I am curious: Who here doesn't use Wal-mart? Why??

[Beekissed]

Around here WM is a big employer and provides jobs, starting at $10 or so, that pays more than any of the other local businesses in town. Their prices are cheaper than the other groceries and this helps folks afford their foods and clothing that they could not otherwise afford.

We don't have neat things like Salvation Army or other second hand stores here, so if you can't find it at the Family Dollar, WM is the only option.

WM might be the big, baddy to all you folks who are upwardly mobile and live where there are options, but to some country folks there aren't many choices. No farmer's markets in which to "buy local", no butcher, baker or candle stick maker in these small towns.....just dollar stores and WM.

I don't think it's a bit of hypocrisy to live a SS life and shop at Walmart....we all live this kind of lifestyle for a different reason and mine is not to make some political, environmental, socioeconomic statement. I live it because I must, it makes me happy and it suits me.
Walmart is just a place I visit once a month for some necessary purchases, just like Family Dollar and the local hardware.

Note: I've always wondered why folks live in places where you have to make over $120,000 to survive and actually stay there and continue to struggle. We make lower wages in the country, but we also have lower cost of living and more options to save money.

I know, I know...we can't all live in the country...but I would rather live in some shack in the country than work three jobs and never see the light at the end of the tunnel. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

 

[me&thegals]

I think it is hypocritical for ME to continue to shop at Wal-Mart even though I have other options (just not as convenient or close) and don't like their policies.

Not sure who all the "upwardly mobile" people are. I'm just a country woman living on a farm, but I still have choices in how I spend my money.

Not sure about how Wal-Marts are sited, but I would be surprised if they're going up in teeny, tiny towns where there are no other stores. Why would they do that?

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Okay, Bee. You're scaring me. I just typed that line to someone totally unrelated to this thread or forum.

Please folks, let's be civil. I think the topic has pretty much been exhausted anyways. Just MHO...

 

[On Our own]

I certainly didn't mean to criticize those who have to shop there because the situation has left them with no alternatives. I have alternatives and will use them That's just for me....

But, I can answer the why you stay where it costs $120,000 just to survive.
1.) It's home. It certainly wasn't always this expensive to live here, huge upscale developments moved in and viola! huge taxes came with them. I honestly do not mind paying my share of taxes, but I hate property taxes in situations like this, they force the old tim farmers out....

2.) It is near family. As a matter of fact we live next door to my in-laws! It has it good points.....

3.) DH and I HAD good jobs here. Now things are not so rosy and moving is an option. But, we don't want to leave, even for a cheaper lifestyle elsewhere - see reasons one and two.

 

[Beekissed]

I think it is hypocritical for ME to continue to shop at Wal-Mart even though I have other options (just not as convenient or close) and don't like their policies.

Not sure who all the "upwardly mobile" people are. I'm just a country woman living on a farm, but I still have choices in how I spend my money.

Not sure about how Wal-Marts are sited, but I would be surprised if they're going up in teeny, tiny towns where there are no other stores. Why would they do that?

Because there are no other stores?

Upwardly mobile folks are those who make enough money to have choices in where they shop, who make $35 an hour and think it's chick feed, who live where their yearly taxes are half what I make a year.....at least from a lower income viewpoint, that is who we refer to as upwardly mobile.

 

[patandchickens]

to some country folks there aren't many choices. No farmer's markets in which to "buy local", no butcher, baker or candle stick maker in these small towns.....just dollar stores and WM.

That's where it gets really complicated. The trouble is that it is a vicious cycle -- a lot of the reason there *aren't* butcher/baker/candlestickmaker is *because* there's big box stores. Existing stores close when Wally World comes in, and no new ones can open. It is somewhat chicken-or-egg.

And IMO it is often the pointless consumerist fripperies that Walmart offers that suck people into the store in the first place. Then once they're there, people *also* (because they're there and it's cheap and handy) buy things like clothes and food and hardware and shoes that there might still BE local independant stores for... and there goes any possibility for local independant stores.

(Mind, I am not an utter worshipper of local independant businesses like some people are (I don't mean people on this forum, I mean some other people I know, who act like all locally-owned stores are the special anointed angels of the Lord and we should all worship at their altar, just because)... there are certainly some local independant businesses that are run inefficiently or predaceously, or do not serve local needs well, or etc. However on the whole I do think that well-run locally-owned businesses ARE better for the community than stores that mostly suck local money off to some faraway place)

So it is complicated. But not entirely a one-way street.

Pat

 

[reinbeau]

Living in an area because it's home doesn't make you 'upwardly mobile'. It can make you the poorest one in town, but if it's home, you figure a way to make it, if it's important to you. My home is important to me, my whole family lives here, we don't live large, but we live pretty well by scrimping and saving. That's why I shop where I shop, I shop price, for the most part, but I also support local business if the difference isn't too great. Upwardly mobile - no, lately it's a downhill spiral, but I think it's worth it.

 

[patandchickens]

Not sure about how Wal-Marts are sited, but I would be surprised if they're going up in teeny, tiny towns where there are no other stores. Why would they do that?

Because there are no other stores?

Sadly, it's true, me&thegals... dunno, maybe you haven't had this happen, but I've lived places (not as small-town rural as Bee is, either) where there is widespread excitement over the new Walmart because finally you can GET all this stuff without driving an hour or hours to The City.

And so now the town with the new Walmart is sort of The City, and people drive from an hour all 'round to get to THERE... and the Walmart prospers

Whether it is actually *beneficial* to have easy access to wide screen tvs, cheaply made clothing, five thousand kinds of shampoo, and flimsy seasonal products is a whole nother question, but I guess it's a free country and everyone wants/deserves equal access to the opportunity to waste money

Pat

 

[Beekissed]

I agree! At least a few of the locally owned stores will very obviously price gouge....I actually caught one of them doing this and, when I asked about it, all I got was a sheepish expression.

A few of the local stores will bend over backward and give you the shirt off their back....and I frequent these stores as often as possible.

For me, WM isn't even local...I have to travel 45 miles one way to even shop there...or anywhere but Family Dollar. I really don't know what folks around here would do if it weren't for the WM...no other larger businesses want to risk putting up stores in rural areas. It's a source of cheaper food, cheaper clothing, a source of steady jobs.

 

[me&thegals]

Totally agree with Ann!

I just got my tax bill today. It is at $4200 and climbing. A person could take that number and make assumptions, but they would most likely be wrong.

Will I move? I doubt it. I love my home, my land, my friends and family who live near me.

My only point about WM siting its stores, not intended to be an argument, is that I imagined they would be along the lines of McDonald's and only build stores where there is enough population to keep the stores open. I assume any area with enough population to do *that* would already have stores. I was just thinking out loud.

ETA: I think we were all posting in unison Well, I was wrong. Here in WI there aren't many places left that are completely isolated, so in my experience I had never seen a WM all alone in a dinky little town. Now I understand.

So, bee, I see how you would have no options.

But, the hypocrisy comment was ONLY for ME!!! Something pointed out by FC. Many on this thread have used words like "confess" and "guilt" (does that sound familiar, anyone?) while also admitting to shopping there. Doesn't make it wrong for everyone, just those who feel condemned and continue to do it (like me).