American Reacts to Why Walmart Failed In Germany

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[antonygumbrecht]

"Employees have to report other employees and get punished along with the person who did it if they don't" They literally tried to install a system that works in the exact same way as the gestapo did in the very country that experienced what the gestapo was like...

[LM-ohvw]

Italian here: if an employee starts to act like the Walmart employees are required to, Italians would get suspicious. They would start to think "Are these people trying to scam me, or are they trying to steal my wallet? Oh, maybe they want my watch, or my phone!" That's because over here, when random strangers act way too nicely that's usually what they are trying to do.

[abgekippt]

As far as I remember, Walmart cashiers in Germany were initially not allowed to sit at the checkout (like in the US) until German authorities intervened. Such treatment is an absolute no-go in Germany.

[AxeGaijin]

Going into a foreign market and expecting the market to adept to you rather then you adapting to the market is never going to go over well.

[aureliamillner]

One thing worth mentioning: They tried to impose similar paid leave, parental leave and sick leave standards as the US, aka close to none. But legally they where screwed trying to implement that. They had to provide the leaves and give adequate pay and not keep "part-time employees" at minimum wage with like half an hour less a week then full-time. This wont work in Germany, we know our rights and our worth as workers ;)

[emiliajojo]

when you remember german history, group chants and spy on your co-workers has the worst possible connotations.

[TheTenguwarrior]

Another point that wasn't mentioned in the video that the buildings Wal-Mart purchased were these giant stores outside of town were you would have to drive to with a car. As German (and most European ) citys are quite walkable people are more used to visit the smaller Supermarkets(and Discounter) right in their neighbourhood multiple times a week, rather than a big foreign Mega Store you have to drive to once a week or month.

[HH-hdnd]

7:20 Many sections of that ethics code where outright illegal here in Germany - which is the reason why it was struck down in court. They also should have taken a look at how German stores operate instead of trying their horrible fake business culture on a population that is creeped out by such behaviour.

The predatory pricing to crush competitors...that would have worked in the USA and to a certain extend this does exist in Germany as well, however here are regulations in place for stuff like that which protect smaller companies. Walmart violated those regulations and where surprised when the courts ruled against them.

However their biggest mistake was their misunderstanding of Unions - what they are, how they operate. A union here in Germany is very, very different from what is called a Union in the USA. VerDi, the Union representing people in the service and retail sectors among others, has about 2.1 million members. Unions are, unlike in the USA, not company specific, they represent entire sectors. IG Metall, the largest union in Germany with 2.3 million members, represents all people in the manufacturing and heavy industry sections for example.

[ralfsstuff]

Short Version: To us Walmart feels just as creepy.

[Soken]

In Europe if a store employee follows you while smiling innocently it's probably because they think you'll steal or vandalize the place so I can understand why no one wanted any of that in germany, the Walmartstapo definitely didn't help the matter XD

[TigerNL]

From what I read in the newspapers here in the Netherlands, Walmart wanted to pay it's employees below the minimum wages and had the audacity to ask the German govt to lower said minimum wages. Germany flipped 'em the bird on that one, too.

[optimusmaximus]

It was a hard but important lesson for them to learn. Frankly, I think Walmart's expansion overseas is a form of imperialism. It's like they expected Germany to become American and to adopt America's values" instead of adapting itself to the local culture. Wlamart squandered a golden business opportunity but their ignorance of other cutures simply let them down. I am sure there is an element of this in all store chains that spread internationally but Walmart seemed to have got it wrong bigtime. Aldi on the other hand did the right thing and never tried to enforce German culture on the countries they exported to.

[Real_MisterSir]

In essence, Walmart and other similar megacorps just feel like massive scam ventures that do no good for local environments or anyone besides the people who run the place. Even employees tend to be treated poorly in such places - and especially in Europe that approach of corpo first, little guy last, just doesn't sit well with the common cultures here.

[gilbertmoyes]

They planned to start in the Australian market. But when they were told they had to follow Australian labour laws, walmart didn't happen. Starbucks in Australia also failed. The other week in Woolworth, I saw a stack of Starbucks ceramic mugs going for half price, obviously hard to shift.

[Bierzgal]

I always liked going to "Aldi" whenever I visit my family in Germany. In Poland we do have "Lidl" and that's probably my go-to when it comes to buying groceries. Acceptable prices, decent quality, just normal. And if anyone in Poland needs something on the spot, there are "Żabka" ("frog" in english) shops EVERYWHERE :).

[Rockero_Loco]

In Germany, there is a Sunday sales ban. With a few exceptions at petrol stations, train stations and airports, all shops are closed.
Walmart wanted to force the court to open on Sundays. They went to court with a busload of star lawyers and failed.
They could not understand that the judiciary in Germany is completely independent and only follows the applicable laws. The judges are absolutely uninfluenced by anyone.
Not even from the government. In contrast to the USA, this is a cornerstone of a real democracy.

[throwaway]

As a German, concerning the creepiness factor of just talking to basically every customer, yeah that's *very creepy*. When I worked in a supermarket here, I would only ask the customers if they needed help finding something if I got the impression they were somewhat lost or if I'd seen them wandering around clearly looking for something specific (but not finding it quickly or at all). From the reactions I got back then from the customers, that was about the correct (and sometimes maximum) amount of customer interaction they wanted.

[faenwulf]

As someone who is working at a german grocery-store, we also greet our customers, but only offer our help, when customers seem to not find what they are looking for.
Also if asked we help packing or assist putting the groceries in the car.
Edit: I don't mean someone in the entrance whos only purpose is to greet customers.

[Marco-ztfz]

One big problem was Walmart dont understand the culture. Also Walmart dont wanna work with the Union Verdi together. US companies dont like Unions. Unions have a lots of power in Germany.The retail buisness in europe is very brutal. Walmart had also to pay fair salary, of course 4 weeks fully paid vacation, as well all holidays. Walmart had to exept many things in Germany, what in the US not exist. As well when employee getting sick and cant working. The company cant fire the employee and the working place is secure.

[olivertripp]

Translate corporate talk: "We're too stupid and ignorant to adapt and overcome some difficulties. Therefore we can't make any profit in Germany"...