Defending Wal*Mart
Chances are you know someone who hates Wal*Mart. They may say that Wal*Mart is tacky, or accuse them of using illegal labor, or being anti-union. But the complaint most often heard is that Wal*Mart drives those cute, precious Mom & Pop stores out of business. The Big Blue Monster that this Wal*Mart, the mecca of suburban and rural Security Moms and NASCAR Dads squashes everything in its path to World Dominatation. I however, like cheap stuff, and the sheer amount of things I can get at Wal*Mart in one trip, cheap clothes, a 3.98 basketball, the latest CD for a fraction of the price that FYE is selling it for, and if I wanted to, fish. Max Borders over at Tech Central Station agrees. He writes:
"...Boone has experienced the Wal-Mart effect. First, some Mom-n-Pop shops in Boone may have gone out of business due to the intense competition. But something interesting has happened: many new businesses have sprung up and they're cooler, more interesting, and more highly specialized than most of the old ones were. Mom-n-Pop have decided to move into more boutique-style businesses -- and not even Wal-Mart can compete with that.
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The question becomes: do we really need small, inefficient and expensive shops to supply us with our shaving cream and plastic laundry baskets? How vibrant is a downtown where such items are being hocked? Since Wal-Mart consolidates these kinds of goods into "big boxes," we, like John Blundell, can get them for dirt cheap all in one place. Charming downtown areas can then evolve into gorgeous window-shopping and restaurant-hopping districts for both locals and tourists. In the meantime, everyone knows where to go to get the bare necessities quickly and at a lower cost.
The Wal-Mart effect is happening all over the country, allowing many municipalities to renew their town centers. In fact, residents able to reduce their day-to-day shopping budgets at Wal-Mart have more money left to spend on the things that make life great and towns charming -- whether it's hand-blown glass or delicious roadside produce grown by local farmers. (Take it from me, no big box can do Silver Queen corn like North Carolina farmers on the side of the road.)"
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