I've never been to a Wal-Mart in Germany. No, I did not boycott them or something; it just didn't happen, because there hasn't ever been a Wal-Mart close to me. I have my Wal-Mart experiences, though: Moscow in 1997 (the store was quite... um, Russian). And Nanning, PRC, in 2004 (too expensive in comparison to local options, if you ask me).
Diehard multicultural lefty that I am, I'm more like the "think global, buy local" kind of guy. I prefer the next door 16/7 shop (run by Turks), the polish baker woman at the market with her disarming smile (even if the temperature is 14 F) - and at work, I can't wait the lunch break to visit my Korean grocery lady (NO! It's not about her looks! Not in this case. She is such a lovely, caring person. The other day, I met her on the street near my home, and we found out that we're neighbors! What a joy!)
Talking about Korean ladies: Germany isn't the only country in the world where Wal-Mart is losing a battle (my emphasis):
Is Globalization Succumbing to Glocalization? (via Yale Global)
The Korea Times, 26 July 2006
The success story of E-Mart, a domestic retailer, and the failure of multinational corporations such as Wal-Mart, the world number one retailer, and Carrefour, the strongest retailer in Europe, are not enough to say globalization is succumbing to glocalization. This situation is merely another incident of intense competition resulting from free trade and Americanization. Glocalization is defined as the mix of global standards and local preferences.
(...)
To sum up, the famous story of E-Mart and Wal-Mart maybe significant because a company of the size of Wal-Mart failed, but other than that, these things happen all the time. That is what the market is all about. Glocalization has no reason to fit in this story because neither Wal-Mart nor E-Mart was 'glocalized' in the first place. Some people try to make this story an accomplished fact of glocalization but, in my perspective, I see no glocalization in this story.
1 comment:
@Don
In Germany, "Aldi" is the synonym for "low-cost". Lidl is more or less a copy, although a successful one. In Germany, due to very tough competetion grocery prices are about 10-15% lower compared to other European countries, even if you consider different VAT rates.
Every company without deep market knowledge that tries to become the low price leader here commits mere suicide. As Wal-Mart did.
Post a Comment