Where won't you shop/do business and why? - Page 2

[honeybunch2k8]

Originally Posted by Funny Face

Won't eat at KFC because of the way their chicken is grown and treated.

.

I used to work at a KFC. I know those chickens had to be pumped full of something.

[MommaShark]

Originally Posted by Funny Face

What do you mean by 'sold out'? Like, Clorox bought Burt's Bees?

I love Burt's Bees.

yup
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/business/06bees.html

[2xy]

Originally Posted by mamabadger

I am trying to think of examples, other than specifically religious businesses, like Bible bookstores. Do you mean you will not buy things like Yogi tea, Eden Foods products, items with the Star of David "kosher" symbol on them? Do you extend it to things like Blue Nun Wine and Quaker Oats? Or do you only object when there is something particularly non inclusive about the name? Sorry for the third degree, but I have never heard that objection before, and I was curious.

I don't encounter it so much since we moved back north, but when we were in the southern part of the country, I often saw symbols such as crosses and the "ixoye" fish symbol on random business signs.

I figure that if a dentist feels the need to advertise his religion via the front door of his office, then he must have some reason for it. Either he wants to attract clients of a certain faith or repel clients of other faiths.

[zinemama]

Any fast food restaurant. (except one chain in my area which uses local ingredients and are an ethical bunch of folks.)

Walmart (no need to explain)

Starbucks (I'd rather support local cafes and there are tons of them)

Chain bookstores (there are great local options)

Hershey's/Nestle/Mars etc. (the chocolate is terrible)

[philomom]

Originally Posted by zinemama

Any fast food restaurant. (except one chain in my area which uses local ingredients and are an ethical bunch of folks.)

Walmart (no need to explain)

Starbucks (I'd rather support local cafes and there are tons of them)

Chain bookstores (there are great local options)

Hershey's/Nestle/Mars etc. (the chocolate is terrible)

Same here. Though I occasionally slide into Starbucks to do my Bookcrossing thing. My local one keeps a bookcase of free books. I just can't help going in there once in awhile.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/

[PaigeC]

Originally Posted by zinemama

Chain bookstores (there are great local options)

I loved the local book stores but they are all gone now with competing B&N and Borders. I buy most of my books from Amazon.com now. Anything evil there? I buy LOTS of books - I'm a librarian/bibliophile.

Also, I shop at Target alot - anything nasty about them?

I won't shop anywhere that media is censored. For example, Walmart (if we needed another excuse not to shop there), sells censored versions of music and movies and refuses to sell specific titles it deems not to fit with their corporate values. /gag

I don't buy flowers, particularly roses, unless I know they are local.

I (try) to boycott businesses that support Fox Entertainment.

I try to support companies that do things I do believe in. Like I shop at Sears because they support reservists. I also buy BP gas because they offer paid maternity leave (better than Texaco, Exxon, etc. and their human rights/environmental evils). I try to support companies like these: http://abcnews.go.com/images/GMA/100%20Best%202005.pdf

[PaigeC]

Sorry to double post but I also try to support companies that cover infertility and adoption for their employees as this is dear to my heart: http://conceiveonline.com/50best/50-...list/?Itemid=0

This is local only, but I also go to the Cleveland Clinic because they have an accountability site where you can look up any doctor and see where they get funding and endorsements - great transparency.

Hope I'm not getting too far off track by going with places NOT to boycott!

[Turquesa]

A couple of thoughts.

I boycott Wal-Mart for the aforementioned reasons but am also really put off by the anti-Walmart movement. I think it's a product of a self-righteous bourgeois Left (of which I've been accused of being a part that wouldn't shop there anyway. I'll know the movement is serious when they target a box store that is a greater sacrifice to boycott. How about Borders Books? They trample on independent bookstores and have a history of unfair labor practices.

Another thought: I don't boycott places to punish the ownership for political beliefs, nor do I support places to reward ownership for beliefs. Honestly, I'm not going to stop abortion by boycotting AT&T...or advance abortion rights by supporting them. Besides, it's a waste of my effort to try to control how people spend the money they earn.

On that note, I would much more likely further human rights with a check to a non-profit or some hours of volunteer work than I would by spending gobs at the Body Shop.

And though I care about breast cancer, seeing a pink ribbon won't compel me to buy a tub of yogurt. If anything, I don't think it's fair for marketers to exploit our sense of conscience when only a teensy weensy amount goes to the cause. I'd rather just go Race for the Cure!

I do boycott...

* Fast food--Read Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma to learn why.

* Products with HFCS--The proven presence of mercury in it is a turn-off, to say the least. The stuff tastes cheap. And I've about seen enough of those snarky commercials from the American Corn Refiners Association.

* Suave, Dove, and other cosmetics that test on animals.

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by PaigeC

Also, I shop at Target alot - anything nasty about them?

Yes. They insist on "Happy Holidays" and refuse to say "Merry Christmas."

On a more serious note....
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/35610/

[Malva]

Lululemon uses child labor knowingly.

American Apparel's owner is creepy beyond words and those "sexy" ads are in really bad taste.

[KittyDanger]

I hate American Apparel ads. I like the idea of American Apparel, but really can not afford to shop there.

The ads drive me bonkers and sometimes I think its because I majored in photo in college so I tend to look more deeply into ads than some people, but there is something about those photos that is both sexist and predatory. Almost like the women are reluctantly having their pictures taken, or their boyfriend took the pics and then sold them to the newspaper or something. I've also heard that the CEO is a world class pervert who propositions his employees.

[zinemama]

Originally Posted by PaigeC

I loved the local book stores but they are all gone now with competing B&N and Borders. I buy most of my books from Amazon.com now. Anything evil there? I buy LOTS of books - I'm a librarian/bibliophile.

I don't know that there is anything evil about Amazon. However, I really like Better World Books http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

The money goes to charity and the shipping is free! They have a really good selection of used books. It is definitely where I turn first.

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by Turquesa

A couple of thoughts.

I boycott Wal-Mart for the aforementioned reasons but am also really put off by the anti-Walmart movement. I think it's a product of a self-righteous bourgeois Left (of which I've been accused of being a part that wouldn't shop there anyway. I'll know the movement is serious when they target a box store that is a greater sacrifice to boycott. How about Borders Books? They trample on independent bookstores and have a history of unfair labor practices.

Another thought: I don't boycott places to punish the ownership for political beliefs, nor do I support places to reward ownership for beliefs. Honestly, I'm not going to stop abortion by boycotting AT&T...or advance abortion rights by supporting them. Besides, it's a waste of my effort to try to control how people spend the money they earn.

On that note, I would much more likely further human rights with a check to a non-profit or some hours of volunteer work than I would by spending gobs at the Body Shop.

And though I care about breast cancer, seeing a pink ribbon won't compel me to buy a tub of yogurt. If anything, I don't think it's fair for marketers to exploit our sense of conscience when only a teensy weensy amount goes to the cause. I'd rather just go Race for the Cure!

I very much agree! You put into words what I have always struggled to.

[jenP]

Originally Posted by jeminijad

There is a difference between outselling a competitor because you have better product cheaper through smart management and outselling competitors because you totally and intentionally destroyed the landscape of supply and demand in an industry... just my thoughts.

That's why I boycott Wal-mart, too. And their labor practices.
I'll never buy diamonds.

I don't think I really boycott anything else. There are lots of things I don't buy, like factory-farmed meat or eggs, or high heels, but those are all things I just don't want or need or use, not something I would buy but don't because I have a problem with the company.
I would boycott American Apparel because of their disgusting ads, but I wasn't going to buy any of those clothes anyway so I guess I can't call that a boycott. Did anyone notice that not only are the ads offensive on their own, but they are a big rip-off of those controversial 80's Calvin Klein ads (well, some of them anyway)?? So they are gross AND plagiarized!
I've never boycotted a company because of the owners' personal beliefs or causes. Only because of corporate policy and actions.

Jen

[MommyTorf]

I won't shop at one of the locally owned, small business natural food stores in my town BECAUSE:

long story short, when DS was an infant, i got bit by a spider (HUGE, nasty bite- i almost couldn't walk. so gross!). my doctor prescribed a pretty heavy-hitting antibiotic (don't remember the name). i was an EPer (for one WHOLE year) and the pharmacist INSISTED that i should pump-and-dump. so i called both local natural food stores to price organic formula. having never used formula, and because i knew it would be short term, i felt like i needed to look into organic options. the MANager at one of the stores said to me, "have you ever even CONSIDERED breastfeeding?"

[bigeyes]

Originally Posted by Turquesa

Yes. They insist on "Happy Holidays" and refuse to say "Merry Christmas."

On a more serious note....
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/35610/

Thank you! Target has the same practices as Walmart, yet they get a free pass from the same people who squawk loudly about what a devil Walmart is. Drives me nuts.

If one is bad, they both are. As long as our country allows companies to operate this way, demonizing one retailer and ignoring the others who do the same things really doesn't accomplish anything.

[zinemama]

Originally Posted by MommyTorf

I won't shop at one of the locally owned, small business natural food stores in my town BECAUSE:

long story short, when DS was an infant, i got bit by a spider (HUGE, nasty bite- i almost couldn't walk. so gross!). my doctor prescribed a pretty heavy-hitting antibiotic (don't remember the name). i was an EPer (for one WHOLE year) and the pharmacist INSISTED that i should pump-and-dump. so i called both local natural food stores to price organic formula. having never used formula, and because i knew it would be short term, i felt like i needed to look into organic options. the MANager at one of the stores said to me, "have you ever even CONSIDERED breastfeeding?"

Dang. I hope you wrote a letter to the owner and let them know why you wouldn't be darkening his door again.

[SAHDS]

I just saw this while reading the link about Clorox buying Burt's:

"In the last couple of years, L’Oréal paid $1.4 billion for the Body Shop and Colgate-Palmolive bought 84 percent of Tom’s of Maine, which makes natural toothpaste and deodorant, for $100 million."



I also 'boycott':

Wal*Mart, GAP Inc. (GAP, Old Navy, Banana Republic), Abercrombie & Fitch, J. Crew, Ann Taylor, Eddie Bauer, Nike, The Limited, Sears, Kohl's, K-Mart, J.C. Penney, Nestle, Sara Lee, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Avon, Kraft, Chevron, Mattel...

[twead]

I don't shop at Best Buy because of a ridiculously stupid event a friend had there. DH & I went to help our friend buy a pc monitor. When he got the monitor home that day it had several lines of pixels that weren't working. So, took the monitor back for an exchange. The manager wouldn't open the box and plug in a new monitor to test it without it being purchased first. Something about not being able to sell it after the box was open. So, our friend does buy the replacement monitor. They test it and it has the same problem. Fast forward to 9 monitors being purchased and tested that day all with the same problem. There was a huge stack of monitors blocking the doors. Each of which gets taped back up and put on the shelf to be sold to someone else. ERGGG That manager was so full of crap. Yes, I'm still hot about it nearly 10 years later. My boycotting them has absolutely no impact except making me feel better. DH does shop there though and lucky for bestbuy, because he is always needing some new pc thing. I go with him and rehash the story each time as we walk in and then start complaining about 5 min later. I guess you could say I turn into a 13y.o brat when we go there. Boy, my dh must love me for putting up my crap........

Also, I don't buy food with hfcs. The corn refiners ads make me ill. My goal is to produce as much of my own veggies as possible. I still have a few jars of home canned tomatoes from last season.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by MommyTorf

I won't shop at one of the locally owned, small business natural food stores in my town BECAUSE:

long story short, when DS was an infant, i got bit by a spider (HUGE, nasty bite- i almost couldn't walk. so gross!). my doctor prescribed a pretty heavy-hitting antibiotic (don't remember the name). i was an EPer (for one WHOLE year) and the pharmacist INSISTED that i should pump-and-dump. so i called both local natural food stores to price organic formula. having never used formula, and because i knew it would be short term, i felt like i needed to look into organic options. the MANager at one of the stores said to me, "have you ever even CONSIDERED breastfeeding?"

: why i am not seeing how this was wrong. was it his snarky tone?