tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post1624353019962066655..comments2023-10-25T06:49:06.288-06:00Comments on Yet Another Small Town Moment: ...and the agony of defeatOKDadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12670312099690140483noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-47877432750263564272007-11-12T11:00:00.000-06:002007-11-12T11:00:00.000-06:00Thanks OkieCard..and welcome.I'm assuming you're a...Thanks OkieCard..and welcome.<BR/><BR/>I'm assuming you're a St Loo's Cardinal's fan or that your local school sports team sport the red shaded bird...and that you're not an honest to goodness senior ecclesiastical official of the Catholic Church.<BR/><BR/>re: CVS and Walgreens -- it's telling that two discount druggie firms can still pull in business on opposite corners in the city, isn't it. I've driven by there and wondered the same thing.OKDadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12670312099690140483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-69454416734305972822007-11-12T09:20:00.000-06:002007-11-12T09:20:00.000-06:00Love the blog. I'm also with your wife on the Chil...Love the blog. <BR/><BR/>I'm also with your wife on the Chili's thing. Not that I hate their food, I just hate them replicating themselves every 5 miles or so. <BR/><BR/>Maybe if our town is really lucky, we'll get a Walgreens on one side of an intersection, and a CVC Pharmacy on the other! Everytime I see that in OKC I go into a sprawl rant that prompts my wife and kids to just roll their eyes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-36540107328770504832007-10-31T14:45:00.000-06:002007-10-31T14:45:00.000-06:00Don't worry about the big. faceless corporations. ...Don't worry about the big. faceless corporations. They are probably only coming to your town to 'stimulate job creation' anyway.<BR/><BR/>Watch for falling wages!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07336664420416232421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-27969626254998167202007-10-31T09:18:00.000-06:002007-10-31T09:18:00.000-06:00I just riffed on this subject the other day. Wal-M...I just <A HREF="http://redforkhippie.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/100-miles-of-mio/" REL="nofollow">riffed on this subject</A> the other day. Wal-Mart is useful as a barometer to see where Middle America's collective consciousness is, but beyond that, I avoid it at all costs. <BR/><BR/>The small Wal-Mart stores aren't as awful, because they're generally not big enough, diverse enough in their offerings, or convenient enough to dominate the whole market. But the Supercenters ought to be razed and the parking lots cauterized to prevent regrowth. I can't fathom how they get away with using an entire department as a loss leader -- which I am sure they are doing with the grocery department, as evidenced by the fact that prices are MUCH higher at freestanding Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market stores than at the Supercenters.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-14184380076268926722007-10-30T22:56:00.000-06:002007-10-30T22:56:00.000-06:00George Carlin on "stuff."Before anyone goes shoppi...George Carlin on "stuff."<BR/><BR/>Before anyone goes shopping again, we should all be forced to watch this <A HREF="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8896213084482448693" REL="nofollow">classic routine</A> from Carlin.<BR/><BR/>True.OKDadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12670312099690140483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-19187538274345454532007-10-30T21:28:00.000-06:002007-10-30T21:28:00.000-06:00But, if you want stuff, there is no other place on...But, if you want stuff, there is no other place on the planet that can compare. I think that wal-mart is just "capitalizing," sorry, I couldn't resist, on our obsession with stuff. I don't know if the answer is to shop somewhere else or just to want less.Trenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10453780334912834535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-63076819691914204622007-10-30T15:32:00.000-06:002007-10-30T15:32:00.000-06:00My old home town now has both of these things, McD...My old home town now has both of these things, McD's and Super WalMart. THey have nearly driven all the local businesses out, and despite my exhortations that Wal Mart is evil and McD's is bad for you, my parents typically visit both nearly every day. I guess it is somewhat inevitable. They have everything that people want in one place, but it still makes me sad. I remember the days when we would move about the town picking up the things we needed for the family. I live more like that now in a big city, visiting the bakery for bread, the drugstore for prescrips, and other smaller operations. I will enter WM only under threat of death or extreme begging from my oldest to buy her the mascara that they and only they sell.<BR/>My parents, though, have few options in their small town.Pattihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17336647207100402772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-78692223124659255342007-10-30T11:58:00.000-06:002007-10-30T11:58:00.000-06:00Fortunatly (or not), the new SWM is at the souther...Fortunatly (or not), the new SWM is at the southern edge of town, while the old grocery store is kind of in the middle, so that may bode well for folks who don't want to travel the extra 3/4 mile.<BR/><BR/>However, this also means that the town itself is "moving" southward, away from it's roots and historic downtown Main Street.<BR/><BR/>Don't get me wrong. I'm an enthusiastic capitalist consumer of the third kind, but I'm also rather protective of my small town -- it's small size and fairly remote location being two of the reasons we moved here to begin with.<BR/><BR/>Last night, my wife half-jokingly said that if we get a Chili's in town, we're leaving.OKDadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12670312099690140483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-39088049172305173172007-10-30T11:49:00.000-06:002007-10-30T11:49:00.000-06:00Your local grocery store will survive as long as f...Your local grocery store will survive as long as folks keep shopping there. It's both that simple and that difficult.<BR/><BR/>When the SuperWM opened in my town (pop. around 15,000) about 15 years ago now, the largest and nicest of our pre-existing grocery stores closed relatively soon thereafter. But it was also very close to the SWM. Three other grocery stores are still open.<BR/><BR/>If yours follows the same pattern as ours did, the food prices will start out ridiculously low and then slowly go up after about a year. Fruit, for example, is generally more expensive at the SWM than at our other grocers, though it didn't start out that way.<BR/><BR/>And I'm surprised the new McD's isn't <I>in</I> the SWM, as is often the case.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12250110.post-45864850504841350602007-10-30T11:14:00.000-06:002007-10-30T11:14:00.000-06:00A MickeyD's AND a Walmart. You are moving to the ...A MickeyD's AND a Walmart. You are moving to the big time. <BR/><BR/>I have not been in a WM store in more four years. And I think it had been two years before that the one time I did go in and then was painfully reminded of why I didn't shop there anymoreM&Co.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05826472564396169120noreply@blogger.com