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58 comments on The End of WalMart?

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TI on October 31, 2005 - 4:53am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
Any retailer has to truck the goods in their stores, not only Wal-Mart. The question is who has the relatively most effective logistics chain.

I would like to hear what Kunstler thinks would replace the present suburbia - without a lot of energy-consuming investments. When there is an energy crunch you live with that infrastructure you have - you don't start to remake everything.

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gbenzon on October 31, 2005 - 9:23am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Kunstler was using WalMart as the easiest target. Yes, all retailers need trucks for distribution, but I think his point was that supply chains that reach half-way around the globe (as do WalMart's) will not be sustainable. If transportation costs continue to skyrocket, WalMart will not have enough of an advantage in retail pricing to maintain their market share.

I've always been a little perplexed by Kunstler's focus on classic suburbia. If his predictions come to pass, we're basically all screwed, at least for some time. He did seem to say not that suburbs would be boarded up and abandoned, but that they would become the slums of the future, perhaps with multiple families per dwelling.

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TI on October 31, 2005 - 11:19am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Wal-Marts long supply chains = imports. But this is a little bit another question. The structure of retail trade is not the same as the structure of its supply. Even after the Peak Oil it will take fairly long time to kill all supermarkets.

If Kunstler says that suburbs will become slums then it only means that the living standard will go down so that the the living space (square feet) per person will be lower. This is possible if the economy starts a negative growth. The suburbs are the result of increasing living space. This might be unsustainable.  

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Engineer-Poet on October 31, 2005 - 6:55pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Container ships are the most energy-efficient means of moving cargo ever invented by humans.  Barges are second best, railroads run third.  It's safe to say that the overseas source of Wal-Mart's merchandise will not be a large handicap as energy prices rise, especially if ships get sail assists or better.
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58 comments on The End of WalMart?

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