"Billig! Billig! in Deutschland. Amerikanisch Geschäfte sind teuer"
"Cheap! Cheap! American stores are expensive!" Uncle Fritz, the elderly German man with whom I lived would say over breakfast. His large, knotted hands would sift through every page of the Lidl advertisements as he praised the inexpensive goods down the street.
Every economic analyst worth his or her salt is commenting on why WalMart pulled out of Germany. A gauntlet of explanations have been offered. One CEO is quoted as saying "Did you know that pillowcases are different sizes in Germany?"
Uh....clearly someone forgot to do their research.
Just as WalMart pulls out of Germany, screenings of "Wal-Mart, the High Cost of Low Prices" initiate their debuts at the Berlindale, Germany Film Festival. Wal Mart promises to produce its own film, with a catchy title seemingly snagged from a junior high youtube political commentary: "Why Wal-Mart Works: And Why That Drives Some People Crazy."
Could it be, perhaps, that it drives people crazy that because WalMart pays their workers below-market wages and a disproportionately large percentage of their workers are on Federal or State assistance programs?
Most analysts look to the recent lawsuit against workers who "flirted" with co-workers at a German WalMart. They cite that as an explanation as to why such a successful chain in the U.S. flopped overseas. Others believe it really was the pillowcases. The Company also laments that their consumers in Germany turned out to be Americans, not Germans, as their early market studies (uh, again, bad research) seemed to suggest.
Personally, I think there are two reasons why WalMart failed in Germany.
1) These guys were underestimated by WalMart: Two brother's who made a fortune on low-priced produce in the country.
2) The WalMarts (in Western Germany at least) were too darn hard to reach.
Getting to WalMart without a car (and many Germans use the incredibly good public transport system) is a day trip. The gigantic stores were usually located far outside a town on the second to last stop of the metro. I made the sacrifice of my day because they were the only place that sold M&M's. If you've ever gone months without M&M's, you would understand. But after two of these journeys, I gave it up and went for the Germany version. Those were located (conviently) everywhere. I could walk two blocks to the Lidl or ride my bike the Aldi store.
Stores like Lidl, produced by the two brothers above, are geniously small, placed in every nook and cranny of the country, and provide very low-priced and diverse goods---from cheap fruits to citronella candles to folding chairs. They have the quaint feeling of run-of-the-mill small-town village stores like those WalMart succeeded in driving out of the U.S. Midwest, but they provide cheap enough goods to compete with larger conglomerates. Plus, their pillowcases fit.
"Cheap! Cheap! American stores are expensive!" Uncle Fritz, the elderly German man with whom I lived would say over breakfast. His large, knotted hands would sift through every page of the Lidl advertisements as he praised the inexpensive goods down the street.
Every economic analyst worth his or her salt is commenting on why WalMart pulled out of Germany. A gauntlet of explanations have been offered. One CEO is quoted as saying "Did you know that pillowcases are different sizes in Germany?"
Uh....clearly someone forgot to do their research.
Just as WalMart pulls out of Germany, screenings of "Wal-Mart, the High Cost of Low Prices" initiate their debuts at the Berlindale, Germany Film Festival. Wal Mart promises to produce its own film, with a catchy title seemingly snagged from a junior high youtube political commentary: "Why Wal-Mart Works: And Why That Drives Some People Crazy."
Could it be, perhaps, that it drives people crazy that because WalMart pays their workers below-market wages and a disproportionately large percentage of their workers are on Federal or State assistance programs?
Most analysts look to the recent lawsuit against workers who "flirted" with co-workers at a German WalMart. They cite that as an explanation as to why such a successful chain in the U.S. flopped overseas. Others believe it really was the pillowcases. The Company also laments that their consumers in Germany turned out to be Americans, not Germans, as their early market studies (uh, again, bad research) seemed to suggest.
Personally, I think there are two reasons why WalMart failed in Germany.
1) These guys were underestimated by WalMart: Two brother's who made a fortune on low-priced produce in the country.
2) The WalMarts (in Western Germany at least) were too darn hard to reach.
Getting to WalMart without a car (and many Germans use the incredibly good public transport system) is a day trip. The gigantic stores were usually located far outside a town on the second to last stop of the metro. I made the sacrifice of my day because they were the only place that sold M&M's. If you've ever gone months without M&M's, you would understand. But after two of these journeys, I gave it up and went for the Germany version. Those were located (conviently) everywhere. I could walk two blocks to the Lidl or ride my bike the Aldi store.
Stores like Lidl, produced by the two brothers above, are geniously small, placed in every nook and cranny of the country, and provide very low-priced and diverse goods---from cheap fruits to citronella candles to folding chairs. They have the quaint feeling of run-of-the-mill small-town village stores like those WalMart succeeded in driving out of the U.S. Midwest, but they provide cheap enough goods to compete with larger conglomerates. Plus, their pillowcases fit.
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