I've been remiss lately in making entries into the blog but frankly, I haven't had anything that I've felt inspired enough to write about until yesterday. Yet another American icon has made it's way into China, Walmart, actually, a SUPERCENTER WALMART! I always feel like I'm in a Fallini movie whenever I encounter a very American thing in China like Buicks, Starbucks, McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken everywhere, it is definitely a surreal experience. Susan and I spent a couple of hours yesterday roaming around this enormous Walmart. It was just like the Walmarts back home except you can buy live frogs and fish (for eating not petting) and of course, the ever delectable chickens feet in the meat market (yummy). This is, afterall, still China.
The import section was stocked with things like Delmonte Ketchup and Orville Redenbacher popcorn, it's backasswards. There are Chinese twists to the American items like crab flavored Pringles, banana flavored popcorn and seaweed flavored saltine crackers (what's that all about? That sounds more like an accident than a food item).
The reason why I call it the Evil Empire is because Walmart has made it's fortune by strong arming manufacturers to reduce their price while Walmart maximizes its profits. For example, they would sell Duracell batteries for $1 and make a 60% profit. If you can't do the math, basically, Walmart makes more money on Duracell batteries than Duracell. It looks like they don't have this leverage in China. The prices are no better at Walmart than at a high end foreign market but it was packed with local Chinese. So, they must be doing something right. We just can't figure out what it is.
This is a bitter sweet experience for me because I like to see American items in China to boost the American economy but at the same time, I really don't like Walmart, such is life.
