Some people have to shop at Wal-Mart

[obamanut2012]

It is, literally, the only store within 30-50 miles.

Wal-Mart is horrible: they treat their employees and their vendors horribly, their promotion practices are sexist, they are union busters, each store costs a community approximately 450k in public-assistance benefits, the owners are loathsome people who give little to charity and much to RW politicians.

If you have stores other than Wal Mart in your area, please shop at them. My mother's med scripts are cheaper or the same at Wal Green's and Target. You really can find food and other stuff as cheap at places other than Wal Mart. Tractor Supply has great cat and dog food at great prices, as well as lawn stuff and some clothing. I know many other big corps suck, but WM really is one of the worst.

I have family in very rural areas, and understand if you have to shop at Wal Mart, but if you don't have to, please don't. And, PLEASE respect the strike this week if you can.

[peacebird]

1. We have choices where I live, and we have not shopped @wal Mart since they stopped selling

all made in USA stuff.

They are a filthy rich corporate pariah that lowballs proces til they drive other companies put of business and then cost communities a small fortune in food stamps and health care for their underpaid workers.

[obamanut2012]

5. You said it perfectly

[Fawke Em]

46. They also drive up their prices once they get rid of the competition.

[justiceischeap]

2. My parents live in an area where the only thing available to them is WM

And when I visit them, I have no choice but to shop there. I hate it, makes me feel like a traitor every time I visit them.

[obamanut2012]

6. Me too -- I understand

[bluedigger]

3. Sounds like me.

I can find a lot of items at other retailers, but there are many that only Walmart has. I figure I have to balance the evil of shopping there with the evil of driving well over a hundred miles round trip, and the carbon footprint issues that attach to it. For instance, my dog has a need for a constant resupply of tennis balls - which only Walmart sells in town. So every couple of months I have to run in and buy another dozen.

[Phentex]

4. You are probably gonna get yelled at...

but not by me! I get it.

We all want utopia but then reality sets in. We each have to do what we can the best we can.

[obamanut2012]

7. I know

My parents have to shop at WM more than they like, but they did change all their scripts over to Wal Green's, and my Mom tries to buy things at Costco once every two months or so (paper products, etc.)

[bluedigger]

14. We all have to make compromises in our ideals.

We make our choices based on our needs and then rationalize them as best we can.

[brush]

9. Can't you order tennis balls by mail since you only have to replenish every couple of months? nt

[TalkingDog]

19. If you order them from a place like Amazon, you are only changing the name of the problem,

not the problem.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor

[LuckyLib]

44. I read this article beginning to end. It is stunning. This should be

a separate post!

No complaining about sweatshops and inhumane treatment of workers overseas. We have it right here.

[PotatoChip]

57. Me too. Just finished. Holy sh**!

Ironically, I had planned to find out where/how(?) to complain about an Amazon book that should have been here (easily) 2 or 3 days ago.

Won't bother w/that now, as I don't intend to order from them again. Not after reading this. Same goes for the other 59 companies on that list.

You are right. This should be the subject of another OP.

Edit to add: A link from HuffPo that also deals w/this subject matter. Found it in the original article. It sadly demonstrates how widespread a practice this is. Goes into great detail about the temp. warehouse workers too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/new-blue-collar-temp-warehouses_n_1158490.html

[LuckyLib]

63. I wasn't sure it was Amazon. Though it's likely one of the top three she could be writing about.

[bluedigger]

22. I suppose.

That was just one example. Do I need to do that for every item I need and can't find elsewhere in town? I don't care to spend my days budgeting, forecasting, and anticipating future needs in order to have supplies on hand as needed. (Not to mention that I live in a three room apartment, not a warehouse.) I minimize my Walmart shopping as much as practical, and support local retailers as much as possible. The real key is to lower material consumption overall if you want to save the planet, and I think I do a fair job of that overall.

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

26. And used tennis balls may have less toxic mfg chemicals.

Just search 'used tennis balls' on eBay and there are beaucoups balls.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-tennis-balls-used-mostly-indoors-/181024606132?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a25e847b4

[bluedigger]

38. I've never been able to log into eBay.

They don't want my business apparently.

[BlueMan Votes]

53. and yet millions of people around the world have absolutely no problem doing so day after day...

go figure.

[bluedigger]

56. Hey, I really appreciate the belittlement.

Feel better about yourself, do you?

[BlueMan Votes]

61. no worse- that's for sure.

but then, i figured out how to sign into ebay years ago.

I've never heard of them locking someone out because they didn't want the person's money...

[PotatoChip]

62. What is your point?

Maybe I am missing it, but you don't appear to have one. Is there some reason that you keep badgering this other member? I've seen nothing in this thread from him/her(?) to warrant it.

What's up w/that?

[BlueMan Votes]

64. what's yours?

i responded to their reply to mine...i hardly think that qualifies as 'badgering'.

always stick your nose into other people's business, that doesn't concern you do you...?

[LanternWaste]

65. I've learned that answering a question in and of itself is rarely badgering

I've learned that answering a question in and of itself is rarely badgering, but the manner in which we answer can often be accurately described as such...

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

79. That's Nuts!!

I'm with you. Can't log in to eBay? Maybe his username was (back when) MegWhitmanSuxBigDogs. Now, then it might make sense.

[Chan790]

49. You have town tennis courts?

The town I grew up in had tennis courts (like 8 courts) next to city hall, people used to practice against the 15' brick-walled side of the building waiting for their court to free up. About once every 3 months, my brother and I used to go up there in the evening with a ladder and retrieve all the tennis balls off the roof.

It's part of how I made my money in HS because my parents refused to let me work and they refused to give me any money. I used to take the used, mostly-nearly-new, tennis balls and sell them back to people for $1 each. We'd make $300-$400 that way each time.

Point is, if you don't care if the t-balls are new...you can probably scavenge them from the roof of the nearest structure to the town tennis courts.

[lobodons]

8. Mom and Pops

Well sure, after they have casued all the local Mom and Pops to close their doors.

[obamanut2012]

13. Yup -- I am able to shop at speciality Mom and Pop places

Like running stores.

If someone lives where there's a Trader Joe's or a Costco, they treat their staff terrifically, especially TJ's. Target is a bit better than Wal Mart.

I get my scripts filled at a local grocery store pharmacy, because there are no small pharmacies around my area any more.

We can only do what we can do.

[hobbit709]

10. The only thing I buy at Walmart is my diabetic test strips.

I get 50 free every three months from the VA for my high dollar meter. The Walmart ones for their meter are $9 for a box of 50 and they test out within 1% of the high dollar ones.
At $923/mo on SS I can't afford the $75 for 50 expensive ones.

[Stonepounder]

32. I understand.

We buy everything at our local big box store, Meijers. I know they treat their employees OK, since my daughter worked there for 10 years. The one exception is insulin. We have a diabetic dog (yeah, dogs get diabetes) who needs insulin. At Meijers and everywhere else, it is about $90 for a six week supply. At WM it is $23. We are on SS and just can't afford the $65 difference. The pharmacist at Meijers was very sympathetic. It seems that WM has a contract with Eli Lilly and I guess WM buys their insulin by the tanker car load.

But, we go in, get our insulin, and go out.

[kiva]

34. Yup, diabetic cat here.

Before we changed insulin brands my vet sold it to me at her cost, $85 for six month (over $130 retail). Now under $25 at WM. I didn't know why, thanks for the info.

[Sugarcoated]

45. Same type of situation for my family

Walmart sells a 3 month supply of fluoxetine fir $10, but I buy nothing else. The employees there are just awful, miserable. I'm weaning myself off of Sam's Club, just got a membership for BJ's Club. I know BJ's isn't perfect, but it's better than Sam's.

[Chan790]

50. If you have them locally, Costco is better still to their employees.

They're also a very "blue" company.

[Sugarcoated]

55. We have a great Costco in the area

but it's far enough away and in a traffic congested area that isn't practical for the several stops a week I need to do. When the Sam's membership runs out I can financially justify the Costco membership fee and give them my business when I get over that way. I wish they'd open a store closer to us.

[Walk away]

76. Plus they have better stuff! nt

[UBCchuck]

11. I

really like tractor supply...advice from my father vote democrat and NEVER CROSS A PICKET LINE! Yeah he yelled it...may he rest in peace, and we continue to fight to repeal rtw here in Indiana (I feel like I let the ones who walked before down). Won't happen in the next four years though...sigh...

[FarCenter]

12. Shop by internet instead of Walmart

[obamanut2012]

16. People in very rural areas have to buy food

People can only do what they can do. They can at least respect the picket lines this week, even if their WM doesn't have a physical one.

[TalkingDog]

20. Where would you suggest? Not Amazon surely.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor

[FarCenter]

23. Almost every large retailer has a web site and ships

After all, the Sears Roebuck catalog was the bible for mail order in rural America.

Of course, there are a multitude of small online retailers as well.

There are also specialized web sites that cater to business, but which take orders from consumers. For example, you can by towels by the dozen cheaply from wholesalers that sell to hotels, motels, spas, hospitals, etc.

[barbtries]

15. i've been striking on black friday

for decades. happy to help

yes, some people do have to shop at Walmart. they just don't have enough money to go to the mall. been there.

[hobbit709]

17. I know people poor enough that Walmart is upscale shopping for them.

[barbtries]

27. i do too

actually. if it wasn't for charity they'd be without just about anything.
in this wealthy country that is a true travesty.

[Jester Messiah]

18. I shop at Amazon, as much as possible.

Walmart and the like are sometimes necessary for incidentals, but that's about the extent of the business I give them.

[TalkingDog]

21. As suggested. Amazon is the same problem with a different name.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor

[femrap]

33. I detest Amazon.

They are the Walmart of Etail.

[raouldukelives]

24. But nobody has to invest in them. Yet many do.

Probably quite a few who would never consider shopping at one actually are doing much more of a disservice by joining up with them to share in the profits.
Liberalism doesn't end when people clock in at McCorporation and pitch for them as hard as they can or fatten their wallets with Chevron and Lockheed. Only the character of it.

[obamanut2012]

25. Maybe you should explain what you mean to posters

[w8liftinglady]

29. Very true

In rural Texas areas, Wal mart has literally taken over.
WalMart is also the only thing within walking distance of most lower-income apartments.
I was always fortunate enough to go to "The Nicer" places that treated their staff well,but I remember how it feels to have 5 bucks to feed the kids until Friday.

[Autumn Colors]

30. I've never set foot in a Wal-Mart

and I never will.

If I were in that situation, though, I would buy as little as I possibly could from them and as much as I could from online retailers from the comfort of my home.

[Javaman]

31. This is the second thread I've seen like this...

what post started it?

[obamanut2012]

35. I was just thinking about how I loathe the Waltons

And how it sucks so many rural people have to shop there, even ones that don't like to, and how they can honor the strike on Black Friday Weekend, by not shopping there. And, how people who DON'T have to shop there shouldn't.

I am also sick of the union busting (Hostess, Camden, NJ, cops and firefighters, etc,).

[Javaman]

48. wal-art and it's business model are like vampires upon the lower middle class and the poor.

It's been long known that wal-mart moves into town, then basically destroys what was once a thriving downtown area, but they also move into areas where it's harder for small businesses to start due to the economics of the location.

As a result, they become the only game in town and have a "company town" sort of influence over the locals and the politics.

[MissNostalgia]

36. I was a vendor for WalMart

I dont think I will ever get over the treatment I endured and witnessed.

[obamanut2012]

67. An ex colleague's family was a book vendor for them

They basically put them out of business. Horrible and humiliating treatment.

[bhikkhu]

37. Absolutely - anyplace with employees that are lucky to make poverty-level wages

while the owners are some of the wealthiest of the wealthy, that's a place I want to either change or see it fold up.

[mountain grammy]

39. My dear union supporting husband is also a bargain hunter (cheapskate)

and loved Walmart and Sams. He's switched to Costco and I've introduced him to the Goodwill and local thrift stores for almost everything else. We buy food locally, the nearest Walmart is 80 miles away (thank God.)

[obamanut2012]

68. Costco is terrific

If people have one they get to. They treat their employees decent, including a decent salary and HEALTHCARE for even PT employees. Lots of organic stuff there, to, and a pharmacy, auto center, eye glasses...

[Le Taz Hot]

40. People just flat out need to stop

judging people by such superficial measures. If you have such an overwhelming urge to pass judgment on others, my suggestion would be to first locate a mirror.

[obamanut2012]

69. My OP is the opposite about judging people

[Le Taz Hot]

74. Sorry, OB,

when I said "you" it was a generic "you," not a personal one.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

41. I noticed that.

Too many areas of the U.S. no longer have any stores but Wal-mart. I will not be buying anything there, and will honor the strike.

[HopeHoops]

42. The only reason I've walked into a WalMart in years is to take a piss.

I shop at local family-owned stores whenever possible. If I need a department store, I go to K-Mart (which has lower prices than WalMart AND actually has US-made products). I hope the WalMart workers completely shut down that abomination on Friday. It's a plague on the nation and the world. If I had the money, I'd pay them all ten times their daily pay to stay home that day. Sadly, I do not.

And take note - Target is a RW company too.

As for Black Friday - I hide in the house on that day (which is when we do our feast). The people who camp out all night are fucking idiots.

[Cobalt Violet]

58. Don't get glued to a toilet!

Seem to a story about that every now and then.

[HopeHoops]

78. I use the urinal, and I would still use the urinal even if I was female. Gross place, that.

[Jamastiene]

43. K&R

It is nice for people to be able to support stores with better practices when they can, but when they cannot afford to drive 100 miles to get groceries, it is better not to look down on them. Thanks for admitting what so few on DU are willing admit.

[JDPriestly]

47. Walton Wealth

Six members of the Walton family appear on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans. Christy Walton, widow of the late John Walton, leads the clan at No. 6 with a net worth of $25.3 billion as of March 2012. She is also the richest woman in the world for the seventh year in a row, according to Forbes. Here are the other five:

No. 9: Jim Walton, $23.7 billion
No. 10: Alice Walton, $23.3 billion
No. 11: S. Robson Walton, oldest son of Sam Walton, $23.1 billion
No. 103: Ann Walton Kroenke, $3.9 billion
No. 139: Nancy Walton Laurie, $3.4 billion

. . . .
Allegretto found that in 2007, the wealth held by the six Waltons was equal to that of the bottom 30.5 percent of families in the U.S. In 2010, the Waltons’ share equaled the entire bottom 41.5 percent of families.

That 41.5 percent represents nearly 49 million families, notes Josh Bivens at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. While median family wealth fell by 38.8 percent, Bivens wrote, the wealth of the Walton family members rose from $73.3 billion in 2007 to $89.5 billion in 2010, or about 22 percent growth.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jul/31/bernie-s/sanders-says-walmart-heirs-own-more-wealth-bottom-/

The Waltons' wealth has grown since 2010 I should think.

This is incredibly deplorable although we must remember that much of their wealth is probably in Walmart stock and includes the value of the many, many Walmart properties.

My mother's hometown has just been ruined by Walmart. Nice little shops downtown are gone. You have to buy your shoes from the pitiful choices at Walmart unless you can drive pretty far.

I traveled in Eastern Europe before 1988. Small town Americans' choices in shopping really aren't much better than those of people living in Communist countries were. There is more color in the products sold at Walmart but the quality??? When I have shopped with my mother, I have found the selection to be extraordinarily limited.

[csziggy]

75. That is an obscene level of wealth

No one person or one family should be able to accumulate that percentage of a nation's wealth. That is simply too much wealth in the hands of one small group of people.

We've stopped shopping at Wal-Mart. Unfortunately it is not practical to shop exclusively at small locally owned stores. Sometimes it's because of distance & time, sometimes the things I need/want are not available locally or at a price I can afford, and sometimes it's because the things I am looking for are simply not available locally at all.

When possible, when I buy over the internet I try to buy through small stores - even though they are not local to me, they are still local to their own community. I've even located books through Amazon at smaller book stores, then rather than order through Amazon when possible I order directly from the stores.

I'm just now shifting from having to do most of my non-food shopping over the internet (because of mobility problems) to being able to actually go to local stores (YAY new knees!). As I get more mobile I will be able to do more food shopping at the local coop which sells locally and responsibly grown foods. My husband has been shopping at the local supermarket because it is more convenient to where he works and was easier while I was recovering.

If I do any shopping this weekend, it will be at local stores on Saturday to support the Shop Local movement.

[Starry Messenger]

51. k&r

Great post.

[Zorra]

52. Wal-Mart is the only large Dept. store within 50 miles of my home.

I try really hard to do all my shopping elsewhere, but find myself in Wal-Mart about once a month because I need something immediately and Wal-mart is the only place I can get it without driving 100+ miles round trip.

But there's no way I go there unless I'm desperate.

[mstinamotorcity2]

54. There has been an attack

on the American worker for the last fifty years. The american worker should be looked at as the premier resource of America. I always ask the question of Business owners... Who is it that brings your ideas,goods,and services to market??? And who is it that consumes your ideas,goods,and services???? Its the american worker!!!!!!!!!!! They cannot buy or consume anything without wages. DUH!!!!!! The American worker is the JOB CREATOR!!!!!!

[ohheckyeah]

59. You know what...

I don't owe anyone an explanation about where I shop and why I shop there. I'm sick of the self-righteous people who seem to think Walmart is the only business who treats its employees poorly. Ask some of the small business employees. The worst I have ever been treated was by a non-profit organization....shitty pay, no sick leave, no vacation time, no benefits, just a bunch of damn grief.

Get over yourselves people.

[obamanut2012]

70. Except my OP said the opposite of that

[ohheckyeah]

72. It wasn't directed at you...

just a comment in general to the topic.

[democrattotheend]

60. I don't criticize people who don't have a choice

My dad's girlfriend is on food stamps and Medicaid and she agrees that Walmart is horrible and feels guilty for shopping there but doesn't really have a choice for some items. When she can she tries to shop at second-hand stores instead. I can't judge her for shopping at Walmart, and I also won't judge those who have no other local choices. But those of us who have a choice should avoid it.

[obamanut2012]

71. +1

[Shilo]

66. Walmart is not that cheap when compared with other stores deals---used to be--not so much anymore

with a sale and/or coupon I go elsewhere more and more as the prices are better if you look around at sales flyers and compare. I have that luxury to choose which store gets my money. I understand people saying they have no other choice but where did they shop before Walmart?

[ohheckyeah]

73. I didn't live in a rural area

before Walmart.

[adirondacker]

77. Considering most employees are on foodstamps, The Company Store...Should be MalWarts theme song...

You load sixteen tons, what do you get


Another day older and deeper in debt


Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go


I owe my soul to the company store