Don't get me wrong ... I'm not a big fan of Americans. Generally, I find that they are uneducated, inarticulate, and very narrow-sighted. On the plus side however, I applaud their strong sense of patriotism. I think a number of countries (and especially Canada) could learn something from their example.
But patriotism isn't the subject of today's rant. No folks, today's rant focuses on Wal-Mart. Actually, it focuses more on some people's perception of Wal-Mart.
Picture this if you will. I'm at a buddy's place and we're busy getting wasted. He's mentioning how expensive it is to get pictures developed. I suggest he go to Wal-Mart because the prices there are good (let's face it, they are).
He freaks out. He's screaming about how he won't ever support Wal-Mart. He quotes a guy from Guelph that stated on the radio that Guelph was the largest North American city that didn't have a Wal-Mart in it and it was proud of that fact. Further, he contended that Wal-Mart has a doughnut like effect in that it sucks the life out of any city core and results in people going to suburbia to "buy cheap sweat pants".
While Wal-Mart may not be Harry Rosen, I don't think every single thing in Wal-Mart is cheap shit. But I will say this in rebuttal.
The fact that Wal-Mart sucks the life out of shops in the centre of the city is good. Why? Because those shops suck. The selection blows. The prices are ridiculous. Access is ridiculous. The staff don't give a shit if you get good service or not. Returns and refunds are next to impossible. To top it off, the quality of the goods in question are usually crap.
Having said that, why would I ever consider shopping at a smaller mom and pop shop or some bullshit fancy-pants Yorkville-pay $1000 more for everything-shop? Please don't go on about supporting the small guy etc. You wouldn't be small if you had something worthwhile. It's exactly like Paul Stanley said. Paul was asked whether KISS missed playing small clubs. His answer was that bands that say that clubs are the greatest place to play in are bands that can't fill decent arenas. Clubs suck. The same is true of most, if not all of the shops in the core of any city. Over-priced, under-serviced, under-stocked, and just generally crappy.
I'm proud to support Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and any other giant that advances the consumer interest. Remember, at one time, all of these mega giants were small guys starting out locally. You don't become a $30 billion dollar empire overnight (unless you are a dot-com company).
Instead of shopping in that little artsy-fartsy shop downtown, buy something reliable and at a decent price. If those artsy-fartsy shops could meet this criteria, they would be in business. The fact that they can't ought to tell you something. It's called a free-market system. Only the best should survive.
So, the next time my friend is blasting me about shopping at Wal-Mart and the like, I will comfort myself with the knowledge that I don't travel ten times as far and pay eight times as much for the merchandise I do buy. Call me crazy but I always thought the consumer objective was to get a good deal, not get butt-fucked. Go figure.
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