BasmntMadman wrote: 

You are so right about innovation.  That's where Multinationals become part of the problem.  GE has relocated the bulk of its R & D to India, exporting its innovative arm to foreign turf.  Mutlinationals are exporting jobs and technology just as fast as they are importing cheaper foreign labor to replace higher paid Americans. 

Cheers to Intel for its plan and challenge to reinvest in America.

 water wrote: 
I used to think I couldn't save money as well as if I shopped at WalMart but with minimal research or effort I spend just as little, if not less not shopping there.  And I can look myself in the mirror at night, which is a big plus.

And yes, money is very tight in this household and we have two children to support, plus me with a rather expensive crohnic medical issue.  Its doable.  You just have to put your mind to it.

What's a bi-way?  I've never heard?

 smokinsean wrote: 
my mum had bi-way (the bw boutique)...and i've got wal-mart to help me make ends meet...when i did not have a dependent and money to spend...i would shop locally and almost exclusively canadian...but it's a different world now...and zellers really blows!

 MayBaby wrote: 
  MayBaby is flirting with me again!
I'm not complaining, just bragging.  I love it when chics flirt with me. 

 BlueHeronDruid wrote: 
I was always uncomfortable with and tried to start limiting our money spent there awhile ago.  For quite a while, it was our only choice without driving over 30 miles away (WM was only 12).   It is only in the last six months that I made a hard rule.  I haven't missed the place except for one stupid thing... cotton pads.  Nobody else's compare.  But I still don't buy them.  It's not worth it.

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 
I have to drive at least 30 miles to a Wal*Mart. The only reason I'd go there at all is if I couldn't find an item elsewhere. Pur water filters, for instance, though now we mail-order.

 smokinsean wrote: 
I have kids (one in the house that we support and one on the payroll, living in a different house) and not a ton of money (I haven't worked full time in almost two years, we're getting by primarily on one paycheck between my temp gigs).  So there is at least one.  Anyone else?

And like Maryte, I will go without rather than save a buck on the back of someone else.  Just a personal choice, not preaching.

 cc_rider wrote: 

Haven't checked out N. Burnet in a long time; I always deplored it as always bleak (sub)urban blight, telephone poles and billboards, etc. You say they have bargains too? Won't be able to keep Maryte away from the area, then.

 dionysius wrote: 
All of the SAVERS stores benefit Easter Seals.

Yeah, I thought the same thing: what do seals need with clothing, they have all that blubber and soft fur and all.

But seriously Austin folks: Burnet Road is Mecca for thrift and resale stores, from 45th Street up to Anderson Lane. I didn't realize it until somebody mentioned it and I drove down Burnet one day.

c.

 Southern_Boy wrote: 
Have to wait for summer, though...they'd be easier to sell.  Those suckers are cold in the winter. 

 BasmntMadman wrote: 
You could sell them at Macy's for about $90.00.

 arsenault wrote:  

smokinsean wrote

They have a point. 

Me, I like the idea of $10.00 jeans to replace the ones with holes in 'em.  I'd spend significantly more on them if I got significantly more quality - i.e., they last twice as long if they're $20, three times if they're $30.  Unfortunately, it just doesn't happen that way.  I don't give a shit about fashion, either. 

Wal Mart is just squeezing the last ounce out of its employees, its suppliers, its operating procedures, etc., to offer stuff at really low price.   And probably pushing the envelope a little, aka sharp business practices. 

In turn, people squeezed by an increasingly lopsided wealth distribution appreciate Wal Mart.

What it amounts to is Wal Mart shutting down the mom'n'pop Retail Kulaks. 

That's why Communism in Russia was so misbegotten - Communism should have taken root in a more advanced Capitalist economy where the Capitalists did the dirty work of herding all enterprise into a single, massive unit.  Then the Communist Revolution would be little more than informing he head of the huge megacorporation that it was under new management.  If he didn't like it, tough;   the sherriffs would be out to seize his business,  just as they'd done with the Retail Kulaks.  And if any Kulaks had ideas of setting up their own enterprises again, they'd have about as much luck as they did against Wal Mart. 

But what I think saves a Capitalist economy is innovation - the creation of whole new fields of enterprise to do an end-around against the monsters.  The counter force is economy of scale, promoting huge combines; eventually monopoly. 

If the innovative force runs behind the economy of scale force,  we're left with monopoly.   And that throws the market economy based upon some semblance of competition - the whole logic of private enterprise - right out the window.

 cc_rider wrote: 
Thanks for the heads up on that, C. Do they collect donations and stuff, in order to employ people who need these jobs, too? Or are they strictly for-profit? We donated to Goodwill recently, but are going to have to get rid of some more clothes in the future.

 maryte wrote: 

I went into the big SAVERS on Burnet Road the other day. Amazing. MUCH better organized than most Goodwills. I don't think I'm ever going to buy a 'new' pair of jeans again!

Burnet Road north of 45th is 'Thrft Store Central'. Ther's at least twenty of them along a one-mile stretch, from baby clothing to furniture.

I choose to not shop at Wal-Mart for a few different reasons -

1) My wife used to work there part-time in the pharmacy as a second job, and so I go to hear some of the horror stories concerning wages, schedules, etc.

2) The Wal-Mart closest to my house is actually on the same road my neighborhood is on (though about five miles away), and is between my neighborhood and the interstate I have to hit to go to and from work everyday. So, everyday, I have to deal with the traffic caused by their mega-store.

3) Contrary to what they'd have you believe, Wal-Mart's motto is not "the customer is always right". In reality, it's more like "cash is king". Back when I used to shop there, finding knowledgeable, friendly employees to help you with something was like finding a needle in a haystack. My most recent experience there centered around trying to take back a gift I received for Christmas a year ago; because I didn't have a receipt (hello...a gift?), the Exchanges department wasn't going to let me refund or exchange it, at first. After complaining to the manager, I was finally allowed to exchange the gift for store credit (which does me a lot of good, since I don't shop there!)

4) (And most importantly) While my career pertains to computers, I've actually worked in a couple of different industries (retail, financial, and manufacturing), including two different manufacturing companies that were suppliers to Wal-Mart. Anyone who has ever seen how Wal-Mart treats their suppliers knows that they only cut prices by cutting what they pay to the suppliers. Wal-Mart still marks up their goods by close to 50% from what they pay the manufacturers; they just pay the manufacturers less. With both companies for which I worked, there were items that the company would have to sell to Wal-Mart at a loss (in other words, for less than it cost the company to manufacture the items) to keep Wal-Mart's business. Also, in both cases, Wal-Mart stopped buying products from those companies once they found suppliers overseas who could produce the products for them cheaper. In one case, this caused the company to close down, due to a lack of demand, once Wal-Mart stopped ordering anything.

Now, I'm not an avid "Buy American" person...I'm fine with buying products manufactured overseas, if they're quality products; however, I find Wal-Mart to be very hypocritical, pledging that they help support American workers and putting up "Made in the USA" signs, while continuing to purchase more & more of their products overseas, causing American companies to lay off workers and/or close their doors all-together. From a manufacturer's standpoint, getting into business with Wal-Mart is like getting in bed with the mob...it's a slippery slope that, in many cases, doesn't have a happy ending.

 maryte wrote: 

$20 at Goodwill repairs a lot of the damage $20 at Wal-Mart will cause.

 maryte wrote: 

...alrighty!...

 smokinsean wrote: 
Why is it that cheap there, though? Partly because they don't pay their employees shit. Perpetuating poverty. Leading to a customer base that can only afford to pay Wal-Mart prices. The price tag is low, the social cost is too high.

 smokinsean wrote: 
That is true, however, that's how corrupt govs take over, by breaking down our morals until we accept anything.

If you told your kids, we are going to buy shoes at the Goodwill instead of WalMart because that's all you can afford, but you don't want to buy shoes that are made by children or almost slave labor, they would be learning two lessons at one time.

 maryte wrote: 
I love shopping at Goodwill and the S.A.