Skeptic Project

As with anyone on the left, I'm constantly hearing about how companies like Wal Mart are "destroying" the Mom and Pop operations. But is this actually true? Let us discuss!

Claim: Companies like Wal Mart "destroy" Mom and Pop operations.

The first thing we must do is define the word "destroy" in context. I personally do not think providing a larger selection of goods at a cheaper price is "destroying" so much as it is "competition." I don't buy this line of reasoning one bit.

Another problem with this claim is that it assumes Mom and Pop stores are inherently ethical. This is untrue, and in the case of Mom and Pop operations I would argue that there is less accountability than at a big box store. How many times have you shopped at a Mom and Pop store only to pay way too much for an expired or damaged item? Are you as willing to return the item as readily as you would if it had been purchased from a big box store? Or do you find yourself making excuses since "they're a Mom and Pop operation"?

I argue that Mom and Pop operations are not "destroyed" by big box stores, but simply rendered obsolete.

Claim: Mom and Pop operations care about the local community.

Really? How do you support this? How do you know what the owners do with their profits? How do you know they're not investing in out of state, or even out of country enterprises? How do you know what they're supporting in the local community is something that should be supported in the first place? Well, you don't because there's no accountability.

Claim: Mom and Pop operations treat their employees better.

Really? So you're telling me that Mom and Pop operations can offer insurance plans and 401k packages? I don't think so. I would argue that you're more likely to be treated better by a big box store than any Mom and Pop operation.

Feel free to continue this thread.

^^^ This.

My question is about why people just seem to grip so tightly to keeping "Mom and Pop" stores alive.

Wal-Mart is a great general store, but seriously, it's not going to take over.

I sure as hell buy my video games online or at Gamestop, not Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart's collection of games usually sucks, and they offer no deals nor older generation games.

San Francisco is almost nothing but mom and pop, be it food service, clothing, even electronics and video games. We've got one Wal-Mart (that I know of) in the entire Bay Area. San Francisco also clears the top ten for the highest cost of living in the US. If you came out here and actually saw how much some of these assholes charge for stuff, your jaw would be on the ground. I do not think that this is a coincidence.

In my experiences, only crybabies hate Wal-Mart.

Yep. Crybabies.

I wanted to come here for college when I was a fun-loving 20 year old kid.

Fast-forward to now and I'm the old grouch who bangs on the wall, yelling at my idiot retard neighbors to turn their music down.

Go figure.

Hahaha, my first job out here was at a locally-owned electronics store. My boss was from Thailand and EVERY other word out of his mouth was the "n-word", worst of all I had to nod and act like I didn't care. That was until a friend of mine who was from Nigeria came to get his laptop fixed, and he had a bit of an accent. He tried to speak to the guy and, of course, the boss went into the back and said "I couldn't understand that n-word." That was when I finally spoke up.

The assistant manager was naturally the guy's son and he couldn't care less about the store. He even left it unlocked one night after we shut down.

I'm pretty sure I would have murdered in my sleep if I had been the one who did that, but thankfully, I wasn't stupid.

Probably something like this: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/03/18/black_people_must_leave_nj_walmart_announcer_says/</p>

While I do agree the joke was in bad taste, I'm not sure I think it's serious enough to warrant a state prosecutor getting involved. But that probably just because it's Wal-Mart.

I think Snob proved my point!

Manager of WalMart makes a racist joke leads to state prosecution.

Owner of small business makes a racist joke and no one hears about it except us nerds.

Target is overpriced in my experience.