Is Wal Mart good for America?

[Smee]

For those who might be interested, there is a site where you can find all sorts of Made in THe US of A products and manufacturers

http://www.madeinusa.com

Diggem'

I get most of my goods that are made in the USA at WalMart.

Sears Roebuck did it first people! The evil catalogue spelled the doom of many a local store. Later, they consolidated themselves with Penny's, Marshall or Carson's outside of the downtown areas, killing off the primary shopping areas when they relocated to Malls. While a lot of small businesses disappeared, and many a downton area dried too thin, many others saw opportunities in these malls.

Chains of smaller specialty outlets showed up. Many of these were the catalysts for the foreign textile/fabric and clothing markets. Did I leave the Big K out that picture? That was the first place I noticed the lack of "Made in the USA" Then came the food courts. Wal Mart is, if anything late to that game.

Some won't see it! Diggemall But well said!

Very true, with one small difference . . . having to wait a few weeks for something to arrive from the Sears Catalog (like we did back in the 60's) was competition for some of the mom and pop businesses, but if you needed something right now, you didn't wait. Also, the old mom and pop stores usually carried the local farmers until the crops came in. Be it groceries, furniture, drygoods . . . if you needed it now you could get it today without waiting, and you did.

With Wal Mart, the catalog shipping center has effectively come to town. We've had one here since at least 1978, when I started dating my wife. The difference is, no more can mom and pop stores do enough business to justify granting credit . . . not enough business to make it sustainable. That was a strong point with many of the local merchantiles in decades past. As they dry up . . . our last one in Fountain Hill, AR closed up about 10-12 years ago . . . all you have are the big box retailers.

Wal Mart, by itself, isn't what's bad . . . but by the sheer size of their company . . . they are the ones who stand out.

Homogenization of the culture. No local flavor. Fewer people in total are employed with these big box stores than there were with the numerous little ones. No more continuity, fewer businesses passed from generation to generation. A lot has been lost to the growth of big retail business.

So, how is that good for this country?

 

[Urban Prospector]

I spend alot of time in a innercity area (the ghetto). There are mom& pop shops all over the place. They buy bulk at Walmart and Smart&Final, break down the packaging and sell the not for individual sale items individually. Of course they mark up the retail price they pay and don't mention it come tax time. There are no "Big Box" stores around, they are afraid of the high crime rate. Then every few years the area explodes and everything in sight is looted and burned to the ground. With the change to digital only TV we're due for another riot, people need new free TVs.

 

[jeff of pa]

With the change to digital only TV we're due for another riot, people need new free TVs.

I Believe that's called "Five Finger Discount"

 

[Urban Prospector]

Around here it's an Olympic event called shoot loot and scoot.

 

[Lowbatts]

For those who might be interested, there is a site where you can find all sorts of Made in THe US of A products and manufacturers

http://www.madeinusa.com

Diggem'

I get most of my goods that are made in the USA at WalMart.

Sears Roebuck did it first people! The evil catalogue spelled the doom of many a local store. Later, they consolidated themselves with Penny's, Marshall or Carson's outside of the downtown areas, killing off the primary shopping areas when they relocated to Malls. While a lot of small businesses disappeared, and many a downton area dried too thin, many others saw opportunities in these malls.

Chains of smaller specialty outlets showed up. Many of these were the catalysts for the foreign textile/fabric and clothing markets. Did I leave the Big K out that picture? That was the first place I noticed the lack of "Made in the USA" Then came the food courts. Wal Mart is, if anything late to that game.

Some won't see it! Diggemall But well said!

Very true, with one small difference . . . having to wait a few weeks for something to arrive from the Sears Catalog (like we did back in the 60's) was competition for some of the mom and pop businesses, but if you needed something right now, you didn't wait. Also, the old mom and pop stores usually carried the local farmers until the crops came in. Be it groceries, furniture, drygoods . . . if you needed it now you could get it today without waiting, and you did.

With Wal Mart, the catalog shipping center has effectively come to town. We've had one here since at least 1978, when I started dating my wife. The difference is, no more can mom and pop stores do enough business to justify granting credit . . . not enough business to make it sustainable. That was a strong point with many of the local merchantiles in decades past. As they dry up . . . our last one in Fountain Hill, AR closed up about 10-12 years ago . . . all you have are the big box retailers.

Wal Mart, by itself, isn't what's bad . . . but by the sheer size of their company . . . they are the ones who stand out.

Homogenization of the culture. No local flavor. Fewer people in total are employed with these big box stores than there were with the numerous little ones. No more continuity, fewer businesses passed from generation to generation. A lot has been lost to the growth of big retail business.

So, how is that good for this country?

The most important way it is good for the country is the re-birth of specialty retailers. Yes I would like to go to a local hardware store where they have a full line of tools and supplies, not just generic quick-fix necessities. Our local Ace Hardware stores are doing fine. They put all their competitors under long before WalMart showed up. Of course they face the challenge of beating the Home Depot stores.

How do they do this? They go back to basics. Their stores are located in neighborhoods, not out on the edge of town. Too many Dollar Generals, not enough Ben Franklins? Yes, but these Dollar Generals will be beaten out when some Ben Franklin or 5 and Dime comes back to the neighborhoods with leaner distribution methods. If that's what the MARKET wants. We are the market.

As such, the high-side of the market will go e-store within a generation. Yes, it is a de-personalized existence where you never get to know anyone's name or even a face. However that actually began with the written letter and exploded via the telephone.

No offense intended but I have no idea who I'm talking/typing to now or why I'm engaged in this dialogue in the first place. A very real conversation with a neighbor could be taking place instead. Sans that, we are only virtually communicating, impersonally, coldly and two-dimensionally. So let's just say we are all taking that turn. And let's just know where our level of acceptable interaction is.

There is the fact however that I have met other TNetters and enjoyed their company at dig time, moreso at post-dig time in the pursuit of fatty goods like chicken wings. So we'll hold out hopes our offspring don't go fully-virtual.