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[appalachiablue]

This message was self-deleted by its author (appalachiablue) on Wed Jun 26, 2019, 10:28 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[Faux pas]

1. We need

to put them out of business, the bastids.

[cascadiance]

2. They're getting ready to open a new Wal-Mart a mile away from where I live now... :(

And I'm already hoping that it closes soon so that another business can move in even before they finish building this f'ing thing! And it's right across the street from other redneck businesses like Godfather's Pizza, etc. too that I've also avoided.



http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/index.ssf/2015/10/walmart_neighborhood_market_to.html

[arcane1]

30. It sucks that they leave behind a structure that really only suits big-box stores.

I imagine it's expensive as hell to raze that building and tear up the enormous parking lot, before building anything else there, like (God forbid) something mixed-use!

[cascadiance]

31. Actually where I am is one of their smaller stores... Look at the article's google map...

... with satellite images turned on, so that you can see the nice green field it used to be before they tore that and the trees up to build this thing. I just moved here two years ago before when it was a nice green field like that. Hopefully if they do go out of business (though perhaps there are enough conservative neighbors to keep them in business), then at least the smaller store footprint would let another business move in instead.

If you zoom in and then zoom out, you can see photos before they took the trees out and when the trees were there.

[arcane1]

32. Good to know, thanks!! n/t

[leveymg]

3. It's the same cycle of engulf and devour that led to Border's extinction along with most small book

stores that it drove out of business before being itself blobbed by Amazon.com. Retail in general may be extinct within a few years in America.

Jeff Bezos - Master of all the Galaxy.

[appalachiablue]

4. Yes to all, unfortunately.

[cascadiance]

5. There was a sign pointing customers to a local Powell's bookstore at a closed Borders bookstore...

... here in Beaverton on Cedar Hills Boulevard, since the Powell's bookstore is still doing fine a block away from that closed store. I thought I had a pic of it. Will have to look for it.

I was telling the Powell's people when I briefly worked there that they really should have made a holiday card with a pic of that sign in Borders' closed bookstore that I think many would have bought up to show the reverse "migration" that many of us would like to see happen in terms of local businesses taking over the clientele of those big business going down rather than the reverse of that.

[intersectionality]

29. Huge fan of Powell's!

Found a great deal over xmas on a book that is out of print and was $40 on amazon. $6 on Powell's. Just like it was when I first bought it from a small used book store in Berkeley.

[MisterP]

7. Borders overextended and gave up its online ops to Amazon 2000-8!

B&N and others are a bit smarter

[Lordquinton]

25. Borders closed due to piss poor management

with a revolving door of CEOs that each left with a handsome severance package, after making a bunch of arbitrary changes. And their e-reader format is actually still going strong.

[Paka]

42. Another retail perfecter of the engulf and devour technique...

...is Starbucks. They do the same trick of driving out small cafes and then close themselves down the road apace.

[saturnsring]

6. the residents of those many towns did it to them selves by flocking to walmart when it opened

[Populist_Prole]

9. They sure did

I find big stores like that neither cheaper ( unless you're relying on economies of scale and buying in bulk ) nor convenient ( with their massive floor plans ). It seems strange to me how such a herd mentality prevails in situations like these and it boggles my mind that someone would park in and walk through a massive lot, wander through a cluttered maze a quarter of a mile square to purchase some everyday sundries. Yet, they're very loyal to the same giant that eventually crushes them.

I do mean loyal: So many think of going no place else when they have to buy something. They think they're such savvy "consumers" but they're just feeding the US' single largest creator of shitty jobs.

As to their closings, there's another ugly side; literally. To my eyes, abandoned big-box stores are an eyesore: as ugly a blight as a block of crumbling 100+ year old brick tenements.

[LuckyLib]

11. What happens with Wal-Mart is while stuff may seem cheaper, by the

time folks buy stuff they never really thought they needed (until browsing), that savings is gone. Wal-Mart is one big coupon -- for stuff you don't need and wouldn't otherwise buy. Supporting the local retailer can result in long-term savings AND the retention of jobs and community. My heart goes out to folks who have to rely on Wal-Mart because everything else is gone.

While they complain about lower profits, let's examine on a regular basis the income of the family that owns it. Obscene. On the backs of working folks.

[gvstn]

36. Yes to alll this.

I've only been in Walmart 4 times and never found any bargain. Mostly expecting cheap cat litter which I never found, despite everyone saying the place was so cheap.

My sister on the other hand loves the place. I think she is a fairly savvy shopper but I just don't see the appeal. I'd much rather go the local grocery store and buy what is on sale this week and do the same next week.

[Paka]

43. I have never shopped at a Walmart,

and never will.

[unapatriciated]

52. same here

I hosted a Walmart party in 2005. They were organized by MoveOn (I hosted many house parties during the early 2000's). My favorite was Outfoxed.

Outfoxed ten years later.

[Paka]

53. Thanks for the links.

I watched the one and will watch the other two later today.

[Skittles]

44. why is cat litter never on sale

[gvstn]

50. It used be more often but Clorox has avirtual monopoly on the that work best, Fresh Step and Scoop A

Fresh Step and Scoop Away. Every time a try a different brand, I end having to change the littler box because they don't clump the urine properly. There definitely used to more sales but I can't find a decnt substitute. Even Target has raised their prices by a couple of bucks and rarely has sales and they used something on sale every week.

[homegirl]

10. Too true

I visited Tulare, CA several years ago. Main street was blighted by empty store fronts. The only crowded business was Walmart. I refuse to shop at Walmart and have not entered a Walmart since that day. People have to accept some of the blame when their town dies because they have succumbed to the siren song of cheap Chinese made goods sold by Walmart.

Boycott them from Day One.

[Plucketeer]

15. Exactly!

If you are a patron of these beasts, YOU are complicit in the harm they do to the community. Of course, there's way too many dullards and non-responsible sorts to ever run the giants out of town.

[AlbertCat]

17. the residents of those many towns did it to them selves by flocking to walmart when it opened

If that's the case.... then why can't Walmart make enough to keep these stores open?

See they did it here. But not everyone was "flocking to walmart when it opened".... so no local stores closed. (Lowes home improvement is another story)

Oriental is on the intracoastal waterway and, like here which is the beach, has seasonal populations.

You'd think Walmart could figure out whether they could make money in such an environment or not.

[Jokerman]

8. I've seen the same thing with restaurants in my part of town.

Twenty years ago there was an awesome Italian deli and at least two independent Italian restaurants. They couldn't compete with Olive Garden and they eventually closed.

A few years ago Olive Garden opened a new location farther out in the 'burbs and closed the one near us.

Outback Steakhouse and Don Pablo's did virtually the same thing to other independent restaurants and now they're gone as well.

[gvstn]

37. We have a food "shopping center" with all the big chains.

And it is always mobbed. There is not one restaurant that I would ever want to eat in there but the parking lot is always packed.

Sad that a lot of little places are gone. Never really noticed how many have gone until reading this thread.

Little delis are what I really miss. A good homemade macaroni salad or something like that which used to easy to find. All gone now.

[AllyCat]

12. No matter what, the blame keeps landing partially on wages

In these articles. All they can talk about is the profit losses. Would be great if they said in real dollars what that means. 12% profit loss to Walmarts billions means the corporation turns a tidy sum.

Our mayor sealed a midnight deal with Walmart that we had been fighting for a decade. Will destroy our struggling downtown.

[bemildred]

13. And the parasite, having killed it's old host, frantically searches for a new one. nt

[appalachiablue]

21. +1 Amen the ugly truth.

[unapatriciated]

14. "there was at least always a Wal- Mart left behind to replace them"...

they make it sound like a saving grace when it was walmart that ran them out in the first place - what b.s.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. Thanks to the Walton family a LOT of downtowns have become ghost towns.

[marble falls]

33. Looks like Nebraska.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

34. It looks like a lot of places in the US. This just happens to be in Kentucky.

[Scalded Nun]

18. These sorry assholes tried this same shit in Germany

They got slapped down due to their predatory practices, were not allowed to trash businesses and communities and would up leaving after a couple of years (pulled up stakes in the entire country).

Everyone waved, then celebrated.

[perdita9]

19. One of the many reasons I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart

They're run by horrible, greedy people. I will never put my shopping dollars into the hideous hands of the Walton family

[closeupready]

20. Has Hillary ever commented on these kinds of developments?

If she wants to be president, I think people would want to know her thoughts.

[appalachiablue]

22. That's a very interesting subject.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

35. She was on the Board of Directors for Walmart for six years.

[MariaThinks]

23. its capitalism at its dirtiest

I have spent less than $100 at walmart - ever.

[gvstn]

38. I needed a computer monitor one weekend and gave them $199.

My only purchase there and it was the dreariest 20 minutes I think I have ever spent. Just a lifeless, soul-sucking place. I don't understand how it can be so popular. Dingy, dirty and no service--ugly.

[different equation]

51. true..nt

[jalan48]

24. It's sad but I think many American's aren't real bright.

When Wall Mart wanted to put in a store in a smaller town near where I live a number of us went there and protested. We tried to explain to the people we spoke with that it would put local mom and pop stores out of business and that the profits would flow out of the community. We were laughed and swore at by working people just like us. It was an eye opener for me. The political consciousness of many Americans is very low.

[SoapBox]

27. Agreed.

Low information...they're too busy on their phones, gaming and other such educational activities.

[KoKo]

26. I wish Bernie would mention this in one of his speeches....

Americans are sick and tired of being experimented on by Greedy Corporations, Wall Street and their endless push for Corporate Growth and Mergers and Aquisitions to drive stocks up for the wealthy while destroying jobs and communities for the average person. It is getting worse instead of better.

And, if they manage to get Obama/Wall Street's TPP passed it will be the final nail in the coffin for most of us. If TPP goes down and Hillary/Bill regain the Presidency we can bet it will be back on the table under a newly revised name or they will just ram it through, as it is, under a new House & Senate which will have more Republicans if Bernie doesn't win.

Quote from the article:

“They ruined our lives,” said Smith of Wal-Mart. “They came in here with their experiment and ruined us.”

[appalachiablue]

28. AMEN! *MESSAGE TO BERNIE CAMPAIGN*: CALL OUT THIS FLEEING BILLIONAIRE PREDATOR!!

[truedelphi]

40. And while Bernie is at it, he might mention how when this happened across America

All throughout the Nineteen Eighties, destroying one small mom and pop store after another, Hillary was "serving" as the personal attorney to Sam Walton!

[MsMAC]

39. WalMart came to our small town and

the town gave them tax breaks (twice!) to open their stores. They began with a small store in the mid-70's and each subsequent store became bigger and bigger. They've always had tax breaks going their way and the once thriving "downtown" in this town has dried up! I HATE WAL-MART! Thankfully, there are about 4 other grocery stores in this town so if WalMart pulls up stakes, there are alternatives for shopping.

[truedelphi]

41. I do shop there once in a while as - since they destroyed the local arts & crafts stores etc,

AND I really cannot afford the gas or the time to drive over the mountain to get to the regular stores of Santa Rosa, just to buy a thimble, but I avoid them whenever possible.

[Conium]

46. Good luck finding thimbles.

They carry 2 sizes of thimbles: Large and Extra-Large. They're probably men's sizes too, since everyone knows only men use thimbles. Wal~Mart never has the supplies you need, mostly novelty items with a high mark-up.

[Conium]

45. Wal~Mart Falls Apart.

It is now a huge floundering conglomerate. Wal~Mart's customer service department surely consists of monkeys using macros. Cut-throat competition has disenfranchised their community and customer base by taking away their jobs. I wouldn't be surprised to see Wal~Mart re-incorporate into several separate store groups. Wal~Mart is the dog that caught the car.

[MsMAC]

47. Totally off topic, but one of the Walton granddaughters

was attending the University of Missouri (her name was Paige) and after she graduated, (and after the family had donated tons of money to name the new sports arena after her), it was discovered she PAID another student to take her tests and write her papers! The arena is not Paige Arena any longer!

[flygal]

49. they did the same in my hometown but still open - haven't been in one for years. nt