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I hate malls and department stores, and money is not the reason. Last time I was dragged to the mall, I realized that besides a few anchor stores, they are nothing but cheap shoe stores, and crappy jewelry stores. with maybe a book store, and a few food places like Cinnibuns and some kiosks selling sunglasses.
Of course that has been 5 or 6 years since I've been. Has anything changed?
I haven't been to a mall an indoor mall in decades. I'm allergic to petrochemicals & aldehydes, so the perfumes make me ill. So does all of the formaldehyde in new cotton clothing.
I haven't been to a mall an indoor mall in decades. I'm allergic to petrochemicals & aldehydes, so the perfumes make me ill. So does all of the formaldehyde in new cotton clothing.
What do you use for a mattress? Do you buy organic?
I'd try to shop at locally owned stores more often.
A lot of times they have some things at a lower price than Wal-Mart or Target but the location or store hours just aren't convenient.
If Target had fresh produce, meat, etc I'd shop there for ALL my groceries but it's much more convenient to got o Wal-Mart and get all my groceries there than having to run around town trying to get everything.
What do you use for a mattress? Do you buy organic?
One of the reasons I moved to Europe was the availability of organic foods at a reasonable price.
I'm also vegetarian so I cook most of my own meals.
I sleep on a mattress with organic cotton ticking.
If I do get something cotton, example new pillows or t-shirts, they're soaked in vinegar and baking soda overnight then washed with Arm & Hammer washing soda.
It's really difficult at times.
It was ridiculously difficult when I first got sick.
I couldn't figure out what was wrong for several years.
Does Walmart put money back into the community? Of course, in taxes.
But do you want the only place to shop in your town be a Walmart? It also takes the livelihoods and income from long time local business owners who actually produce a better quality product. I would rather put my money in THEIR pockets over Walmarts.
So saying you're a snotty limousine liberal simply because you'd patronize local business over Walmart is ridiculous.
I'm not "Walmart hate fearmongering" (whatever that is). I don't care if people shop there. I think it's crazy to think people are snotty and not real 'Mericans if they DON'T shop there, however.
Does Walmart put money back into the community? Of course, in taxes.
But do you want the only place to shop in your town be a Walmart? It also takes the livelihoods and income from long time local business owners who actually produce a better quality product. I would rather put my money in THEIR pockets over Walmarts.
So saying you're a snotty limousine liberal simply because you'd patronize local business over Walmart is ridiculous.
I'm not "Walmart hate fearmongering" (whatever that is). I don't care if people shop there. I think it's crazy to think people are snotty and not real 'Mericans if they DON'T shop there, however.
Good Jobs First: Smart Growth for Working Families, Harms of Big-Box Retail (http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/smart_growth/harms_of_bigbox.cfm - broken link)
A lot of times big box retailers receive tax breaks or subsidies in order to lure them into a particular city or state. They may not pay taxes for years. Meanwhile your local retailer has to pay their taxes every year or the state will shut them down.
I try my best to only get the essentials at Wal-Mart and spend as little as possible. If there were more locally owned stores that I knew about, I'd gladly shop there.
Good Jobs First: Smart Growth for Working Families, Harms of Big-Box Retail (http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/smart_growth/harms_of_bigbox.cfm - broken link)
A lot of times big box retailers receive tax breaks or subsidies in order to lure them into a particular city or state. They may not pay taxes for years. Meanwhile your local retailer has to pay their taxes every year or the state will shut them down.
I try my best to only get the essentials at Wal-Mart and spend as little as possible. If there were more locally owned stores that I knew about, I'd gladly shop there.
I had to buy my fishing license at a Walmart because they were the only store open that early in the morning. It nearly killed me. My dad had to almost drag me in there like a screaming child. Of course, there was an episode. Took 20 minutes to purchase a new fishing license. I predicted something like that to happen.
I shop anywhere I get a good deal for my money. For me, it's a financial decision - not a political statement.
If I won a million dollars, I would still make decisions based on what is best for my finances. If Target has a better deal on something I needed - heck yeah, I'd shop there. And if I had a problem with it, I would still stand in line to return it.
Does Walmart put money back into the community? Of course, in taxes.
But do you want the only place to shop in your town be a Walmart? It also takes the livelihoods and income from long time local business owners who actually produce a better quality product.
So saying you're a snotty limosuine liberal simply because you'd patronize local business over Walmart is ridiculous.
I'm not "Walmart hate fearmongering" (whatever that is). I don't care if people shop there. I think it's crazy to think people are snotty and not real 'Mericans if they DON'T shop there, however.
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The federal government did a study about the impact on local businesses when Wal-Mart comes to town, and did NOT find that the impact was consistently negative. What they determined was that in an economy that was already in trouble, local businesses that were precarious to begin with were more likely to go under. But in areas where the economy was not in trouble, but was actually vibrant, that local businesses able to individuate themselves from Wal-Mart actually benefit from the drawing power of a regional Wal-Mart.
Obviously, a store directly competing with Wal-Mart is going to be much more challenged. But in terms of employment, Wal-Mart will employ more people, and actually offer better benefits to those employees than the traditional mom and pop. Certainly the atmosphere suffers, and many downtowns will suffer. On the other hand, in the small towns dependent on downtowns, those downtowns were already stressed. It costs a lot of money to retrofit those old buildings, to make them energy efficient and handicapped accessible. They often have inadequate parking, and face other challenges, like individual owners refusing to participate in efforts to come together to upgrade and market the areas. And you have generational shifts, where children don't want to take over their parents' businesses, and they are unable to sell the local store because it's electrical wiring is from the 1940's and new owners can't get insured.
Wal-Mart paid over six and a half billion in income taxes this past year. Maybe they should have paid more, but there are communities that have been glad that in this economic downturn, the local sales at Wal-Mart have not faltered, and the local sales tax revenue from Wal-Mart was much needed.
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