I will tell you Why Anti-Walmart - Page 3

[jeca]

Originally Posted by malibusunny

Okay, someone fill me in on the big box thing? When I searched we don't have one in our town which may be why I'm confused. At first I thought ti was sam's club but the description was nothing like sam's club, so I amm confused now.

It's only a general term used for mega-stores like walmart.

[malibusunny]

No, I was clear it's not actually called "big box" but it says "bigger than home depot, meaner than walmart" and so I thought it was refering to a specific store. But if it's just a goof, that's fine. I think it's kind of weak, though, because it takes the focus off the evil that is by joking about the evil that could be.

[malibusunny]

This is weird-- it says page two of three but my post showed up on this page. There's no page three. hmm.

[malibusunny]

Well, now there is, because my post created it. just to make me look extra smart.

[TheTruth]

Never triple post again. Never a need for it.

[Silvercrest79]

Going walmart free

In light of what Walmart is doing to that former employee.... I will no longer be shopping there. We are going to have to make sacrifices but I was so upset by their decision to take that woman's money that I am willing to sacrifice for her cause.

[hippiemommaof4]

Originally Posted by Gemini05

:

I have an honest question, and I don't mean it to offend anyone! Is there nowhere else to buy groceries? Where I live, there are 5 grocery stores other than Wal-Mart (all within a close distance to one another) to choose from. A couple of them are "higher-end", but the other 3 have very competitive prices. Just wondering if it's a location thing? (FWIW, I'm in a smaller city, pop. 15k.)

that really isnt that small imo...my dh is originally from a town where the nearest walmart was 45 min away, they had a gas station only pretty much. They also had a lot of very low income people who had the choice to work at a mill or pretty much nowhere! when they built a walmart up the street people had jobs and closer access to food and necessities. I cant stand the way walmart runs things but I see minimal good that they can do for SOME places too. From what I have heard the founder would have never of wanted things to be this way with his company, and thats sad. I dont care for Walmart but its just a fact that even if most people dont shop there, others will continue to anyway.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by mrspineau

Wow. I feel like I have been living in a bubble! I didn't know any of this about WalMart. Now, in my town, there is really no where else to buy a lot of things - like baby stuff! The only places that we have are WalMart, Zellers, (which now I am wondering, is that the same thing really?) and Sears. Sears is where I like to go mainly because I find the quality better than walmart. But there are some things that they don't have that WalMart has!

Don't you have thrift stores and yard sales in your area and internet access to shop online?

I was reading this thread last night, and read the story about that poor family, and told my husband, "We are not shopping at WalMart any more."

We have two gift cards (one from the wedding one from a birthday) and I'm not really sure I want to spend them, even though WalMart already HAS the money...

[SophieAnn]

Originally Posted by mrspineau

Wow. I feel like I have been living in a bubble! I didn't know any of this about WalMart. Now, in my town, there is really no where else to buy a lot of things - like baby stuff! The only places that we have are WalMart, Zellers, (which now I am wondering, is that the same thing really?) and Sears. Sears is where I like to go mainly because I find the quality better than walmart. But there are some things that they don't have that WalMart has! As far as food goes, the WalMart here doesn't carry much food and I have never bought food there, I go to the grocery store, like Sobeys, or Superstore. We don't have a target, we don't have a Bay, Eatons, or even many specialty stores. And it's an island, so going away to buy things is a major hassle. Now, that being said, I think that for the most part I could avoid WalMart, except when it comes to like, buying toys, or even things like Christmas decorations, or a lot of baby things. The Sears that we have is quite small. We only have two thrift stores, both of which sell mostly junk. (other than the clothes). SO anyhow it is interesting information to learn of but some people really don't have anywhere else to go for some things.

Do you live in PEI by any chance?

Even if your Sears is small, you can order items from the Sears catalog and they ship your order to the store for free. For some departments, the catalog selection is significantly better than the in-store selection (especially if it's a small store).

I think that Zellers is good. I do think they treat their employees well (if anyone knows differently please speak up!) and are more corporately responsible. Zellers is part of the HBC (Hudson Bay Company) group - The Bay, Home Outfitters and Zellers, so they have that Canadian History bit too.

We have a Wal-mart way up in the North-end that our community tried to fight for years, but lost that fight fairly recently. We pretty much never shop there - only once a year for some of our Christmas gifts (for kids' stuff).

There's a lot I didn't know about Walmart that I learned from this discussion - thank you! Our family will be Walmart free in the future for certain! There are plenty of local, small shops downtown to choose from for kids' gifts.

[mattoxs-mom]

Originally Posted by delfuego

It's funny, I hear that same argument from people who shop at Wal-Mart about how they are too poor to shop anywhere else. Then, the same people buy all sorts of crap they never needed because it was cheap. They probably end up spending more money than if they had just gone to the regular grocery store and bought what was on their shopping list.

I stopped shopping at Wal-Mart... let's see, about 7 years ago. I noticed pretty quickly that I spent alot less money and was much happier not thinking that I always had to buy stuff. I also got rid of my tv about the same time so that helped too.

Excellent point

[sunnymw]

Originally Posted by acannon

We don't shop at Wal-Mart as often for food anymore, because it's harder to get to, but it's so tempting to buy baby stuff there, especially clothes. I've looked online for baby clothes and they're all pretty expensive, especially for something that DS's only going to wear for a few months. It's so tempting to pick up a four pack of onesies for $10 than to get an individual onesie, organic or not, on the internet for about 8 or 10 dollars. I know, the quality isn't nearly as good and I'd be supporting WAHMs, but it seems so much easier to go the other route. What I should really do is look around for a consignment store. A PP mentioned baby stuff, too; is there anywhere else to get cheap but good-quality baby clothes?

nak...
craigslist.... ebay... swap forums here or other nfl sites cheaper than wm even! lotsa new stuff too

[robertandenith]

I hate walmart When you buy what you 'need' you actually safe hundreds of dollars. Over consumption is not so good for the environment. Cheap food also means, unhealthy food unfortunally

[kriket]

Originally Posted by maymorales

I'm wondering if McDonald's is lesser of two evils?

Hell.. No...

I worked an McD's for 6 years, from 14 to 20 I was an assistant manager when I left, I "loved" my job then when I left, I realized what it was really like to love a job. The pay sucks, they made me work off the clock soooo much, broke so many child labour laws, generally fu#*ed anyone they could, the elderly, minoritys, even white boys got boned. and forget it if you got pregnant, you were just taken off the schedule without more then a word! and they keep all hourly employees technically classified as "part-time" so they can avoid benefits as simple as FMLA, 401k or vacations.. Franchises can be better, (which all the mcd's in wal-marts are loooong story) but sometimes they can be worse... I could go on for days about why I hate that place. I fell through a rickty old roof because I had to sweep off water that was leaking into the store, cut up my leg, and couldn't get the day off let alone medical bills. : I'm done.. I swear.

OH! i'm not done!! the ads on the bottom of this page are from walmart in canada!! GD it!! everywhere I look... and the being too poor to shop anywhere other then walmart, thats such a crock. It's more like to lazy to shop anywhere other then walmart.. ok this time I really am done.

[S.Raine-Drop]

Wow.. I personally LOVE Wal-Mart. It's a miracle 'round these parts. Everybody travels up to where the malls and all the big stores are to hit up Wal-Mart. I bought all my baby's things from there, I practically grew up in that place! I'm not going to boycott a store because of how they treat their employees or where they get their products. Call me inhumane but I like their prices and I like their stuff. And for me, going there is a fun experience, I look forward to it! And I've actually seen a LOT of disabled employees as well as a plethera of women and people of all colours/sizes/shapes..

Anyway.. I Wally World.


ETS: I finished reading through the rest of the thread, sometimes I jump the gun with my posts. Anyway, I haven't seen ONE "pro" Wal-Mart post, so.. I hope I don't get a hit out on me or something... (lol..? =\)

[Kleine Hexe]

It's been two years since I stopped shopping at Walmart. It has destroyed so many local stores in my town. If I can't find it somewhere else then I do without. I refuse absolutely refuse to go to Walmart. DH gets an earful if I find out he snuck in there.

BabyBlanket, I suggest lots of research. It may be nice to live in ignorance of certain issues but all it does is serve to continue the crap that Walmart and the like get away with. People like to stick their head in the sand and pretend all is ok. In my opinion living that way is selfish.

[diamond lil]

I have been Walmart-free since September of 2007. I am fairly proud of my resolve. Even with a baby on the way, people have asked me how can I afford *not* to shop there. My answer is pretty simple: we can still find plenty of things we need locally and I love Craig's List! We frequent resale shops and head to the Maul if there is something we can't find locally or gently used.

I've become a HUGE buyer of gently used goods since I became a member of this board. I know aaaaallllll the good places to go.

Although I hate Walmart, I cannot fault many people in the US who are basically forced to go there to shop because the Walmart has driven all other commerce in the community out of business. This is especially true for rural areas. I'm lucky to live in an area where this has thankfully not happened.

I love anti-Walmart threads!

[t-elaine]

Originally Posted by Gemini05

:

I have an honest question, and I don't mean it to offend anyone! Is there nowhere else to buy groceries? Where I live, there are 5 grocery stores other than Wal-Mart (all within a close distance to one another) to choose from. A couple of them are "higher-end", but the other 3 have very competitive prices. Just wondering if it's a location thing? (FWIW, I'm in a smaller city, pop. 15k.)

Haven't had time to read the whole thread, but wanted to share something from our experiences. We had been boycotting "stuff-mart" for almost 2 years when we moved down to rural north AL 3 1/2 years ago. Once we got down here we learned right away that we were a long way from EVERYTHING!!! There is a LITTLE Piggly Wiggly about 10mi from us and another small store 10mi in another direction. Both of these stores have a very small selection and do not carry much of what we eat. A bigger city is about 30min away. That is where we drove to get much of what we needed. They have a lot of options for shopping.

We actually quickly found ourselves pretty deep in debt due to a drop in income and increase in expenses - especially groceries (in IL we shopped at Aldi which is an AWESOME store with even more awesome prices!!!). About 6 months after we moved a Super WM was built 10mi away from us. In our extrememly depressed financial state and with the struggles of being HUGE and PG and with 2 little ones with me too, I found myself shopping there again. For us it really was a distance thing, as well as a cost thing.

We now have an Aldi in the city (BIG savings on our grocery bill now!!!) and have levelled off our finances to afford going to town once or twice a week. We also have a Costco membership now but have to drive almost an hour to go there - but at least it is in the same town as our co-op pickups (another great savings for us by buying lots in bulk) YAY!!!! No more "stuff-mart"!!!

It was very hard for me to set foot in WM and give them our money, but I now understand that sometimes there really ISN'T much of a choice.

[Hippie Mama in MI]

I worked at Wal Mart for five years. I met my husband there; many of our friends also work there. In our town, there are very few employment opportunities that don't involve hazardous chemicals or possibly being crushed by manufacturing equipment. If you don't want to work at one of the big (dangerous) plants, you get to choose between Wal Mart and Little Ceasars Pizza.

I don't think Wal Mart is doing such a hot job of "thinking globally". I think a lot of what they do is deplorable. But I shop there for almost everything, because when I spend money there it helps keep my husband's job secure, and our friends' jobs.

It's a love/hate relationship. I hate the way the entire store is designed to make you spend more and more money, but I love their employee discount and low prices. In fact, our household could not function without WalMart's low prices. We can barely afford to buy food there; if I had to go to the much-more-expensive "other" grocery stores in our area, we would literally either have to feed our child Ramen noodles or go get WIC and food stamps. Yet, I know that Wal Mart puts local markets out of business, ultimately harming the local economy.

No matter how much Wal Mart sucks, I still have to feed my kid something more than Ramen noodles and canned corn.

The good news is, we are growing some of our own food this year. And our little town will be hosting a farmers market for at least part of this summer and fall. We get produce from friends and neighbors too, when they have it. We do a "garden exhange"!

I respect those of you who are boycotting Wal Mart. I hope it inspires the company to change their wicked ways. Peace to all.

[laoxinat]

IMNSHO, Walmart is pretty much responsible for the decline of Western civilization...or at least the American Dream. I do understancd some rural folks needing to shop there, a few people really don't have much choice. But in light of recent events in Tibet and the horrible, incestuous relationship WM has w/the Chinese government, I have finally decided I just cannot shop there ever. I actually boycotted a while after seeing the documentary (The High Cost of Low Prices), but then we lost the building where our business was and our income dropped precipitously. It hasn't gone back up, but I just can't stand to support them anymore. One thing I have noticed is that produce, which makes up a very big part of our shopping anyway, is definitely cheaper at Safeway, and MUCH better quality. A Fry's opened up closer to us in any case, so b/t the gas saved and the much better atmosphere, I am happily boycotting again It is an insidious thing they have done - moved many manufacturing operations to China - which means there is much less awareness of their environmental impact. Many middle income jobs are gone. Way too much of our economy is people sitting behind computers rather than actually producing things or services of value. I am looking forward to a radical upward shift in my own personal economic karma soon

[Sage_SS]

OK, I'll admit to being ignorant on the global issues of Walmart, but I want to comment on the one in my city. MOST of the workers are women, there are greeters and stockers who are disabled and elderly. I know a few people who work there and they LOVE it. They receive steady pay increases, their benefits are amazing and their employers are fair.