Made in USA (Barrington: appliances, how much, buy)

[teepolo]

Hello all,

If you Google "toys made in USA" or "workbenches made in USA" you'd be suprised on how much stuff is made in USA. I am not sure why it is not advertised more OR Walmart, Target or K-Mart don't purchase from these smaller companies but i figured i would pass this info along. Every little bit counts. Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

[aragx6]

Norton's USA in Barrington is a little general store that sells only American-made products.

If you mention WCPT at checkout, they'll give you 15% off your purchase.

Home

[lincolnparker]

I believe its because its not cost effective for wal mart to purchase USA made appliances

[karlsch]

Although many people complain that "nothing is made in the United States anymore," few people will pay the premium price for the few remaining things that are still made here.

Until I retired a couple of years ago I ran a busy and very profitable hardware store. We always tried to have both American made items as well as imports.

Patriotism was the only justification for having American stuff - we sure didn't make any money on it, because most people wanted cheap Chinese stuff.

Actually, "Made in America" is no longer a particularly valuable brand name. In our store, when people wanted to make sure they were getting a really high quality item, they looked for "Made in Germany," or "Made in Japan," which are valuable brand names. (Same as the auto industry.)

If Walmart, for patriotic reasons, decided to start selling American made stuff, again, they would be condemned by the Walmart haters for putting stores like "Norton"s USA in Barrington" out of business.

[At1WithNature]

^ Did Walmart put you out of business like they have so many others? just wondering...you don't have to reply if you don't want to.

again, it all comes down to the dollar.

[lincolnparker]

yeah, same thing for clothes and shoes. It seems that "made in Italy" is more sought after than "made in USA." Often italian made things are more expensive than their American counterparts. I guess exclusivity and quality plays a large role here. Either way, "made in USA" just means mediocre these days, except for a few things.

Originally Posted by karlsch

Although many people complain that "nothing is made in the United States anymore," few people will pay the premium price for the few remaining things that are still made here.

Until I retired a couple of years ago I ran a busy and very profitable hardware store. We always tried to have both American made items as well as imports.

Patriotism was the only justification for having American stuff - we sure didn't make any money on it, because most people wanted cheap Chinese stuff.

Actually, "Made in America" is no longer a particularly valuable brand name. In our store, when people wanted to make sure they were getting a really high quality item, they looked for "Made in Germany," or "Made in Japan," which are valuable brand names. (Same as the auto industry.)

If Walmart, for patriotic reasons, decided to start selling American made stuff, again, they would be condemned by the Walmart haters for putting stores like "Norton"s USA in Barrington" out of business.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by teepolo

OR Walmart, Target or K-Mart don't purchase from these smaller companies

because that would completely counteract their entire business model, which is dependent on extremely cheap goods purchased in massive quantities from Asia. You should watch this Frontline episode from PBS, it sums up pretty well how Wal Mart and other big-box retailers operate
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Norton's USA in Barrington is a little general store that sells only American-made products.

If you mention WCPT at checkout, they'll give you 15% off your purchase.

Home

Thanks for the tip.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by At1WithNature

^ Did Walmart put you out of business like they have so many others? just wondering...you don't have to reply if you don't want to.

again, it all comes down to the dollar.

No they didn't. It's in an ideal location and still doing very well.

[aragx6]

I'll tell you this: We will never ever get those manufacturing jobs we have lost back; we just won't. We can't compete with the low wages a global economy has produced.

That makes it even more imperative that we save (and as Americans buy from) the industries we still have.