Walmart did not drive anyone anywhere.
What has happened is that in many small communities the merchants
have been so used to doing what they please they were not ready to
compete against Walmart.
I happen to live in one of those communities of what you
speak. (14K, next closest town, 25 miles 50K, Montgomery is 90 miles north)
When I moved here, Walmart had just added their grocery store. We
had Walmart, Winn-Dixie, Super Sav and Grocery Outlet. (The last two
local stores.) Winn Dixie was gone within two years. Victim of
their own problems. (Their prices were substantially higher.) There
had been another grocery store in town but it lasted only a brief
time. (Again a chain that ended up shrinking not expanding and then
selling out)
The other two locally owned grocery stores are still going strong.
We still have two local dairy queens, and a smatering of other
stores. We have one men's clothing store in town and he moans all
the time about Walmart. Problem is I cannot afford to shop at his
store, a pair of slacks cost $50 and up. (way out of my price range)
The starting wage at most places around here is minimum wage. When
merchants price their merchandise outside the capacity of the
consumer to buy it, they shut their doors. Am I happy with the
grocery store at my local Walmart? NO! I will not buy meats there,
and it does not sell some lines I prefer. So I go to the other
grocery stores in town and buy my stuff.
But here is another factor in the mix. All I have to do is drive 20
miles to the south and I have even more choices for grocery shopping,
and since I am down there at least once a week, plus the chain
department stores are there, I can shop even more. That is what has
killed local merchants. Too many choices and a lot of competition.
One of the biggest mistakes many local merchants made was to compete
directly against Walmart. Stupid. Find a niche and fill
it. Walmart does not do a lot of things well, or great, so beat them
at their own game.
By the way I know all about competition. I am a very small fish in a
very large market down here. I have to compete against every other
church and we are not the flavor of the month. We could simple close
our doors, change our style to be like everyone else, or do what we
do best and stick around. (Guess which model we chose)
Stewart
At 06:40 PM 11/26/2008, you wrote:
>Did you know that airlines regularly edit movies that get shown on
airplanes?
Yes some people do object to such editing. I think this is an example of
something that is right on the edge of wrong or right. Airlines are not
in the business of selling movies to passengers (at least not yet). You
don't book a flight based on the movie. The movie is an incidental
diversion provided as an accommodation.
>You are free to shop wherever you want.
Actually you are not. In many communities WalMart is the only option.
WalMart drove everybody else out of business.
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Rev. Stewart A. Marshall
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Prince of Peace www.princeofpeaceozark.org
Ozark, AL SL 82
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