Author Topic: avoiding walmart (Read 10513 times)

Stoker · « **Reply #30 on:** June 17, 2015, 10:53:13 am »

Pappy - You are right.. The world economy has changed.. The box store is the way it is.. I delivered papers at 13, stocked shelves at a drug store 4 yrs, bus boy at resteraunt (really hated that one lasted 5 days) made sub sandwiches for 6 months till my boss got arrested selling the wrong kind of coke.. After grad started drywalling 34 yrs ago..
As for not making money at a box store.. I know a guy that started at the bottom took responsiblity at his job.. Now 2nd in command there good coin and beney's.. Sometimes you get what you put in.. My daughter worked at Burger King for 6 yrs.. From high school to college graduation of nursing. She can tell some stories of work ethics of the young crowd..
I try to suppurt local business as much as I can.. Stay away from box stores if I can.. More about the group that wonders around there.. Shopping ninga In out fast.. Got no need to hung about some store
Thanks Leroy

Pappy · « **Reply #31 on:** June 17, 2015, 11:26:50 am »

I am with ya Stoker,but I don't know ,sometimes I just like to set while Miss Joanie shops to watch the crowd, almost like a circus.

Never got to go the circus when I was a kid so this is my treat.

Pappy

Stoker · « **Reply #32 on:** June 17, 2015, 12:17:21 pm »

Pappy I hear ya on that circus.. Ifin you ever are feeling poorly about yourself.. Spend 15 minutes in a box store in lineup watch the show.. You will come out feeling better about yourself... Cheaper than some yuppy councilor... Buy a cold beer and grill a steak sit and watch the sunset
Thanks Leroy

JoJoDapyro · « **Reply #33 on:** June 17, 2015, 07:46:24 pm »

A good discussion never makes me have Ill feelings. Like I said, I have been at my job for 11 years. I don't go get a different one because I am human, and fear change. I do have an interview with a different city this week. It used to be that people moved up in their place of work by busting their hump, and learning the ropes. Now, it requires a whole lot of brown nosing and schooling. I didn't make it through high school, it wasn't my thing. I was more interested in working. I did what I needed to to get my GED. It would be nice to be paid enough to be able to support my family on one income. I have been working since I was small. I was never paid for work until I got my first real job. It was just what I did to earn my keep. Each Walmart store costs taxpayers between $700,000 and 1.6 million a year. Because they won't pay their workers enough to live. So here is the question, if everyone that worked for them quit, then what would they do? My cousin works for a grocery store, and makes more money than I do. They are offering great deals on the backs of us all, whether we shop there or not.

Badly Bent · « **Reply #34 on:** June 17, 2015, 09:00:11 pm »

My feeling is that if a person can't meet his needs or wants at his job then that person needs to take it upon his self to better his position in life. This isn't directed at anyone here, it is simply the way I've always looked at it. I've always felt that capitalism provides the most opportunity for all, never been a fan of nanny societies.

Josh B · « **Reply #35 on:** June 17, 2015, 09:01:20 pm »

It's a free market. The consumer sets the rules. If you've ever heard the expression"you get what you pay for". That holds true here. The majority of the public chose to buy the cheap stuff that walmart based its business model on. (That would be cheap Chinese whares) The short sightedness of that mass decision also produced the side effect of "you get the business where you spent your money and lose the businesses that you didn't support". In my town, when walmart went in, the downtown businesses increased there revenue. The walmart drew in people from the small towns surrounding us and they shopped the downtown area since they were already in town. That was the effect on my town. The surrounding towns that the influx of consumers came from, yep you guessed it, their businesses folded up like cheap suits. Was that walmart's fault? Nope, it's the consumers fault. I have no animosity towards a business that succeeds by legal means. As far as taxpayer subsidy goes, anybody care to guess how much goes to subsidize agriculture? Should we quit eating to boycott farmers? I jest of course. My livelihood is for the most part agriculture. Since I haul ag products and chemicals for the farming industry, I guess I'm indirectly subsidized as well. Now I hate myself. Man, what a tangled web we weave. The point is the public got what the public paid for. Crying about it now, doesn't turn back the clock. I support small businesses the best I can, but if I need something they don't carry, it sure is handy having that walmart on the hill. Josh

mullet · « **Reply #36 on:** June 17, 2015, 09:39:26 pm »

That's not quiet true GD. When Walmart first opened they advertised heavy selling American Made Products. And our economy is really governed by which overseas country gets the best Tariff law. Some American companies can't compete with some of the sweet deals a few countries get.

Josh B · « **Reply #37 on:** June 17, 2015, 10:10:28 pm »

You make good points Eddie. As far as when walmart was still selling American goods, that was so long ago I don't remember it. It's been the Chinese goods since the 90's at least, which is about the time I started noticing such things. As far as the tariffs go, you're right, some countries do get a very beneficial trading advantage. However the point still remains, if the consumers demanded American made goods only and refused to buy inferior imports (I'm certainly not saying that all imported goods are inferior) then there would be no market for the cheap crap no matter how cheap it is. That is the heart of the problem IMHO. People only seen the cheap price tag and gave no thought to the longterm cost of those discounts. Consumers drive the market (IF it's a truly free market). I've seen truly wonderful multigenerational businesses fail because of this as well. There was a small sporting goods store that went under because people took their business to walmart. That was what prompted the crying comment. I sorely miss that business, but no one forced people to go to walmart. They made that choice all on there own and the vast majority are crying the blues over the loss now. Again, not walmarts fault. The consumers sacrificed a beloved business to save a few cents on the dollar. I'm not an economist by any stretch of the imagination. But this is how I see it and I don't really hear many people express this line of thinking. I could be completely wrong in all aspects, but as it seems to be a bit different belief than most express, I thought I'd throw it out there for contemplation. I truly hope that sharing my thoughts on the matter doesn't offend anyone either. Josh

Josh B · « **Reply #38 on:** June 17, 2015, 11:04:00 pm »

One more thought before I back on out of this. I'm not criticizing anyone that chooses to spend their hard earned dollar somewhere other than walmart. Exactly the opposite in fact, that's the way any change starts and i wish you all the luck in doing so. My whole point is do it for the right reason. I very seldom have the right solutions for problems, especially not one of this magnitude. One the thing I do know is that if you try to fix a problem with a solution based on the wrong diagnosis, you will nearly always create more and sometimes bigger problems than you started with. Perhaps walmart is the evil dragon in need of slaying. If that is the case then more power to you, git r dun and all that. But just suppose for a second, that there's a smidgen of accuracy to what I believe the problem is. Just suppose that we are our own worst enemy in how spend our dollar. You may very well slay the dragon walmart, but if we don't change our own behavior, we will just keep creating more and more dragons to slay. That is my whole point in a nutshell. I hope you all have a great fathers day weekend. I have to get back to my preparations for the truckdriving championship. Josh

JoJoDapyro · « **Reply #39 on:** June 17, 2015, 11:49:23 pm »

There are other options. I personally support a small grocer down the road. My wife doesn't.

if I can get it some place else I do. Like I said before, I don't fault anyone who does shop there. People watching there is fun. My local Wally's is in an upscale neighborhood, and it is still fun to go.

Pappy · « **Reply #40 on:** June 18, 2015, 04:50:32 am »

Well said BB/Josh and good luck on the Driving competition. JoJo good luck with the interview.

Eddie at least they have good Gator lights

mine is still working.

Pappy

JEB · « **Reply #41 on:** June 18, 2015, 07:48:52 am »

And good luck finding an American owned gas n go or hotel.

MWirwicki · « **Reply #42 on:** June 18, 2015, 08:51:00 am »

Don't get me started...

mullet · « **Reply #43 on:** June 19, 2015, 03:44:00 pm »

I bought my Chinese gator light at NAPA, Pappy

.

JoJoDapyro · « **Reply #44 on:** June 20, 2015, 12:56:00 pm »

I have also found that if I am going to buy a Chinese made product to just cut out the middle man. Save yourself 50%. It takes some time to ship though.

Primitive Archer