Dear folks and friends!!! <BR>Isn't that great??? There will be Wal Marts all the way from Frankfurt down the Romantic Road (including: Rothenburg ob der Tauber, by the way: avoid the nightwatchman- tour: no food and diet coke will be available!!!)to Munich. Until 1999 the stores are still called 'Interspar' but from then on they will be properly Americanized- including full American service. There is no need to worry about anything anymore- we will all get our real American products!!! Many greetings, <BR>Yours Beverly. <BR>PS: Want any tips on how to plan a trip to Europe? E mail me!!!

Hi Beverly <BR>Thanks for the news. Great! I'm in Germany quite a lot and find the supermarkets dire! Narrow aisles, dirty floors, the displays are awful, no service, no scanner tills. And for a country that is normally fantastic in the quality of goods this is amazing how Germans put up with their supermarkets. Elsewhere in Europe it's different. In England thery're great, and in the Netherlands they're not bad too. <BR>But will Wal-Mart be teaching the staff English? This is normally a problem. Can't wait to try out out German wal-Mart next fall when I'm in Frankfurt. <BR>Joe

Joe: ...and why exactly it is so imperative that the German staff speak English? Is this going to be a tourist attraction for Americans......? This reminds me of a thread that was going around about traveller vs tourist... <BR>

The last thing I want to see on my vacation to Europe is a Wal-Mart. I see enough of them at home. <BR>

I think the only reason I could possibly see visiting a WalMart when in Germany is the off-chance that I really needed something that was very hard to comeby elsewhere. Unless they follow a different location strategy than in the U.S., I don't expect them to be in locations that are frequented by tourists. I certainly hope that they don't feel that they need to teach English to the employees, especially since most of the customers will probably be German.

Hopefully, this is a joke. <BR> <BR>Of all the things that we could possibly export to Germany, a "Wal-Mart" should certainly be at the bottom of the list, if not missing from it totally. <BR> <BR>It tells me alot about my fellow Americans that we would want to see a Wal-Mart in that country. It just boggles my mind that we would consider this as something to actually look forward to. <BR> <BR>It's downright scary.

Thank you for the news Beverly. <BR>Well I think this is great, and will look forward. I think America should be proud of exporting our products to Germany and the rest of Europe. I visit Germany (my folks came from there) quite often to see my aunts and uncles and so am not a typical tourist. My husband, Bert, does not speak German and mine is only broken so it will be good for him to get homegrown produce in an environment where English is spoken. It's good for America to have stores everywhere. After all, we helped these countries so much it's only right we help them with store culture too. And Beverly, do you know if they'll have free parking lots? <BR>Take care <BR>Dotty

Well, this is interesting. I find it ghastly how my fellow citizen Americans can be so arrogant. "Most of the customers will probably be German", "I would go there if I need something desparately" etc. The customers in US stores are 99% American, so we can presume 99% customers in Germany will be German residents, and of course, marketing rules dictate that stores will send produce that local customers want. So German Wal-Mart will send German goods. <BR>If you want to shop at Wal-Mart, take a vacation in Baltimore or Florida, and stay away from Bavaria and Frankfurt.

What's next? Home Depot? <BR>

I probably have as much overseas travel experience as most people (2+ years), and yet I find myself continually amused by two sets of attitudes you find in the US. The first one is the predictable "Why isn't Europe more like Wichita?" crowd. <BR> <BR>The second is the "Why isn't Wichita more like Europe?" set. <BR> <BR>Face it: There are advantages to Wal-Mart which Germans haven't yet seen. In any case the market will rule. If Wal-Mart is wrong culturally for Germany it will fall on it's Sam Walton face! Germans won't shop there. European Companies like Volkswagen and Renault have learnt that lesson coming over to the US, haven't they?

Question from Australia. What is a Wal Mart? Is it like a KMart? And if so, why does Europe need them. What is the excitement. I was glad to see the back of big department stores whilst in Italy and Turkey. Denise <BR>

I don't know whether my own opinion was obvious from my comments earlier - apparently not. From a business standpoint, I guess if Germans want a WalMart, what is wrong with it? However, this is only meant from a marketing standpoint. I have read several articles discussing how supermarkets/department stores are gaining a greater importance with European shoppers for convenience reasons. We in the U.S. are not the only ones with less time on our hands these days. However, from a cultural standpoint, I don't see much positive to impart from WalMart or McDonalds. I made the comments about not teaching the staff English because I don't see why they should learn English unless they want to learn it. I am one who always cringes when I hear the phrase - "why don't they speak English?" It is Germany, afterall. <BR> <BR>As to the comment that I would go there if I really needed something badly, I meant that although German stores carry most things I could ever need overseas, since I am familiar with WalMart's typical product lines, I might go if I couldn't find an item elsewhere that I really really really really needed(although at the moment I can't think of an example). Otherwise, there are better things to do with the time. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Yes, it makes me cringe, too, everytime I see American chains in France. <BR> <BR>But as someone who lived several years in Germany and put up with dreadful store hours and a non-existant service mentality, I can tell you that Wal-Mart, with their customer-focused culture and their prices, will do the shopkeeper culture in Germany a world of good.

To the fellow in Oz, Wal-Mart is indeed like a K-Mart. It began as a chain serving rural and small towns. As it expanded to the cities they deployed much larger stores than K Mart had in those cities. Wal-Mart prices were generally better than K Mart's for many years. <BR> <BR>From what I have heard about German retailers, Wal-Mart would indeed be an improvement. Apart from the general anti-Yankee rhetoric, why is Wal-Mart bad and Ikea good? I shop at both and find them valuable.......

I think this discussion is going down two different roads that don't necessarily converge. One is our view of Europe as travellers, and the other is our view of what is good for Europe. I think on one level, as travellers who want to go to a country to see what we perceive as "German" or "French" or "Italian," we don't want to see a proliferation of WalMarts, K-Marts, McDonalds, Pizza Huts, etc. in these places. They then become "less interesting" and more like home. Along the same lines, I think some of us (myself included) don't like hearing people infer that they want to see American ways imposed on people in other countries (eg., they should learn to speak English). However, on another level, I think we can sometimes go too far in saying that we wish the U.S. was more like Europe. Sure, I have often wished we had better social priorities and more attractive and efficient cities and towns as in Europe, but our country is good at some things too. Why do people drive Japanese cars and by their electronics afterall - because they are of high quality. American businesses have generally become very good at customer service, often learning from the Japanese in this regard. If enough Germans (or anyone else) want WalMart there, then they will be there, and if Germans like it - great. Afterall, how many of us do not frequent WalMart - they offer generally good products at a good price.

I can't see it. A German shopkeeper saying bye now as I walk out the door. <BR> <BR>I for one won't be dropping my coin in Walmart. It's really a sad day. <BR> <BR>I didn't mind unfriendly shopkeepers in Germany because I knew the culture insulated being friendly from money. The Walmart culture says, be friendly to those who make us richer. <BR> <BR>Bye now.

This is great news. <BR>Maybe with Wal-Mart's German connections we'll be able to get Kinder eggs at US Wal-Marts soon.

This is great news. <BR>Maybe with Wal-Mart's German connections we'll be able to get Kinder eggs at US Wal-Marts soon.

This is great news. <BR>Maybe with Wal-Mart's German connections we'll be able to get Kinder eggs at US Wal-Marts soon.

This is great news. <BR>Maybe with Wal-Mart's German connections we'll be able to get Kinder eggs at US Wal-Marts soon.