortably support his family, so he reverted to being a mortgage broker. This affected Samuel Walton’s academics, but in spite of this, he was able to achieve good grades. This affected his academics because he wasn’t able to focus due to the fact of all the moving around his family was doing. After high school, He pursued a degree in economics, and eventually went on to start his own store in Bentonville, Arkansas. His idea was to provide a variety of products at a low costs to his customers. This idea...