Could it be that they actually like food?
Fresh Talk led me to this Google Groups discussion of whether Wal-Mart killed somebody’s local Jewell supermarket. The posts that follow are far-reaching to say the least, and if I was so inclined there might be ten good quotes of the day there.
Here are just a few of my favorites:
#1:
Hang on tight and prepare to lose your hardware store, your local pharmacy, sporting goods store, bike shop, craft store, shoe store, and probably your entire downtown. Wait till they build another Super Walmart three or four miles away. It’s like the Monster that Devoured Cleveland….
#2:
The simple fact is Wal-Mart engages in predatory capitalism. The same kind that was pioneered by he likes of J. Paul Getty. Monolithic corporations like Wal-Mart routinely engage in business practices which are aimed at stifling competition, forcing out competitors, presenting barrier to new competition and fixing prices. None of this is good for anyone but the monopolistic corps.
Every Wal-Mart I have visited is a filthy dump with garbage filled parking lots, staffed with brain dead idiots, brow-beaten managers, and filled with shoddy goods imported from China. I bought dish rags from a Wal-Mart once and they fell apart after a few washes. My Lands End towels are 10 years old and going strong.
#3 (my very favorite):
When I worked at Walmart, the corporate theme was to have at 1 Walmart ever 5 miles across the entire country and a Super Walmart at a 1-20 ratio. The main ideal is to put the competition out of business, the idea is no competition is good competition, we can cut the quality as much as we want and who will they complain to and where will they go to get something better if we put the competition out of business before they realized what was happening.
And #4 for good measure:
[O]ther stores respect your rights. They know they have no right and they know that it creates a bad impression. But when it comes to WalMart, a company that forces employees to work off the clock and through their breaks, who spies on employees, who closes stores rather than let their employees unionize, your rights mean nothing.
To sum up, let’s just say the members of “rec.food.cooking” aren’t particularly fond of Wal-Mart. Could it be that they actually like food?