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Originally posted by Love_Spell_6
I think this situation is a catch 22. On one hand people definitely want convenience and want to pay the lowest prices, but on the other hand, folks complain about what it does to small businesses (and in some cases complain about outsourcing even when it means lower prices. We can't have it both ways 
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There's data out there that goes both ways on the larger problem which is -- Does Wal-Mart hurt local economies by bringing in lower prices and lower paying jobs or does it help to employ people that would otherwise be out of work and offer good deals to consumers?
Strangely, most of the studies that I've seen that suggest WallyWorld is a good thing for local economies have been conducted either directly by Wal-Mart or the University of Missouri (largely funded by Wal-Mart). Other studies (none of which I can cite or give direct links to) that I've heard of have shown that Wal-Mart basically trades a bunch of people making decent wages -- 30K+ per year for a lot more people that make around 18K per year. It definitely drives the little guys out of business. Like the article said, here in Oklahoma City, Wal Mart has put in 7 supercenters in our metro area as well as numerous "Neighborhood Markets" (just the groceries). Since then (either as a result of this or not) around 30 grocery stores in the area have closed.
Another thing that I'm not so hot on Wal-Mart for is that they have left a lot of abandoned regular-sized Wal-Marts around town when they've relocated to bigger and better things leaving prime real-estate in the town to sit there unused, further depressing the areas they are in.
I'm no big fan of Wal Mart, but where the hell else are you going to go when you need to buy a new DVD player at 2AM?