[robotnixon]

"Snapper is the sort of high-quality nameplate, like Levi Strauss, that Wal-Mart hopes can ultimately make it more Target-like. He suggested that Snapper find a lower-cost contract manufacturer. He suggested producing a separate, lesser-quality line with the Snapper nameplate just for Wal-Mart. Just like Levi did."

https://www.fastcompany.com/54763/man-who-said-no-wal-mart

[cptskippy]

The book "The United States of Walmart" goes into how Walmart pressures manufacturers to lower price points, margins, outsource, etc to meet the price Walmart wants to sell their products at. They have done significant damage to once reputable brands like Levis and Huffy in the interest of having that premium brand in their stores.

For much of the 90s and early 2000s offshoring of manufacturing in the US was primarily driven my Walmart demanding lower per unit prices. Manufacturers had little choice but to comply since not being in Walmart meant losing out on a majority of the market.

[josefresco]

Maybe this is a result of what you describe but I never remember Levis or Huffy being premium brands. Before Walmart "came to our town" those brands were featured in other big-box stores.