<p>musicprnt, thank you for post 117. Very enlightening. Glad you didn’t leave any of it out…</p>
<p>Weird, right at this very moment our mayor is on TV raving about all the good Walmart is doing in the community.</p>
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<p>Yes, and that was what I was referring to when I described the scene this morning as “sick.” I was especially sickened by the participation of the clergyman, praying for divine intervention for Wal-Mart’s success; with the American Legion, equating support for Wal-Mart with patriotism; and with the local government officials, treating the advent of a Wal-Mart as a huge plus for the community - although in the last case, I can at least understand and respect the argument they make, that it’s an economic boost for the community. (It is, in the short term, but longer term I think it is very likely the death knell for an already struggling downtown.)</p>
<p>As I said upthread, I really have nothing against Wal-Mart. I shop there - living in rural America, it’s possible to avoid shopping at Wal-Mart, but somewhat inconvenient. I understand the arguments of people who have problems with Wal-Marts business practices, but I also understand the position of people who don’t.</p>
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<p>We very rarely write editorials. And in this case, frankly, it would be spitting into the wind. I expressed my opinion by handling this exactly like we treat the other business openings, which probably average two a month - a single picture (of the ex-mayor’s wife cutting the ribbon) on an inside page with a brief caption, and nothing more. This is in contrast, by the way, to the larger daily paper that covers the region (we’re a small weekly that covers just this community and a couple nearby very small towns), which has been hyping the event for weeks. I thought about (and talked with my partner) about doing an editorial, but decided not to - still not sure if that was the right decision.</p>
<p>Maybe CC should have a character limit like Twitter. Or, at least require paragraphs?</p>
<p>It’s not hard to imagine that Walmart is pretty savvy about this sort of thing and can talk/pressure the city and organizations like the American Legion into pulling out all the bells and whistles when they open a new store. Maybe they make a big donation to the local American Legion to get them out there. </p>
<p>Having been an employee at a large hospital that opened a new location, I can say that there is a lot of thought, time, money and PR poured into making a grand opening a big, big deal. It doesn’t happen by chance.</p>
<p>^ This is a great point. It would sure make the whole opening ceremony a lot more sensical and less surreal. Somehow i find it less disturbing if it is merely paid and orchestrated and that those going through the motions and making the speeches are just being political and don’t actually believe what they are saying.</p>
<p>Annasdad, it is too bad you can’t survive with such editorials. Such a shame as that is where real value lies in journalism. But of course it’s also understandable. As a small paper I guess you may be even more constrained than corporate owned outlets that are beholden to advertisers (a problem that only seems to have gotten worse).</p>
<p>I remember few years ago my H and I were in the middle of nowhere USA, on a highway outside of the town there was a huge outlet store type selling sex toys. I remember reading a local paper while we were therea about the X rated store, how it was disgusting, bad influence on people. My thought was - clearly some people were giving that store business, if no one was buying then that store wouldn’t be there.</p>
<p>I don’t remember if I have ever been at a Walmart because there was nothing there which I couldn’t get at another store closer by. On th hand, if I lived in the middle of nowhere USA, and there was no large discount store for everyday goods, I probably would be happy to have a Walmart nearby. </p>
<p>I don’t know why Target would be better than Walmart.</p>
<p>Oldfort, I think you are right on target about Target. No real difference as far as I can tell (except one has a different public image than the other).</p>
<p>I’m not sure that Wal-Mart would have had much problem getting the VFW or other group of predominantly older folks out to celebrate their opening. Whatever you think of Wal-Mart, they have some very senior-friendly aspects: </p>
<p>-They hire a lot of seniors, and even seniors in visibly poor health. I’ve seen people working at Wal-Mart who have lots of missing teeth, people using oxygen, and folks who look old enough to get the “Happy Birthday” call from the White House. Who else is employing seniors and those with disabilities to that extent? (I’d say that the average age of Target employees is probably 20 years younger than the average age for Wal-Mart employees in my area.)
- The generic drug program they have is really extensive, and for seniors living on tight fixed incomes, being able to access Wal-Mart’s expansive list of drugs at $10 for a 90 day supply can make the difference between being able to afford medication and not.
- Their packaged goods are usually very low in price, and products that seniors use (like Depends) are priced much less than at grocery stores.
- You can get a pair of single vision Rx glasses for under $50.
- If you have an RV, Wal-Mart is happy to let you park it overnight in their parking lot, no fee required.</p>
<p>There was a big celebration when the new super center opened near where my folks lived in North Carolina. Seeing the very limited incomes so many of these seniors had, I don’t have any trouble understanding why a new Wal-Mart might be greeted that way by the VFW.</p>
<p>I currently live at a place where I can’t get a lot of toiletries we get in the US. When I go back to NYC, the first place I hit is Duane Reade (a chain drug store in the City), not Saks or Bloomie. Would I become religious if a store like that were to open up around me? Maybe.</p>
<p>I just came back last night from NYC, and my suitcase look like a drug store.</p>
<p>Welcome home, oldfort.</p>
<p>It’s not a matter of being beholden to advertisers, it’s a basic philosophy that the value we bring to our readers is objective reporting of the news rather than the spouting of opinions, and that should be our emphasis. We have never pulled or watered down a story to appease an advertiser, and that has at times cost us. We ran a story revealing that the local school board was repeatedly violating the Open Meetings Act, and that caused the school board president, one of our regular advertisers, to cancel his contract. We’ve put the names of family members of advertisers in the police report. Etc.</p>
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<p>So, WalMart helps people in the 3rd world get jobs and people in the USA get cheaper products.</p>
<p>Somehow this is a bad thing…</p>
<p>*Originally Posted by starbright
What i don’t get is how something like Walmart can be viewed as if its equivalent of something amazing, like say a new hospital, a cure for cancer, the return of soldiers, or a bridge connecting an isolated community. </p>
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<p>??</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s being viewed as the equivalent of a new hospital, troops coming home, or a cure for cancer.</p>
<p>I think it’s being treated like how many cities treat the opening of a new major employer to their area.</p>
<p>I don’t go to discount stores very often. They creep me out. I have been in Target for back to school shopping, certain household items and beach chairs. I find Target cleaner and less smelly than Walmart. Both our Target and Walmart are in an affluent area, but I do see a difference. Target actually has some brands that people I know will buy- like Champion athletic wear. Walmart- eh, not so much.<br>
Agree that the employee base is about 50 years apart.</p>
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<p>Righto, I forgot some people actually believe Walmart is an economic savior. Holy cow. So glad I left this wacky country.</p>
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<p>I don’t shop at Target or Walmart for their in-store brands. The majority of items they carry from food to health & beauty to electronics to appliances to home & garden items are national brands that are carried by every grocery store, hardware store, electronic store, etc. And they carry them much cheaper. So yes, I can go to Publix or BiLo or Best Buy or Home Depot or Ace hardware or any other of dozens of stores (including locally run businesses) and get the exact same items or I can consolidate my shopping trip and get a large variety of things on my list from Walmart - more convenient and slightly cheaper. I actually don’t go to Walmart on a regular basis because it is out of my way (I use to live closer to it and shopped there more regularly) , though, they are getting ready to put a ‘baby Walmart’ near my house, so I suspect I will shop there more frequently. </p>
<p>I do understand some of the criticisms against Walmart and why one might think twice about shopping there but I don’t see anyone complaining that Best Buy is running their local electronics store out of business, so therefore, they won’t shop there. </p>
<p>The prices at Target are about the same as Walmart and since they carry a lot of the same items, I’m assuming that they also get their merchandise from China. Most of the people I know that don’t shop at Walmart, do so because they don’t like the aesthetics of the store and/or the clientele. All legitimate reasons to not to shop at any store. It’s a free country.</p>
<p>Probably a lot of the celebration going on that offended Annasdad was that people in his town are hurting economically and were very glad to have a low cost shopping option, not to mention some jobs. </p>
<p>I remember back in the sixties when I was a kid and my small town got a McDonalds. It was huge. My brother’s friend in high school got a job there and he was interviewed on the radio, he was a total celebrity. It went on for days.</p>
<p>About six years ago one of our local tv stations started doing comparative shopping segments. They do one about every six months, sometimes it’s food, sometimes its school supplies, sometimes its clothes, etc.etc. They ask a family to do a shopping run to Target, Walmart,our local stores. They have to buy the same list at all three stores and they can buy whatever they would normally buy. Almost never is Walmart the low cost option and it really surprises people. Our local grocery chain in particular stacks up well. On hardware and auto supply stuff Wal-mart took a real hit, in part because the families also rate customer service.</p>
<p>Many of the stores that ‘Guarantee the lowest price’ isn’t the lowest price,but will match or beat a competitor’s price if you can prove it…Very slick advertising…the biggest culprits are HD and Toys’ r Us</p>