Termyn8or
Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
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I don't know how you all think, but I have avoided large chain stores for a long time. I have known about Walmart's antics for a long time and have only been in one once. It was the only place I could get an eye exam the same day and had broken my glasses. Then the only place to get the glasses made the same day was about 15 miles away.
That was at a mall, I had to get a ride because I couldn't drive and asked that we park as absolutely close to the optician as possible. I avoid malls like the plague, I know what kind of rents they pay. I think almost everything you get at a a mall can be had for 50% less, and not at Walmart.
Officemax, Staples, Giant Eagle, all on my shit list. I buy food at Vollick's, a small chain you never heard of with a scant 5 or 6 stores in this area. Heinen's is an even smaller chain in the area, one that I'll deal with when I want something special, they are noted for their extreme quality. A bit pricey, but we are talking food here and I am not a sheeple who will put anything in front of them into their mouth.
We have a large pizza chain around here making pizza for very cheap, another with buy one get two free. Yuck. I like good pizza, the place I call has two stores and their pizza is among the best I've ever had. But then two 8 cuts are well over $20.
I was recently informed by my boss that there is a real butcher down the street, like the old days. I'll have to stop in.
Dealing with smaller firms is a way of life for me, for several reasons. You might pay a tad more for a given item, but for one usually someone local is making money. Also, if there is a problem, one customer's opinion holds alot more weight to a smaller firm.
I've read some even nastier things about Walmart than those cited in the arcticle. For example selling at a loss until all the competition is gone, then raising prices as soon as the last competitor folds. They absolutely refuse to advertise locally, the closest they come is the major newspaper in a city. And as their executives get ivory back scratchers, their employees get food stamps. They also get subsidies to build new stores, corporate welfare.
There is a certain amount of bridled greed that fuels productivity, and is actually beneficial. Then there has been a term coined "avariciousness" which describes an unbridled, extreme greed.
Back when many people traveled by rail, one railroad got rich enough to operate at a loss, and did so until the competition was forced to fold. They got away with it and I think that may have been one of the impetus' for the coming anti-trust legislation.
Indeed things have come full circle for Ma Bell. ATT had to be broken up, so they broke up, and over the years ATT became SBC, turn on the TV, now the old SBC is the new ATT.
A few decades ago Willis appliance became Fretter's, with Mr Willis on the board of directors. It's all a shell game. I wouldn't be surprised if A&P eventually came back. But it won't be like the old days I am sure. They will probably be owned offshore and who knows where the money goes.
I liked the old auto parts stores, no Women, no air fresheners none of that. Paint, penetrating oil and things like antifreeze were on the shelves. You were not shopping and you did not have an "experience". They might not let you smoke pot (after about 1980) but you set your beer down on the greasy counter and told the guy what you want. He went to this big book called a Hollander, next to which sat an ashtray. After a few seconds "Yup, we got those". Parts came in a box, not a blister package. If there was a problem you took it back and he called the manufacturer, funny, he didn't dial an area code. You sat on a stool older than you as he straightened the situation out.
The part was not $36.95 plus tax, like $39.12 or something, it was forty bucks. They just back figured the sales tax every month and it was all nice and legal, but you didn't have to deal with change much. People would come in dripping oil on the wood floor, in some cases with no shirt.
Now I need a picture ID to buy garbage cans at the mega mart, but I can buy many dangerous and even illegal things on the internet. What a crock.
The biggest thing that bothers me about what has changed is that a Man used to be able to make a very good living by hard work, without screwing anybody over, but those days are over. If you want to get rich you have to either screw your customers or your employees, or both. Eisenhower warned of this, and it has happened.
The terrorists shouldn't have bombed the WTC, they should've bombed a bunch of Walmarts. One good thing has come of it, the old giants with their hubris have been put in their place. Kmart is crying uncle and Sears is beat down into the termite business. One thing about a bully, it is very satisfying when a bigger bully comes and puts him on his ass.
Of course all these rich folk are a drain on the economy and they are killing the cash cow. The consumer needs to look at more than just the price of an item, and actually think whether he needs it or not. My house is over 100 years old and my car and TV are approaching 20. I never go shopping. I know what I want, I go to buy it.
Now, if Walmart can do it, so can someone else, who is going to be an even bigger bully ?
T
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Free Market Failure - 
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