in discussion at Instapundit & elsewhere. Their 4th quarter numbers suck, & bloggers have some ideas as to why. Land of the Lemmings references the other posts in the discussion, and hits the nail on the head, as far as I'm concerned. It is all about service.

Wal-Mart employees have no motivation to do a good job, their compensation and benefits suck. CostCo, for example, has better employee retention numbers and better starting salaries, according to this article. Contrast that with some of the reports about Wal-Mart’s wonderful employment record. If you know you are just an easily replaced cog in the giant machine, why try to do anymore than just what is necessary to get by?

Of course I have a special relationship with the big-box stores whose toy-wars last Christmas put me out of a great job and forced a career change, (see posts from last winter: 1, 2) but I believe that retail success is about great customer service, and that we the people will eventually tire of trawling through drafty poorly merchandised barns & will once again look for a local, personal and regular relationship with a business person whose investment is in the community.