Do you have to boycott Wal-Mart to oppose Wal-Mart?

[Bill McBlueState]

We've had a lot of flamefests in the past about whether progressives should be expected to boycott Wal-Mart. On one hand, Wal-Mart's anti-people practices are instrumental in creating a permanent underclass. On the other hand, for many working people, the savings you can get at a big box store and the fact that in many areas Wal-Mart has driven all the competition out of business make it impractical to shop elsewhere.

This has been a great wedge issue for the corporate elite. By creating a false choice between shopping at Wal-Mart and opposing Wal-Mart's business practices, they divide working- and middle-class people against themselves.

The anti-Wal-Mart strategy needs to include more than calls to boycott. If you *can* boycott Wal-Mart, that's a great thing to do. In my town there's a Target right down the street. I shop there and never need to go into Wal-Mart. But not everyone has the luxury to boycott a store. We need to encourage people who feel they don't have that option to find other ways to protest Wal-Mart's treatment of its employees and its predatory business practices.

What might some of these alternative forms of protest look like?

[Fierce]

1. These are good questions.

And I'm interested in the answers. When it comes to a retail store, I see supporting = shopping there and not supporting = not shopping there. Since all the store (at least, as one as big as Wal-Mart) cares about is the money, I figure that's what it comes down to. I'd like to hear other ideas, though.

[warrens]

2. There's almost always an alternative to WM

Target, Costco, Meijer, Fred Meyer, Kmart, etc. I don't know if it's worth boycotting them, but I don't shop there at all.

[IronLionZion]

3. Can you guarantee the alternatives are any better?

What if they are doing the same things? And you have to be a small business owner to get a Costco membership.

[tandot]

4. Anyone can join Costco. You have to pay a membership fee, though.

It is $35 (or $40?) for a year.

Some of the things we buy in bulk are so much cheaper there (e.g., box of 1000 Splenda for under $19), that it pays off for us. However, if you are not buying that much, it might not be worth the fee.

Costco pays a decent wage and also gives to Democrats.

[Alcibiades]

9. Bulk is inconvenient

I belong to COSTCO, but don't buy nearly as much there as the "low prices" would seem to justify. Yes, the toilet paper is cheap, but you need to buy 144 rolls, you can get a roast, but it weighs 200 lbs, etc. Usually I go on Saturday, get the free samples, and buy a few things that are not too terribly inconvenient to buy in bulk, such as diaper rash ointment. Darn good prices on Desitin at COSTCO.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

20. Several years back I belonged to a small neighborhood co-op

We would buy the large quantities of toilet paper, paper towels, etc. and then divvy them up among ourselves. Save a little but still not stuck with a gross of toilet paper trying to store it under the couch, on top of the dining room table and behind the fridge!

We usually did it for only staple items like sugar, coffee, paper products, etc. This was back during the Reagan era when every damn penny counted thanks to "trickle into the fat cats' pockets" economy was working so well. :sarcasm:

[jobycom]

8. Like Sams?

:) My parents live north of Gulfport, Mississippi. The nearest Target is fifty miles away. The KMart is a tiny dump. I've never even heard of these Meyer and Meier things. It's Walmart, the department stores, or a number of smaller stores, or Sam's. And it's not that Walmart and Sam's forced everyone out of business when they opened up. There was nothing else, except an old KMart that even then was bad. Plus, the Walmart still pays better than KMart and the grocery stores nearby.

[Bill McBlueState]

12. Meijer is a regional operation

They're based in Michigan, I think, with stores in the Midwest. I believe Meijer pioneered the idea of having groceries alongside everything else in a big box store. And many or most of them are 24-hour stores.

Most people who went to college in the Midwest can tell you stories about ending up in a Meijer at 2 am, drunk or high and looking for munchies. Or at least I can. :)

[jobycom]

16. AH. Makes me wonder if there isn't more regional conflict here than meets

the eye. Where I grew up in Mississippi, there was nothing even close to Walmart until Walmart got there. We had a Sears and a JCPenney's, and there was a KMart--and for a while KMart was what Walmart is now. But no one regionally had the money to open a regional style of Walmart. In fact, really, Walmart WAS the regional equivalent, since it was from the same southern impoverished regions.

Walmart in Mississippi isn't as low-paying, and isn't putting a lot of people out of business, because the whole state is low paying and there wasn't enough money to start a lot of smaller stores. So when Walmart opened, it greatly increased the range of merchandise we could buy, and lowered the prices we could buy it at, and it provided genuine work opportunities for high schoolers, entry level youngsters, and people near or past retirement.

However, pop a Walmart into an industrial northern town where there is more money to start with, and it's a very different story. Or pop it into a suburb on the outskirts of a midsize city. There, Walmart's wages are much lower, the products are inferior, and there are other businesses to hurt. But, there are also alternatives to shopping there. So when someone in Michigan tells someone in Mississippi to stop shopping at Walmart, they may be speaking different languages, somewhat.

I don't know, just a thought. I've often vowed to look up wage comparisons adjusted for regional economies, but I never have. I'm lazy, as well as stupid!:)

[Arkansas Granny]

22. You make a lot of valid points in your post. In many small towns

in Arkansas, Wal-Mart is about the only store around and it saves people not only on the goods they buy, but also on the gas it would take to drive to a larger town to shop at other stores. In rural areas, most people are quite happy to have a Wal-Mart store opening because, quite often, there are no super markets, clothing stores etc. in town anyway. Even if you do have choices on where to shop, budget considerations alone often mean going to Wal-Mart instead of the mall.

[jobycom]

5. Good post--good questions.

My opinion is that a boycott would have no good effect, and may have negative effects by, as you say, splitting people who should otherwise be voting together. My mother worked at Walmart for a while, so anyone boycotting Walmart was hurting her job. My parents can't afford to shop many places, nor can they afford to drive from small store to small store searching for low enough prices on items they could pick up with one stop at a Walmart. Telling people like them to boycott Walmart is arrogant and elitist, and as you say, drives a wedge between two sides who should agree.

The best approach to Walmart is to encourage legislative action to require better working conditionss and more fair competition standards based on community standards, and to quit attacking the people who shop there while pretending we are trying to help them. IMO.

As for whether an individual feels comfortable shopping at Walmart, that's an individual decision. Nothing says a person HAS to shop at Walmart.

[Aiptasia]

10. Some ideas

Back when Sam Walton ran things, wal-mart was very big on the "Made in USA" label. In fact, when wally world first started to become popular through their mass expansion in the late 80's, the "made in America" label was something they very heavily promoted. My my how things have changed.

Instead of boycotting the store, why not boycott the products? So much of what wal-mart sells is made in China or some other place. Why not demand that wal-mart starts carrying American products? Their corporate answer would be "because then we can't offer the same low low prices" when actually, they very well could. Carrying American made goods vs. third world goods would only damage wal-mart's overall profit margin.

A return to the "Made in America" movement would be one healthy way to protest the trade defecit.

Now, for wal-mart's employees...

Wasn't it Maryland that passed that recent requirement for big chain stores with over x amount of employees would have to allocate funds on those employees (pensions, health care, etc.)? I like that idea and I know it scares the crap out of big chain stores like wally world. Short of that, an employee union would also put the fear in them.

For myself, I just avoid shopping there if I can at all help it. I can find most things I need at other merchants without having to go to big chain stores.

[jobycom]

17. I tend to think Sam Walton would not approve of the current Walmart

His vision was to bring reasonable prices for quality merchandise to rural and small town areas where they were not available. Everything I read about him suggests that he would have opposed the exploitive labor practices and the low-quality products Walmart has become famous for. I could be wrong, and that could just be my impression based on their advertising, but it seems that fifteen years ago Walmart had some respectability.

[heidler1]

13. Walmart stock has been going up in price.

IMO because of the one stop shopping fact coupled with the high price of gas sounds like questionable advice. To ask anybody to ignore this cost advantage probably won't sell and makes some wonder if it makes any sense, including me. Sound advice at this time needs to consider how to not drive your car more than necessary. Yeah I shop at Walmart regularly.

[SeattleRob]

6. I think it's a personal choice.

I think there are a lot of factors involved. I personally will not patronize any Walmart or Sam's Club. I can also understand people having limited cash flow to get things they might need.

[Alcibiades]

7. Do you have to oppose Wal-Mart to boycott it?

Most of the people who don't shop at Wal-Mart do so not because of its horrible business and social practices, but because they sell cheap crap.

[Bill McBlueState]

11. well, there is that

It also smells bad, at least the ones I've been in.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

14. it's all a matter of personal conscience IMHO

[MNWild]

15. I think those who have other options should exercise them.

We have a Sam's Club and a WalMart within 1 mi of our home, and a CostCo 8 mi. away. When our Sam's membership came up for renewal, I called and canceled, citing their corporate policies of contributing only to Republicans, treating employees poorly etc. and was assured by the person I spoke with that my comments were passed up the ladder. I also made it clear that I would gladly return if their policies changed. We also made it clear at CostCo, that their corporate philosophy played into our membership decision. These heirs to the Walton fortune constitute something like 1/2 to 3/4 of the 10 richest individual in America. They are very interested in repealing the inheritance tax. Maybe the way to get their attention is to call "our representatives" and push for an increase in the "Paris Hilton Tax", as I heard Byron Dorgan refer to it a couple of days ago.

[jobycom]

18. Great post, and welcome to DU!

:hi: :yourock: :woohoo:

[newyawker99]

23. Hi MNWild!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[TheFriedPiper]

19. Boycott, Schmoycott

I hate WalMart with a passion, but I don't need a boycott to tell me not to shop there.

I have always avoided WalMart because of the CLIENTELE of WalMart.

Mostly knuckle-dragging jingoistic right wing rednecks.

That's plenty of reason to avoid it.

[jobycom]

24. Odd post for a liberal. I'm sure my parents have never dragged a knuckle.

And I'm not sure what it would mean if they did...

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[ComerPerro]

21. If you shop there regularly, its hard to say you oppose it

[jobycom]

25. Like, if you use gas or electricity in America, it's hard to say you oppos

Bush or the war in Iraq?