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Hey Absynthe - thanks for the very informative link! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]
Personally I find it hard to see the attraction..I sampled a couple of Walmart stores when I was staying in the States, along with Target as well, and I..erm...wasn't really impressed!
They've moved up to number 2 in the UK supermarket business (using the ASDA brand) but really that can be attributed more to the relative decline of Sainsbury's than a major breakthrough on their part. Tesco's still have the lion's share of the market and its increasing.
Interestingly, the British consumer obviously looks for different things than the American consumer, because both Sainsbury's and Tesco's really push ethical foods, both in terms of being grown/produced organically and naturally and in terms of a fair price for suppliers. Whilst this 'supplier-bullying' no doubt still exists, in the UK people are willing to pay slightly more to ensure that they have good quality natural food and that farmers receive a fair price. Where this doesn't occur, often individual farms have started selling their produce direct to local markets with often astonishingly successful results. It all helps to temper the harsher edges of excess capitalism.
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