It's a rare person who has any business criticizing anyone for shopping at Walmart

[JohnnyRingo]

26. Target is only one example of a store that competes with WalMart.

My ex mother in law used to shop only at WalMart for her prescriptions. When she finally discovered that Walgreens is cheaper, she switched quicker than you can say "live better".

I hear the same argument about grocery stores like Giant Eagle here. People swear up and down that they save hundreds of dollars a year, but since they don't compare all the prices on the register receipt, they don't realize they pay the same bottom line as people who shop at Sparkle. No one is going to shop at three different stores, but they can quit buying into corporate propaganda the develops a sense of loyalty and results in habit shopping.

If there's no other option in your location except WalMart, it's likely because their strategy of driving businesses out of town has either already succeeded or no one in their right mind will open a store near one, because they know the power WalMart has to undercut them. At least until that store is gone.

The last time I went to a WalMart I needed some educational software for my grandkids, one of those head start type of programs that are grade specific. After roaming the aisles for an uncomfortable length of time, I finally tracked down an "associate". Then. after a ridiculous amount of time on his part, he finally determined that "we don't sell educational CDs". I realized how much that made sense as I left the store for the last time.

There was one other time before that. When I needed the new disc by Eric Clapton some years ago, I stopped there on my way to work. I was in a hurry so I asked the young "associate" working in music where it was, he replied "who's Eric Clapton?". Nice.

Here's some advice you can take to the bank: Corporate advertisements are allowed to mislead you into believing they offer their items at "low low prices", and that something on a shelf under a smiley is dirt cheap. I certainly wouldn't send a WalMart shopper to buy me a new car. They'd come back and tell me "the lowest price was already marked during their inventory reduction sale".