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Gary,
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I didn't think Mr. Schou's analogy blew but here is a real world
example of an inferior business beating out a superior competitor. The
mall used to have a toy store: Kay-Be Toys, or something like that. I
went there frequently when my son was younger and my wife let me spoil
him more. Wal-Mart drove Kay-Bee Toys out of business. Kay-Be Toys had
a far superior selection of toys and was by any set of standards a
better toy store than Wal-Mart. (Neither are as good as Hodgins Drug
Store but that's another issue.) What happened was that kids go to toy
stores with their parents but parents buy other things besides toys,
things that are not sold at Kay-Be Toys. In short, Wal-Mart offers
low-cost and convenience. That is it. It is 'superior' to other stores
for these two reasons only. But that is enough to drive out some
businesses. Once those businsesses leave, the folks in Moscow will
have fewer choices, not more choices.
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You note that "many communities that are co-existing with the worlds
largest retailer to the betterment of its residents." But many are
not. It was noted in Tom Trail's post that two communities like ours
were "sucked dry" after a Super Wal-Mart moved in. For the sake of
argument suppose that 98 communities like ours were not sucked dry.
Would you take a pill that had only a 2% chance of killing you if you
didn't need it and you were getting along fine without it? I don't
think so. I love Moscow and low-cost and convenience are not enough
reason for me to risk sucking it dry.
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--<br>Joe Campbell<br>
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---- "g. crabtree" <jampot adelphia.net="#DEFAULT">wrote:<br><br>
=============<br>Mr. Schou, Your analogy blows. It seems clear to me that you
have very<br>little understanding of how an 'all in" bet works but
rather than educate<br>you on the finer points of poker allow me to
propose an analogy of my own. A<br>player comes to the game and bluffs
outrageously each and every hand. Soon,<br>his fellow gamblers see him
for what he is and call him. His weak hands are<br>revealed, his
resources dwindle and very soon he is out of the game.<br><br>This
appears to be the tactic of the common garden variety wal-mart<br>
opponent. Exclaim loudly how WM will be the ruination of civilization
and<br>will bring about the heat death of the universe and so on. When
folks see<br>that there are many communities that are co-existing with
the worlds largest<br>retailer to the betterment of its residents our
protester is revealed as at<br>best, wrong and at worst, a dupe.<br><br>
Getting back to the original heart of the discussion, hows about some real<br>
world examples of inferior business' beating out superior competitors.
I'll<br>be waiting, watching the pages of my calendar flit by.<br><br>
gc<br><br><br>----- Original Message -----<br>From: "Andreas Schou" <ophite gmail.com="#DEFAULT"><br>
To: "g. crabtree" <jampot adelphia.net="#DEFAULT"><br>Cc: <joekc adelphia.net="#DEFAULT">
; <vision2020 moscow.com="#DEFAULT"><br>Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 4:48
PM<br>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Doug Jones Says It Clearly<br><br><br>
>You are right about my confidence in a free market. Perhaps you could
give<br>>me a few examples where an inferior business beat out a
superior one.<br><br>Let me use a poker analogy. If I had a trillion
dollars, played poker<br>for a living, and won every poker game I
played by going "all in" on<br>every hand, would I be the
best poker player that ever lived? Hint:<br>no, I would not.<br><br>
This is Wal*Mart's business model: saturate the market, make<br>
monopsonic agreements with suppliers, and run as thin a margin as<br>
possible in new stores until all the other business goes under. Is<br>
this a good business strategy? Yes. Does it contribute to market<br>
efficiency -- which is generally how a "superior business" is<br>
understood to work? No. It does not.<br><br>-- ACS<br><br>
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