Fast Company magazine has an excerpt on its site from the book “The Wal-Mart Effect : How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works–and How It’s Transforming the American Economy” by Charles Fishman (who is a senior writer for Fast Company).

The excerpt is an interesting account of what led Jim Wier, the CEO of lawn equipment maker Simplicity, which manufactures Snapper mowers after acquiring the company in 2002, to stop doing business with Wal-Mart. He realized that one of his company’s biggest assets was in selling a higher quality piece of equipment, which meant it would be priced higher than the rest of the mowers at Wal-Mart. But he was concerned that discounted prices and higher sales volume would adversely affect quality, sending his company into a death spiral. So he traveled to Bentonville to say “No” to Wal-Mart in person.

“What struck Jim Wier first, as he entered the Wal-Mart vice president’s office, was the seating area for visitors. ‘It was just some lawn chairs that some other peddler had left behind as samples.’ The vice president’s office was furnished with a folding lawn chair and a chaise lounge.”

The article discusses the fact that, for example, even though you can’t buy a Snapper mower at Wal-Mart, the mega-retailer is still a driving force in Snapper’s production methods and distribution system. Companies like Snapper have to walk a fine line — competing against Wal-Mart (and other mass retailers) based on value rather than price.

Very interesting article, and it sounds like a fascinating book.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/102/open_snapper.html
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594200769/sr=8-1/qid=1143666686/ref=sr_1_1/104-6319043-5291957?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Mac