Well, another reason to skip Wal-Mart

Badawg said

I think that its the fact that they, along with other "big box" chains like home depot and lowes, have used their buying power to dominate the market place to the point that smaller local stores,aka mom-n-pop shops, simply cant survive today. We havent been hit as bad in this area because the Wal-marts around here dont have the big grocery areas but local hardware stores are few and far between anymore. I always make it a point to shop at smaller locally owned businesses whenever possible but I do shop at the bigger chains when I have too.

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I have always been a little uneasy about this argument and still don't know where I really stand. As Americans, we embrace capitalism and strive to build and grow the best companies and buisinesses but complain when a company becomes too big or too successful. Wal-Mart and other big-box stores (including Home Depot and Cabelas) have become large and successful by following a smart buisiness plan ... buy low in bulk and undersell the competition. I'd personally rather like to buy from a mom-and-pop locally, but unfortunately they don't alway have what I need or their prices are so much higher that I sometimes go to the big stores or even shop online. I don't know what the solution would be other than people not shopping there (which is NOT going to happen) ... perhaps more government regulation? ;)