Poll: Do you expect the people who opposed the development of Wal-Mart at Sixth and Wakarusa in Lawrence to shop at the store? / LJWorld.com

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Response		Percent	Votes
Yes		78%	1296
No		21%	362
Total	1658

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LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.

mommyoffour (anonymous) says…

I went tonight. Seems clean and well organized. Nicer then the other one.
April 30, 2009 at 12:40 a.m.
WhiteDog (anonymous) says…

Well, I haven't been in the old one in years, and I have no plans to visit the new one anytime soon.
April 30, 2009 at 12:55 a.m.
copperdog007 (anonymous) says…

Wal-Mart is a "take over, push the little guy out" company
I hope their new store and their old one burn to the ground.
April 30, 2009 at 3:02 a.m.
merrill (anonymous) says…

We have not shopped Wally World going on 5 years. Pricing is not that hot, like prices/ very competitive prices can be had at local hardware stores,appliance stores and grocery stores.

When Wal-Mart moves into a community it brings more than just “low-prices.” Big box retailers like Wal-Mart push out small-community owned businesses, drive down wages, cause environmental destruction, and increase the strain on publicly funded programs like Medicaid.

Did you know that fewer than 50% of employees opt-in to Wal-Mart’s health care program because it is too expensive and inaccessible? As a result, many Wal-Mart employees are forced to enroll in Medicaid a health care program funded by tax dollars. New research revealed last week shows that Wal-Mart has been rigging the system to skip out on $2.3 billion in state taxes—so that money comes from your precious tax dollars, not Wal-Mart’s.

That’s right. Wal-Mart, a company that grossed over $11 billion in profits last year, is driving its employees to use a publicly funded health care program, and passing the costs on to you.

It’s time to hold Wal-Mart accountable for the destruction they’ve brought to your community. Send a message to your state representatives urging them to do their homework and find out how much Wal-Mart’s penny-pinching business practices cost you.
April 30, 2009 at 3:33 a.m.
scaramouchepart2 (anonymous) says…

Haven't shopped at the other and won't shop at the one in my neighborhood. Have you seen the horrible sight coming down the hill west of town on 6th. I thought I got off the wrong exit and was in Johnson Co.
April 30, 2009 at 3:44 a.m.
scaramouchepart2 (anonymous) says…

Had to get up early today and thought there was a full moon. The Wal-Mart is putting out so much light pollution I could sit on my deck, which is not on the north side of the house, and practically read the paper. Can't wait for Baur Farms. I will be able to read the fine print.
April 30, 2009 at 4:39 a.m.
Gootsie (anonymous) says…

We can just copy and paste from the other 200 articles on this subject...
April 30, 2009 at 5:43 a.m.
TopJayhawk (anonymous) says…

You guys are full of it.
There is nothing wrong with Wal-Mart.
You say it pushes the little guy out. Okay, how much does the little guy pay? Does he or she even offer health insurance? Probably not. But I guess it is better to "starve" working for a locally owned sweat-shop.
What a crock.
April 30, 2009 at 5:50 a.m.
labmonkey (anonymous) says…

TopJayHawk-

So instead, you support sweatshops worldwide by shopping at Wal-Mart. Look at your labels and buy American.
April 30, 2009 at 6:03 a.m.
yankeevet (anonymous) says…

Walmart is Kool.....................
April 30, 2009 at 6:17 a.m.
goodcitizen (anonymous) says…

Have not set foot in the old one (or any other Walmart) since they started suing my town--what was it? 43 separate lawsuits--so much for "tort reform"--oh I guess individual citizens get "tort reform", but corporations can still sue like crazy. Buy local, buy American--where was your flag pin and "support the troops" magnet made again?
April 30, 2009 at 6:41 a.m.
hodgesmom (Dayle Hodges) says…

Thanks waka.........
April 30, 2009 at 6:54 a.m.
grammaddy (anonymous) says…

Of course a few of them will. I was upset when the old Wal-mart caused the destruction of the other bowling alley and Kohl's replaced the skating rink,mostly because none of that was ever replaced for the kids. Now I wouldn't shop anywhere else. You can always find something wrong with any company but the only one I boycott is Hobby Lobby ( that company donates regularly to Phred Phelp's bunch).
April 30, 2009 at 7:12 a.m.
Sigmund (anonymous) says…

copperdog007 (Anonymous) says… "Wal-Mart is a “take over, push the little guy out” company"

One of the very few companies that doesn't need a taxpayer funded bailout, Walmart with a market capitalization of $180 billion and revenues of $400 billion didn't get big by pushing out "lttle guys" not enough of a market share there. Walmart competes by reducing distribution costs and luring customers from other big retailers Target, K-Mart, Sears, Penneys, Costco, Macys, ALDI, Family Dollar, et. al.
April 30, 2009 at 7:36 a.m.
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…

"We can just copy and paste from the other 200 articles on this subject…" Gootsie.

Yes, this is beyond a tiresome subject. The anti-Wal Mart crowd lost. They can either shop there or not. Who cares? It is done.
April 30, 2009 at 7:51 a.m.
CLARKKENT (anonymous) says…

everybody is quick to say how much walmart hurts a town/city. some truth in it, i am sure. i do know people that make a good wage at wally world.

do not put all the blame on wal-mart. look at mr. compton, and mr. newsome. do you folks really believe that they had our best interest's, or their own pockets interest. those are the kind that are not good for a city. they just keep taking.
April 30, 2009 at 8:41 a.m.
xbusguy (chris Ogle) says…

The west side is like another city to me. Thanks, but no thanks.... I stick with north and east siders.... where most people own (paid for) the house they live in. .
April 30, 2009 at 8:50 a.m.
Andini (anonymous) says…

Nobody likes to shop at WalMart. Nobody. The other shoppers hurt you, sometimes very badly. First you shop because your father wants you to. Then you shop to get the girls. If you keep on shopping, you do it for scholarships, and to get the girls. Then you shop for the money and the girls. Then you get to just watch the shoppers, and that’s fun. But nobody likes to shop at WalMart. Nobody.
April 30, 2009 at 9 a.m.
bearded_gnome (anonymous) says…

merrill cuts-and-pastes! gee, when has that ever happened before?

and I note with concern that copperdog's "wish" sure sounds like a terroristic threat.

and obama's homeland insecurity department worries about prolifers becoming terrorists??? rather, they need to watch merrill, copperdog, far left antiwalmart crazies.

saw a case on tv last night, this guy's vehicle, and his son's, were routinely scratched with bigX's, turned out was another greenie wheenie, because he hated those vehicles as being "gas hogs."

if the new walmart does burn, maybe copperdog should be identified to the authorities?
April 30, 2009 at 9:02 a.m.
purplesage (anonymous) says…

Oskaloosa has a Dollar General store with a brightly lighted parking lot. Pushed over a cafe to build it. It is like a small town Wal-Mart. The variety story tucked tail the week the building permit for DG was issued and started a going out of business sale. The pharmacy doesn't sell meds anymore and the hardware store is closing. Must be Wal-Mart.

By the way, I'm no fan of the Bentonville boys but like most of the rest who didn't want it in the neighborhood, I will shop there.
April 30, 2009 at 9:18 a.m.
srj (anonymous) says…

Capitalism at it's finest ! Go if you want too, if you want to spend a little more, go local. Freedom of choice. But hippies, don't talk bad about Wal-mart if you recycle there. Who else takes it for free? Can't have you cake and eat it too.
April 30, 2009 at 9:23 a.m.
sarahsmilehawk (anonymous) says…

I live near Harvard and Iowa, so the new Wal Mart doesn't seem much closer. Gas prices are reasonable right now. It's worth it to drive down to Target, where the employees are helpful, the crowds are smaller, and you can actually find your car in the parking lot. I can't put my finger on it, but Wal Mart gives off this feeling of quiet desperation that's very unsettling. And I don't need anything involving camouflage or Larry the Cable Guy.

If I need something in the middle of the night, after Target's closed, I'll go to Walgreens. I know Target and Walgreens are big corporations too, but they just seem significantly less evil. Even Starbucks is pleasant.
April 30, 2009 at 9:57 a.m.
toe (anonymous) says…

Businesses grow when people patronize them. It doesn't matter what I think of them. I prefer free enterprise, not forced government choices.
April 30, 2009 at 10:09 a.m.
jumpin_catfish (anonymous) says…

Snobs whining, I love it! Whine on snobs Wally World is here and you can't stop it.
April 30, 2009 at 10:10 a.m.
georgeofwesternkansas (anonymous) says…

Who cares?? You can spend your money where ever you choose, its your money...
April 30, 2009 at 10:14 a.m.
grammaddy (anonymous) says…

Pilgrim2- For whom?Certainly not the kids. And mine were there every weekend until it closed.
I hear a lot of people complain about the local youth. I think they're bored. There used to be 2 bowling alleys, a skating rink and a miniature golf course here. What do they have now?
April 30, 2009 at 10:19 a.m.
Practicality (anonymous) says…

I think I am going to start a new business. I am going to have everything that Wal-Mart does and I am going to have exactly 100% markup on all the merchandise compared to the Wal-Mart price. So all of you people who oppose Wal-Mart better shop at my store or you will be hypocrites. Oh, I will stock my store from Wal-Mart or Sams Club, but it will be locally owned. So buy, buy, buy.
April 30, 2009 at 10:56 a.m.
Jaylee (anonymous) says…

i want to know who is going to take the blame for this amazing idea when wal-mart closes one of the stores in a year or two and leaves a huge ugly vacant building in a lot they will not sell back to the city?

think i am making up confectionary theory? it happened in my hometown in illinois.

there are people in this town who complain about the "eye-sores" downtown that the slumlords refuse to take responsibility for and at the very least keep up. wait until they are driving out or into town and the wal * mart sign has been taken off the front of their huge ugly building because no town needs two or more walmarts!!! no matter how many resident boogans are around!!!
April 30, 2009 at 11:48 a.m.
Jaylee (anonymous) says…

grammaddy (Anonymous) says…

" What do they have now?"

apparently, not an imagination or access to the many parks in town
April 30, 2009 at 11:51 a.m.
Summerguuurl007 (anonymous) says…

"Wal-Mart is a “take over, push the little guy out” company
I hope their new store and their old one burn to the ground."

The only reason they do well is because people in the community shop there to save money! So blame the people who f over mom and pop, not the corporation that caters to what most people care most about-the bottom line pricing.
April 30, 2009 at 11:56 a.m.
Jaylee (anonymous) says…

man i am just thinking about the accessibility argument for having built it. it is so far over there that the only people it is near already had highway (or 6th to Kasold and out) access to the first wal mart.

i hate that i just said the first wal mart in reference to the town in which i live!!!

if anything, they SHOULD have built it or a grocery store for the folks in North Lawrence and people just hopping off the turnpike for goods.

wal mart is a cancer
April 30, 2009 at 11:56 a.m.
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…

"There used to be 2 bowling alleys, a skating rink and a miniature golf course here. What do they have now?"

And they closed down because they weren't used. There isn't some big conspiracy against kids.
April 30, 2009 at 11:56 a.m.
antikoolaiddrinker (anonymous) says…

It is all Bush's fault and he lied!
April 30, 2009 at 12:18 p.m.
jonas_opines (anonymous) says…

"Capitalism at it's finest!"

I don't know if I would say "finest," but it does offer a good microcosm of the capitalist system.

Of course, looking at the system microcosmically, it can be noted that individuals, companies, and institutions fail within it all the time due to poor choices, incomplete knowledge, unsound strategy, or taking the easy/complacent road. I guess we'll see how it plays out in the end.
April 30, 2009 at 12:18 p.m.
Satirical (anonymous) says…

How dare a company provide goods and services people want and enjoy, employ local citizens who were previously unemployed, reduce prices for consumers, provide community recycling centers, bring in sales taxes (which often go to liberal pet projects), and do it all efficiently. How dare Wal-Mart do such a thing!!!
April 30, 2009 at 12:26 p.m.
Satirical (anonymous) says…

Practicality....

Can I get in on that business venture. After reading some of these posts I am convinced we could make a fortune!
April 30, 2009 at 12:29 p.m.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…

The stores downtown and local stores are specialty stores that cater to a certain type of person. They have very little in the way of variety and the prices are way out there. No wonder the people who shop there are so skinny. They can't afford to buy food.
I am poor, I am common, I am Walmart woman.
There has always been a sharp division between social classes and always will be.
Are KU professors going to shop at the new Walmart and then tell their classes something different, when they mock the ignorant, rednecks.
Time to unite, rednecks of the world!
April 30, 2009 at 12:36 p.m.
waydownsouth (anonymous) says…

Walmart can be beat its been done 100's of times before.

http://www.lhsfna.org/index.cfm?objec...
April 30, 2009 at 1:01 p.m.
sinverguenza (anonymous) says…

I think there are more than enough reasons to disagree with the way Wal-Mart does business, treats its employees, acquires its goods, etc.

Wal-Mart sucks.

But just because I don't like it, doesn't mean I don't have to shop there. All the people saying you can get everything you need from Wal-Mart elsewhere must have a lot of free time on their hands and quite a bit more in their wallets than I do.

Tell me a singular, local location where I could go purchase cat litter, toothpaste, face wash, toilet paper, Clorox and potato chips for at or near the same price I pay for it at Wal-Mart - and I'll go there.

Otherwise, Wal-Mart and me sadly have a bond that cannot be broken.
April 30, 2009 at 1:29 p.m.
coolmarv (anonymous) says…

Where is the supporting information that Hobby Lobby supports Fred Phelps? How about some proof?
April 30, 2009 at 1:33 p.m.
Did_I_say_that (DIST) says…

Jaylee (Anonymous) says…
"...when wal-mart closes one of the stores in a year or two and leaves a huge ugly vacant building in a lot they will not sell back to the city?
think i am making up confectionary theory? it happened in my hometown in illinois."

What town in Illinois did you live in that built a second Wal-Mart and could not support the first one?
April 30, 2009 at 3:29 p.m.
Bossa_Nova (anonymous) says…

i think Phelps works there partime now to pay off his debt
April 30, 2009 at 3:32 p.m.
Bossa_Nova (anonymous) says…

hey on the subject of walmart, i never did understand back in the day, what the difference was between a super walmart and a hyper walmart. anybody know?
April 30, 2009 at 3:35 p.m.
madameX (anonymous) says…

sinverguenza:

Try Checkers. I honestly don't know how the prices compare since I never go to Wal-mart, but it's probably work a look.
April 30, 2009 at 3:39 p.m.
Pywacket (anonymous) says…

Yeah, Grammaddy--with all due respect, put up or shut up on the Hobby Lobby / phelps ties. That's a pretty serious accusation to level at them. If I learned it was true, I would never shop there again. I like the products they offer but they're already a little too creepily religious for my tastes. Supporting phelps would put them over the edge---waaaaaaaaay over the edge.

It would be interesting if any LJW reporter wanted to investigate that one. Might make for a good story--either explaining how/why they would support those heinous beasts or how/why such a terrible rumor got started.
April 30, 2009 at 3:45 p.m.
Did_I_say_that (DIST) says…

grammaddy (Anonymous) says…
"...but the only one I boycott is Hobby Lobby ( that company donates regularly to Phred Phelp's bunch)."

I have contacted the corporate office of Hobby Lobby in Oklahoma City, they clearly stated that Hobby Lobby does not support any radicals like Fred Phelps. grammaddy, do you have evidence to the contrary?
April 30, 2009 at 3:50 p.m.
sinverguenza (anonymous) says…

MadameX:

Thanks. I already buy my fresh groceries at Checkers (it may be cents more than Wal-Mart but it's a heck of a lot fresher) and reserve Wal-Mart for dry groceries, canned goods and all those other types of goods I mentioned.

I realize that a one-stop shop all together isn't going to happen outside of Wal-Mart, but it would be nice if there were some place I could afford to buy all my non-grocery goods cheap and local.

Family Dollar and Dollar General aren't generally cheaper than Wal-Mart (for shampoo, etc.) and are also big fat chains, even if they aren't as evil. The Dollar Tree doesn't have all I need.

Sounds like you're the only one with a suggestion and it's one I already utilize - so I'm stuck with Wal-Mart for now. It sucks.
April 30, 2009 at 3:57 p.m.
jcinelli (Janet Cinelli) says…

while I voted that yes folks will go in. You can rest assured that this Lawrencian who was opposed to that Walmart will NEVER step foot inside. I rarely, if ever go to the other one. hate walmart!!!!
April 30, 2009 at 4:21 p.m.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…

You people are not only really really snobby, but paranoid. Walmart is just a store, it is not evil. I have found Walmart to be pleasant and the people working there to be nice, helpful people. Do you feel better slapping down someone you don't even know because they work at a store that in your ignorance you have deemed "evil."
It is just a store, people, just a store.
April 30, 2009 at 4:50 p.m.
newmoon16 (anonymous) says…

i will not be shopping at the new Wal-mart OR the old one.
I would much rather shop at a quality store, like Hy-Vee, who are fair employers, unlike Wal-mart who treats their employees like crap.
April 30, 2009 at 5:31 p.m.
Katara (anonymous) says…

sinverguenza (Anonymous) says…
Tell me a singular, local location where I could go purchase cat litter, toothpaste, face wash, toilet paper, Clorox and potato chips for at or near the same price I pay for it at Wal-Mart - and I'll go there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dillon's, Hy-Vee and Target. Just be sure to use coupons. It requires very little effort or planning to do so.

I've compared receipts with co-workers who shop at Walmart. My savings beat theirs every single time and I always end up with more groceries and household products for the money I spent than they bring home. Their excuse? It is just easier to drive to Walmart than to plan a little bit beforehand for their shopping.
April 30, 2009 at 5:57 p.m.
scaramouchepart2 (anonymous) says…

Pilgrim;
Some of us have to work. Saw your comment. Why should I have to move becuase someone else is new to the neighborhood and is not a good neighbor. I have been here several years.
You must be one of those commercial/industrial only and get rid of the people.
You obviously believe that low paying jobs are good for a comunity and that the less people mucking up the place is best for the rich. Here comes, as I first saw on one of these blogs. "the Aspen of the plains"
April 30, 2009 at 6:47 p.m.
cknajsmeemaw (Sheila Couchman) says…

I agree about going to Dillion' and HyVee. If you look at the ads and also use coupons, it comes out cheaper than WalMart every time.
Irish...please show me a pleasant, helpful person at WalMart...you know it is not true. Customer service is long gone at that place.
April 30, 2009 at 6:51 p.m.
misplacedcheesehead (anonymous) says…

Alright, enough! I used to work Hobby Lobby, and I can guarantee you they do NOT support Fred Phelps, or his brand of hate.
David Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, indeed makes no bones about his Christian beliefs. But not once, not once while I worked there did I ever hear one unkind word about gay persons. They were the best bunch of co-workers I've had in many, many years.
And another thing, IF our manager had heard any of us making fun of or using hateful language toward gay persons or any group in particular, it would have been disciplined. One of our co-managers used the name "J.C." in a cursing way, and was promptly ordered not to do it again.
I know that if anyone had used the kind of terms Phelps' bunch uses, they would have been disciplined, perhaps by being fired.
So put up the proof, or be quiet, please.
April 30, 2009 at 8:19 p.m.
scaramouchepart2 (anonymous) says…

Second, I believe that low-paying jobs are better than no jobs at all, and that places like Wal-Mart give some folks a chance to have a job where there was none, or an improvement on whatever they were doing before. But I guess you want to deny them that chance, eh
Being so large Wal-mart has no excuse for low paying jobs, but your attitude is why they and others feel they can get away with bad pay with "oh well it is better than nothing" dispite the fact Wal-Mart spends employee pay for high priced lawyers to beat up communities that don't want them.
Before you say Lawrence wanted them. Check your facts. The numbers of the community who didn't want it is the majority based on the numbers who went to the City commission meeting and the surveys done.
Just becuase you, a few developers and City Commissioners ignored the community does not mean Lawrence wanted a second Wal-Mart.
Note I said second. The first one did not create the numbers complaining even when the Iowa street store expanded.
And to answer the original question - based on the blogs the answer is - those who were opposed is still NO!
April 30, 2009 at 9:30 p.m.
observing (anonymous) says…

Sigmund,
give me a break. Walmart doesn't need a special government bailout right now because the government essentially bails them out every day through the services needed for their underpaid and/or underemployed staff.

I don't shop at Walmart either and haven't for years. The one time I had to go into one recently, only out of sheer emergency due to a damaged tire while travelling and NO other place to get a tire (go figure...Walmart was there, so nothing else could survive), I took a quick walk through to see if I'd been right in avoiding it all of those years. 100% right. Overpriced crap, despite marketing themselves as the 'low-price leader,' things I don't need, nothing I could find made in the US, and swarms of consumers piling things into their carts. It was gigantic, noisy, smelly, and had horrible lighting. It's sad, because if you don't shop at Walmart you're considered a snob with enough money to be flippant. But I have plenty of friends worse off than I who spend a fortune on things at Walmart that I simply can't afford.

Checkers and other local shopping do me just fine. And I'm certainly not wealthy enough to throw my money around. If I can't afford to get it, or if something only exists at Walmart, I do without. It's amazing how much money I've saved since I gave up shopping at the supposedly cheapest place in town, now my home isn't cluttered wtih crap I never needed in the first place, and I don't support a parasitic behemoth with my money either.

Now if I could just quit bailing them out with my tax dollars, everything would be even better.
April 30, 2009 at 9:41 p.m.
milesmama (anonymous) says…

Who is planning some organized Wal-Mart protests out at that new, shiny monument to Capitalism? I'd like to see some happen. Lots of people who shop there know how horribly they treat people, but they need to be reminded. This is what it comes down to: Wal-Mart as a whole treats people like dirt. Watch the movie "The High Cost of a Low Price" to learn more.

I have struggled with trying to not shop at Wal-Mart for a long time, but it's now been over a year since I have set foot in one. Its hard, but I'm sticking to my guns. I live in West Lawrence and every time I drive by, I just think how nice it would be if it were a useful store like Costco or Target. Or even just still the land. So Sad.
April 30, 2009 at 10:46 p.m.
Practicality (anonymous) says…

Can someone please explain to me why it is considered more noble to go buy the exact same product made by the exact same company at a different store and pay more money for it? Then go out and load these exact same products made from the exact same companies that you paid more for into your Toyota or Honda or VW or Nissan? Then go home and watch MSNBC or PBS or John Stewart on your 60 inch Plasma Samsung, or Sony, or Toshiba, while your kid plays Nintendo Wii?
April 30, 2009 at 11 p.m.
bearded_gnome (anonymous) says…

amazing how these business experts think they can run a business, make a profit, be all politically correct, employ people, still make a profit, and not compete for customers' dollars! huh!

you people are insane! if its so bad, don't shop there, its called freedom. if government decides what car company should merge with another, limits your choice as a shopper, that's socialism. and please don't burn it down. instead, look at yourselves in the mirror if you're that insane.
April 30, 2009 at 11:37 p.m.
TopJayhawk (anonymous) says…

Walmart used to be a "Mom and Pop" shop, they just did it right.
Sort of a Mom and Pop shop on steroids.
May 1, 2009 at 6:38 a.m.
TopJayhawk (anonymous) says…

Hey Milesmama.
Is that a MIcheal Moore movie?
If so then yes, everything he says is the god's truth
I will call thebigguy and see where I should shop.
You guys are morons.
May 1, 2009 at 6:41 a.m.
observing (anonymous) says…

Practicality,
you're assuming that it's just about Walmart. That's not entirely the case.....some of us actually look at what we buy and where and how it's made. Which for me is the other reason I'm saving so much money by being more thoughtful about what I buy. So if it's something from Walmart I don't need, it means I don't need it from somewhere else either. And they are so agressive about it, that of course people pay attention. The thing is, if I don't go out and impulse-buy a bunch of cheap crap, it's easier than you'd think to find what I want/need at locally or at least independently owned stores, AND to find things made in the States. No....I'm not ethnocentric, more patriotic than the next guy, anti-anybody (except Walmart execs, I guess). I just know that for every yelling US mother worried about her kids playing for 10 minutes with a toy with lead paint was another parent in Asia who made that toy and was exposed to that lead for 80 hours a week so some American kid could have something else they'd forget about once the next Walmart trip happened. Walmart just peddles more of the bad stuff than most places, without any balance.

But for many people it's not just about the stuff you buy...it's also about Walmart's shameful policies. Like what?.....contributing to suburban sprawl, leaving a wake of unusable (by their own real estate policies) land & buildings when they pull up stakes & leave thereby scarring communities that they've messed with by opening, toying with producers of goods to in a sense force them to outsource for cheap labor or risk losing their lucrative Walmart contracts, underpaying and underemploying their staff, advertising low prices to lure truly needy people in to shop & then charging as much as anyone else for a good percentage of what's in the store, and helping produce this completely beserk climate in which we find ourselves where people have no real concept of what things truly cost to make and get to them. By cost I mean in terms of materials, impact on the planet, and paying the producer enough feed their children. So, yeah.....maybe it is more noble to shop somewhere else. Other big box stores (which I also avoid) at least make reasonable efforts to pay their employees and provide better benefits (hm....maybe worth us paying 10cents more for something) and engage in active community donation programs. People who chose Costco over Sams know that even if they're patronizing a huge warehouse store, at least that CEO has taken a common sense and decent approach to his own and his employee's compensation packages.

I love how people try to make the Walmart-avoiding crowd sound so elitist (all of your VW and PBS references), while they themselves feel so much more down-to-earth and real, somehow. But a lot of down-to-earth folks have paid much more dearly for living near a Walmart than any of those you're hinting about in your post.
May 6, 2009 at 11:33 p.m.