La Sirena in Puerto Plata

[Charlielyn]

Personally, I would hate to see the Walmart model move in to PP. A new department store would be great, but I hate what Walmart stands for, how they treat their employees, and how they kill downtown small town America and Canada. They are horrible to their suppliers too. One local frozen food company got the local Walmart contract that was bigger than their plant could supply so they gladly spent money to increase the factory so that they could meet the contract that would make them lots of money. The next year Walmart wanted the same quantity but would not pay the same dollar. The company really suffered financially because they had no other option but to accept less money for the contract after expanding their facilities. Walmart does this to most of their suppliers, that is how they keep their prices down. All smaller stores in the area die out also as most people go for the cheaper price, not considering their neighbours livelyhood.

Since most people in PP shop at the corner colmado, I'm not sure if a Walmart type store that sells groceries would be that widely accepted. I know that the La Sirena in Santiago is very popular though, but I've only been there with my American friends, not Dominican friends. Prices were not that cheap either.

[Chip]

Like with anything there will be positives and negatives. However, I feel the overall balance will be in favor of the Dominican consumer and economy.

While Walmart is certainly bullish in treating it's suppliers, the dynamic in the States is much different than here in the DR. The typical American consumer has more mobility and cash on hand than most Dominicans, so when Walmart comes to town (in the US) many small business have to tighten their belts just to survive as they are in direct competition with Walmart.

However, in the DR it will be a somewhat different. First, many Dominicans don't have a lot of cash on hand to buy in bulk or pay for a taxi (try buying in bulk and then getting a carro publico) to go to the big store when they can go to the local colmado and get what they need for that same day. Most Dominican households are like this. Therefore, many colmados won't be in direct competition with Walmart as most of it's (colmados) consumers wouldn't have the means to shop at Walmart.

For the Dominican middle class from semi professionals to two income housleholds who actually have enough cash on hand and are willing to pay for a taxi or have their own transportation they will actually be the one's reaping the most benefit IF Walmart sticks to it's corporate strategy that it is THE store of the masses. Walmart will then be in competition with the store that fits in the category which are typically found in a few of the larger urban centers on the island.

I believe this will be very, very good for the Dominican economy. The reason I believe this is because the Dominican economy is much less affected by competition than others societies. This has to do for a lot of reasons such as the inability of most to get financing to open a large business to the fact that there are no laws in the country to prevent monopolies nor price fixing. In fact, price fixing is a fact of life here in the DR where business owners get together(and sometimes not) and arbitrarily maintain high prices. What ends up happening is that there are few, relatively speaking, individuals controlling the market as opposed to letting the normal market forces of supply and demand control.

Therefore, I feel that having a Walmart that sticks to it's coporate philosophy of maintaining lower prices will cause a lot, lot of Dominican businesses to really change their strategy from one of artificially maintaining high prices becasue they can(due to lack of real competition, etc.) to lower their prices to be able to stay afloat.

Another indicator of the abnormal market manipulation by the select few who can afford to have a medium/large business is to see the amount of wealth they generate. It is not uncommon for medium sized business owners to be driving around in Land Rovers/Mercedes with RD20M houses etc. Now they will have to quit charging so much just because they can which will allow the typical Domincian to have more buying power. Hopefully this attitude will be contagious and we can move to a more free market economy without so many unjust influences.

[Tallman1680]

Originally Posted by Conchman

you surely mean pesos, it cannot be dollars.

No, I mean US Dollars!!!

[pelaut]

On the Malecón???? A terrible location for the traffic needed for a MultiCentro Sirena like in Sgo & Sdo, so it must be a mini-Sirena being planned, right?

[monfongo]

You people shold be more concerned about whats better for Dominicans ,anything that can improve the quallity of thier lives is a good thing,Its not about foreiners and thier ideas on what a caribean island should be like.

[Lambada]

Originally Posted by monfongo

You people shold be more concerned about whats better for Dominicans ,anything that can improve the quallity of thier lives is a good thing,Its not about foreiners and thier ideas on what a caribean island should be like.

Absolutely agree, but since exploitation is a fact of life here (& some rich Dominicans do exploit poor Dominicans) how precisely would the installation of a Walmart challenge that exploitation?

[dv8]

i don't know about small businesses going down but surely wallmart is doing well so people DO shop in there, don't they? and we are talking huge crowds of pleased and happy spenders, right? as opposed to few hundreds small shop owners plus families...
but wallmart is USA and we are in DR here. on paydays jose luis is packed with people and there is no way to find parking so lots of people do big shopping. of course there is masses who cannot afford to buy whole salami and will go by few slices a day. mind you, la sirena in santiago does have minimum ammount on fruits and vegetables (one cannot buy a pepper, it's halp a pond or nothing).
as to the lot, it's 17 thousand sq meters, it's very big and one end reaches to the malecon and other to the barrio in the back. it's possible there will be no exit/entry on the malecon side at all.....

[cobraboy]

Originally Posted by Charlielyn

Personally, I would hate to see the Walmart model move in to PP. A new department store would be great, but I hate what Walmart stands for, how they treat their employees, and how they kill downtown small town America and Canada.

You have not lived in a town where Wal Mart came.

I have.

I had a lake home for 25 years in a VERY rural area where TN/AL/MS come together. For years, there was just a smattering of locally owned stores, food and otherwise. You were at their mercy as far as selection and prices were concerned. Little selection, high prices. Sure, the proprietors did well, but you had to drive 90 miles to Memphis if you really needed anything.

Then Wal Mart came to town, and changed everything for the positive. For the first time, there was actually a wide selection of foods, groceries and other goods, at MUCH lower prices. And folks stood in line for jobs there.

And after Wal Mart, Lowes came to town, and what Wal Mart did for groceries and consumer goods, Lowes did for building supplies and DIY home improvement items. And folks stood in line to go work there.

Yes, the local Good Ol' Boys suffered. Some fell on hard times. But do you know what the SMART ones did? Instead of moaning and groaning and feeling sorry for themselves, they created NEW businesses around Wal Mart, businesses that didn't compete, to take advantage of the consumer traffic that Wal Mart generated. Many of those folks are doing better than they were before.

For every town that talks trash about their Wal Mart, there are 100 communities that love them. They didn't become the largest company in the world by not giving folks what they want.

IMO, the FACTS of the consumer and employee acceptance of the Big Box stores flies in the face of the Urban Legends about the mean, cruel, unfair nature of Wal Mart and other big chains.

Originally Posted by charlielyn

They are horrible to their suppliers too. One local frozen food company got the local Walmart contract that was bigger than their plant could supply so they gladly spent money to increase the factory so that they could meet the contract that would make them lots of money. The next year Walmart wanted the same quantity but would not pay the same dollar. The company really suffered financially because they had no other option but to accept less money for the contract after expanding their facilities. Walmart does this to most of their suppliers, that is how they keep their prices down. All smaller stores in the area die out also as most people go for the cheaper price, not considering their neighbours livelyhood.

I've heard these stories before. As a businessman, I have little sympathy. If Wal Mart made this a practice, and suppliers continue to expand expecting continued business from Wal Mart, I blame poor strategic planning on those suppliers. No business should EVER put themselves in that position. Don't blame Wal Mart. Blame the supplier. The Devil did NOT make them do it.

IMO, the entry of Wal Mart into the DR is wonderful. Folks complain about the virtual cartel certain "families" have in the DR that creates poor selection, poor service and high prices. Well, the very ones folks complain about will now be in a position to have to COMPETE for business. More selection, lower prices, and better service. The consumer wins! Why is that so bad?

[drtampa]

The greatest advantage for WAL*MART is the quality of the product that you get for a most reasonable price. Yes WAL*MART drives the price down but they do not skip the quality. A supplier must be perfect at all times. If you can meet WAL*MART's standards you can also meet Publix, Kroger, HEB and other most demanding retailers.
WAL*MART has numerous food products sold under their Great Value label. These are the items that will allow a poor Dominican to stretch his/her pesos. They are produced by the same supplier that is producing the "name brand" product and they are the same quality. A supplier cannot and will not maintain two different standards.
Those Dominican companies that are fortunate enough to become a WAL*Mart supplier will be held to this same standard or they will instantly see their product back on their own shipping dock with an unpaid invoice by WAL*Mart plus an invoice from WAL*MART for removing the item from stock. This may just help increase the quality of the products in the corner store. All suppliers are going to have to comply or die.

[NALs]

Its good to see further economic growth in small and mid-sized towns!

Grupo Ramos (owners of La Sirena)

BTW, the dominican version of the Walmart website is currently under construction.

Here, look at this (notice the internet code ".do" for the DR at the end of the web address : www.walmart.com.do

-NALs