A Wal*Mart has opened just over a mile from my house! It seemed like the construction would never be finished. My son and I went there tonight, and even though it's not a Super Wal*Mart, it has plenty of grocery aisles along with the deli, etc. I have no doubt I'll be spending a lot of money there.
Now I must decide whether or not to keep my Sam's Club membership....
We have a Wal-Mart *less* than a mile from our house. My wife and I always feel a little bit dirty shopping there, but my goodness they have inexpensive goods there... too inexpensive to ignore.
ReplyDeleteWe have two Wal-Mart Supercenters, in a town of 40K people (and a Sam's, though a small Sam's). When Wal-Marts first open, they are often not fully stocked. The second Wal-Mart here had just opened shortly before we moved here, and it looked almost empty. It took another month, and the shelves are all packed, all the time.
ReplyDeleteBeing as close to the ocean as we are (the Atlantic, not the Pacific), you can actually buy live soft-shell crabs at Wal-Mart in season.
Amazing.
Chanman, why would you feel dirty? If they provide you with the goods and services you want, at a price you're willing to pay, what's the problem?
ReplyDeleteShame on you Darren! Don't you know that, according to our left-of-center friends, and presidential hopeful John Edwards, that the single most evil threat to America, our greatest enemy in the world is none other than WalMart?!
ReplyDeleteYes. I'm sure it was Sam Walton himself who flew those airplanes into buildings :-)
ReplyDeleteNow that I have labels on some of my posts, you should check out what I've previously written about Wal*Mart. I'm with those who believe that Wal*Mart has done more to ameliorate the effects of poverty than any government program on the face of the planet.
Darren
ReplyDeleteAs a long term holder of Wal-Mart stock, thank you for shopping!
When Walmart does stuff like exploiting taxes to save hundreds of millions of dollars a year that could be spent otherwise, crushes all competition with its iron fist, and (this will catch your attention) diverts millions and millions of dolllars of public school funds to private schools (look here. These are only a few of my concerns. I won't even go into how they affect the environment, which is pretty horrendously, let me tell you.
ReplyDeleteCameron,
ReplyDeleteIf Wal*Mart has done anything illegal, I expect that they'll be punished like any other corporation would.
I support school choice.
As for how they affect the environment, tell me what large company doesn't, and what your solution would be.
The company could easily take some steps towards not destroying the environment (they actually have, in the form of promoting compact fluorescent bulbs, something that I commend them for). They could take steps such as installing safety devices on their gas storage, not building on wetlands or MAYAN RUINS, or preventing polluted storm water from running into local streams. Instead, they choose to pay millions of dollars in state fines, something that I don't see as just compensation.
ReplyDeleteThere are Mayan ruins in Citrus Heights??? =)
ReplyDeleteTell me more about this Mayan ruin situation. Link?
And Cameron, maybe you should click on the Wal*Mart label at the left and see what I've written about them before, especially this one:
ReplyDeletehttp://rightontheleftcoast.blogspot.com/2006/08/
walmart-and-president-bush.html
(watch the wrap)
As for the taxes, good for Wal-Mart. The government has no right to Wal-Mart's -- or any other business's -- profits. Crushing competition? Nonsense. There are 39K people here. We support not one but TWO Wal-Mart supercenters and a Sam's Club -- and more local businesses than you can count.
ReplyDeleteAs for school choice, again, good for Wal-Mart.
And again as a stockholder, I wanna know where these ruins are….I wanna be there when we blow the place! :)
ReplyDeleteI remember the half truths, misstatements, and other less than fully truthful statements on Wal-Mart from a 60 Minutes episode years ago (No one dares call them bold faced lies). It covered the opening of a Wal-Mart in Gonzales LA, a small town outside of Baton Rouge and it’s effect on a bike shop owner. The thing I remember best was the statement at the end that after they drove all the small shops out of business, Wal-Mart closed it store. And they did show a boarded up building.
Darren will attest I’m from LA and I will attest I’ve been to Gonzales more than once. My father and his wife live there. Now, the minor detail 60 Minutes left out was there was a Super Wal-Mart that opened up down the street. Wal-Mart built the new store, closed the old facility and the old building was sold/rented to anther interest.
Try some thinking…if I was Wal-Mart, why would I come into a town, drive out the competition, have the entire place to myself so I can make a fortune with no opposition and then I just move out. Don’t make much sense does it?
Cameron, welcome to the real world. A business wants to provide goods/services at a lower cost or at more convenience than an established company, you can bet the people will vote with their money. And knowing the lies, half truths and other false stories told about my former employer, I take what you said with a grain, excuse me, cup of salt