Consolidation is inevitable when we shop by price only
I am amazed at the response of listeners to the sale of A-B. These are the same people who go to Wal-Mart and buy products made in China in order to save money on inferior products. Places like Webster Groves and Kirkwood have retail shops that struggle to stay open because potential customers see no reason to support the local businesses. People will go to Barnes and Noble rather than the Webster Groves Bookshop because they can buy a book for less money. With-out the downtowns of small communities, the community will disappear. However, that is of no consequence to the shopper who is only looking to get the cheapest price.
As these retail shops in communities such as Maplewood and Ferguson disappear, you will hear people lament their passing, even though they, themselves, never bothered to shop them.
We are headed toward a time when your shopping choices will consist of Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Why should it be any different for beer?
Thomas L. Brown
Webster Groves
Don’t stop there. The list can go on and on and on… Best Buy, Lowes, Circuit City, Outlet Malls, McDonalds, Taco Bell, K-Mart, Target, etc. Pandoras’ box has been wide open for a long, long time. Right or wrong, left or right, do not attempt to try and tell anyone what to buy and who to buy it from. Oh, by the way, I spent $100 dollars at Wal-Mart the other day, and guess what? Not one item was made in China. Now, how did that happen?
Thomas,
I draw the line at drinking Chinese beer while driving to Wal-Mart in a Brazilian-built Peugeot.
Does anybody have a ‘55 Chevy Nomad for sale at a decent price? Or maybe a ‘57 Pontiac Star Chief?
Anyone in their right mind, would shop at the place where they can get more bang, for their buck, union or non-union, unless you have more money than you know what to do with. Most of us don’t have that problem.
I believe there is an essential conflict that we face.
As consumers, we want low prices. This leaded to the rise of Walmarts, Barnes and Noble, etc. and the demise of small retailers. Not to mention the rise of Toyota and the fall of big Detroit.
As investors and shareholders, that is anyone who owns stock or has a 401K or participates in a pension fund, we want the highest returns we can get - meaning pressure on companies to deliver high profits and dividends.
As Americans, we want our “domestic” companies to perform well, provide employment, and remain “American”.
Unfortunately, you can’t have all three of these.
Someone please tell me any stores,car dealerships,food stores,that don’t sell foreign made products.Almost every major brand is now forein made,so how can people insist on buying Made In USA when its not available any longer.Believe me I tried for many years,taking things back to retailers when I discovered the foreign made labels,no maor brand can be trusted any more to not be foreign made.The non union made goods left just the same as union made ones did.Our government doesn’t insist on an even playng field.
LS
The people haven’t seen anything, yet. Remember when Jacob Engineering bought Sverdrup? The folks at Sverdrup thought their new name would be Jacob-Sverdrup. Nope. The name has disappeared. Nearly ALL of the Sverdrup folks have disappeared as well. Of the nearly 5000 employees that were here, where have they gone?
When McDonnell Douglas was bought by Boeing. The folks at McD thought the new name would be Boeing-McDonnell Douglas. Nope. The “McDonnell Douglas” name was attached to a minor division and has disappeared. As has the Helicopter Plant. McD had, around 1991, nearly 45,000 employes in St. Louis, how many are there now? 15,000 or less.
Boatmens Bank bought up many local banks, yet the name remained the same. Then they got bought by some folks on the East Coast, and following the purchase of Bank of America, the new name IS Bank of America. How many Boatmens employes are employed at Bank of America?
Understand this: For awhile, the name Budweiser may stay, in more likelyhood it will disappear, as will the names Busch, Michelob, etc. Don’t be surprised when the cost cutting starts, and the jobs start disappearing. I’ve heard that InBev does not favor unions, so they’ll be the first to go. DESPITE U.S. laws to the contrary. This is now a foreign company. It is owned by a European company.
It will comply with the laws of that country. It will (probably) give lip service to our laws. Based on the past actions of InBev, consider the future.
If I could, I would advise all those who prefer American brews to switch to American owned companys. Right now. Stop drinking the old A-B products, as they will be changed. What’s to keep InBev here? Or will they prefer the Chicago region for their North American Headquarters. Like Boeing does.
You can spend your money wherever you want. One of the big reasons WalMart is vilified is that they have (by their own admission), two factories and several stores in China. NOT the democratic China, i.e., Tiawan, but Communist China. The question I have for that is (a) when was a peace agreement signed with China and (b) when was China opened for our businesses? If the answer to both is negative, then I ask, “Why are you giving the Communists your money to build arms to threaten us?”
InBev makes beer. They don’t like unions. They are going to gut A-B. They will probably sell off Grant’s Farm (hopefully the State of Missouri buys it), the Clydesdales, some of the equipment, the data center. And layoff lots of people.
So, August Busch IV, did you win the argument? Are you happy now? O by the way, where does your Trust money come from? The company? I wonder what would happen if no one bought or drank an InBev product, nationwide, for one or two or three months? I have no problem with that. I drink beer that was in America, by American owned companies.
Every dollar you spend is a vote for how you want the world to be. I didn’t come up with this comment but I believe it. If you want more and bigger Farmer’s Markets…then support them (Ferguson, Maplewood, Tower Grove, Edwardsvile, Alton, Kirkwood, Sappington etc…)! If you want more Wal-Mart, Big Box stores and not caring where your stuff comes from… don’t expect real community to stay around much longer. Every dollar is a vote. Some people obviously must go to places that take food stamps…but they are working on processes to take food stamps at Farmer’s Markets. There is a trend towards cost of food and cost of fuel. Food is a fuel. We will continue to pay higher prices when we continue to keep our heads in the sand when it comes to Energy issues. It will just come to a big head like a big pimple and puss will be all over US (United States)!