Quote Originally Posted by Hamish
A question I have been meaning to ask for some time: what exactly IS Wal-Mart? I understand that it is a retail area, but is is one large department store (a sort of Main Street Nieman Marcus or Bloomingdales) or is it a number of different retail outlets under one roof? To my knowledge we do not have Wal-Mart here in the United Kingdom, but you guys over there are always mentioning the name. I am curious, that's all!
It's one store that sells a multitude of items, from auto supplies to electronics to toys to clothes. Larger stores (Super Wal-Mart) also sell groceries and provide other serives like opticians and hair cutting, all under the same roof. Their business line is to undersell local competitors, which they can do because the Wal-Mart chain has so many stores that they can mark down prices and still make a profit by selling many items across the country. What this does is force local businesses to go under, so many communities don't like Wal-Mart. However, they do sell items for cheap, and they have many items under the same roof, so it makes it very convenient to shop in one spot.

Andrew.