“Discounters gave the common man and woman the opportunity to eschew the cobbler and the darning needle, to break in a brand-new pair of shoes or socks when their toes poked through the old ones. Discounters made ordinary folks feel… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share
“At a national level, the study found that thanks to Wal-Mart the total earnings of retail workers declined by $4.5 billion, with most of these losses concentrated in metropolitan areas.” — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share
“Andrew Young, a former U.S. Congressman and U.N. ambassador turned Wal-Mart spokesman, seemed to offer an explanation: “Poverty in America,” he said, “is market potential unrealized.” It seems that the poor benefit the discounting industry far more than the discounting industry benefits the poor.” — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share
“Cheap objects resist involvement. We tend to invest less in their purchase, care, and maintenance, and that's part of what makes them so attractive. Cheap clothing lines—sold at discounters such as Target and H & M—are like IKEA emblems of the "cheap chic" where styles fills in for whatever quality goes lacking. There is nothing sinister in this, no deliberate… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share
“The typical capitalists are lovers of power rather than sensual indulgence, but they have the same tendency to crush and to take tribute that the cruder types of sensualism possess. The discipline of the capitalist is the same as that of the frugalist. He differs from the latter in that he has no regard for the objects through which productive… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share
“If enough dishonest merchants water their milk, more and more customers will forget what normal milk tastes like and buy only the cheaper -… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“Discounters gave the common man and woman the opportunity to eschew the cobbler and the darning needle, to break in a brand-new pair of shoes or socks when their toes poked through the old ones. Discounters made ordinary folks feel rich by putting a wide selection of goods within easy reach of all but the most meager budgets. Someone had… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share
“since wage and benefit savings are not the main part of the cost advantage for the company it could (conceivably) “continue to pass on… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“Mexico has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs to China. U.S. Department of Commerce data reveal that from 2002 to 2003 Mexico lost market share in thirteen of its top twenty export industries, nearly always to China. With fewer jobs at home, Mexicans are finding it all the more compelling to cross the border into the United States in search… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share
“Americans pay less for food than do citizens of any other developed nation.” — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“Craftsmanship cements a relationship of trust between buyer and seller, worker and employer, and expects something of both. It is about caring about the… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“MIT-trained urban development expert Wig Zamore said: “IKEA is the least sustainable retailer on the planet.” — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“...mass market consumption offers the facade of social equality without forcing society to go through the hard work of redistributing wealth. Low prices lead… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
