Walmart Review

Bottom-Line: The truth is that with a little work (clipping coupons, catching sales, buying from different stores including on-line venues) I can still lower the cost of groceries and other goods without going to Wal-Mart.

Okay, I'll admit it, like most working and middle-class Americans I jumped on the "Always Low Prices" Wal-Mart express when a store open in my city.  Like most my family is on a budget; we watch what we spend and where, in an effort to not only put away some money for savings and prevent to paycheck-to-paycheck way of living.

But somewhere between the cluttered aisles, cheap clothes, cheaper goods, and not so cheap prices, I started to ask myself a few question; chiefly what was this persistent quest for low prices costing our culture and society in terms of cost of living, jobs, national defense, etc.?   And those questions deepened after I viewed PBS' Frontline episode entitled Is Wal-Mart Good for America?  In the story Frontline explored the Wal-Mart story from a number of different angles. 

And the conclusion seemed to be that Wal-Mart and its brand of retail that seeks to push costs down and maximize profits,  have done harm to America by causing suppliers to ship jobs overseas-principally to China-push down wages, shift health care cost s of its million plus workers to the government, among other odious findings. 

The story, which I implore all to view on-line, convinced me that I was willingly, but unwittingly, playing a part in economic the demise of my country.  Over stated?  I don't think so.  So I stopped shopping at Wal-Mart and took my business elsewhere.  I now shop in a number of different places including Target, JC Penny's, CVS, Walgreens, and my local grocery store.             

And I have other issues with Wal-Mart as well, such as their questionable labor practices, shoddy (overwhelmingly Chinese-made) goods, sub-standard employee benefits package, employment of illegal aliens, and the sullied feeling I got every time I stepped foot in a store.

The truth is that with a little work (clipping coupons, catching sales, buying from different stores including on-line venues) I can still lower the cost of groceries and other goods without going to Wal-Mart.  I wonder what would happen if we all took such a stand...