Made In America?

 

I was at Brown’s shoe store on Saturday and the salesman started talking about how Wal-Mart is paying businesses that were overseas to open up manufacturing warehouses in America and how they want to sell more products that are made in America. He also said that the founder of Wal-Mart (Sam Walton) wanted to sell only American products, but after he died it all changed. So, I decided to research if Wal-Mart is really going to try to buy American made products. My first source is from Time Magazine and it states “Walmart doesn’t make anything. But the giant retailer could play a part in the manufacturing rebound that is taking place in the U.S. with its promise to buy $ 50 billion more U.S. made goods over the next decade for its Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.” Wow, 50 billion seems like a lot of goods but this article says that it is only 10% of what they will sell this year. Also, the chief merchandising and marketing officer for Wal-Mart stated “When we buy from overseas, we may buy more than we need to fill the container" I wonder if they are trying to look better for Americans, or if it’s just more expensive to ship items from overseas today? I looked at another source from The New York Times and it states that “A wide range of companies, including Apple, General Electric and Brooks Brothers, are experimenting with making more products in the United States. The moves make good public relations, but they also take advantage of cheaper energy costs and transportation benefits in this country.”

After reading that statement I am thinking is making products in America beneficial for just Wal-Mart or all of the companies involved? Could this change happen because many consumers today are leaning towards American made goods? I guess I will find out after more research.