Comments on: The Conservative Case Against Wal-Mart

By: MikeF

MikeF — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 22:56:34 +0000

If you buy a lot of you stuff online you can often find even better deals than you would at Wal-Mart. For example, I have found no better place to buy computer parts than ZipZoomFly. They have free 2nd day shipping on almost all of the parts that they sell and they have very low prices to begin with. If I had to go buy a 128-512MB key drive, I'd probably buy it from Wal-Mart out of convenience, but I'd never buy something like a video card or sound card from them. The only reason that many of the people in my town of about 55,000 (includes 15,000 college students) likes Wal-Mart is that we have 2 super Wal-Marts that provide very cheap groceries. Last night I was able to buy enough hamburger and chicken to last me at least two weeks for less than $20.00. It's good meat, and being a student myself, it's great to have the low prices. Beyond that, Wal-Mart isn't good for much. Their electronics selection is terribly limited, pretty much every selection is very limited. The only things I buy there on a regular basis are food and DVDs since they're $8-$13.44 each. Stormy Dragon's point is one that drives me up the wall. I have been reading up on the Kelo v. New London case it makes me exasperated that America has come to this. It's part of the reason that I think that what America really needs is to outlaw eminent domain entirely.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 16:48:27 +0000

ZD: One gets better customer service at Home Depot, a chain music store, a camera store, a stereo store, Best Buy, any clothing store, etc.

Wal-Mart and company are better, though, for commodity goods or if you already pretty much know what you want.

By: Zendo Deb

Zendo Deb — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 15:24:03 +0000

Except when shopping in a small (expensive) upper crust store, when was the last time you had what you would consider "good customer service?"

Someone in Wal-Mart can almost always tell me where something is located, about the only service I ever get anywhere, and sometimes I can't even get that level of service.

Oh, if you are going to spend 20,000 bucks - or more - redoing your kitchen, then sure, you can get some service someplace else. But if you want to buy a cheap microwave, where are you going to shop? At a big box, probably WM because they still have better prices and more low-end microwaves than Home Depot.

By: Riehl World View

Riehl World View — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 06:12:11 +0000

Attention Walmart Shoppers
Here's an interesting read from James Joyner at Outside the Beltway on the Walmart issue. He actually uses the topic to discuss some differences between socio and economic conservatives, along the way contrasting those positions with some on the left.

By: Stormy Dragon

Stormy Dragon — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 03:47:02 +0000

On legitimate conservative complaint against Wal-Mart is that they're one of (if not the) largest beneficiaries of emminent domain abuse.

By: Sean Hackbarth

Sean Hackbarth — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 01:26:58 +0000

Kirk also thought that conservatism was the negation of ideology. At times he was highly critcal of the free market while defending private property.

By: the evangelical outpost

the evangelical outpost — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 01:25:42 +0000

Samâs Conservative Company: The Conservative Case For Wal-Mart
âBeing a conservative is supposed to be about things like tradition, community, and, yes, aesthetics,â says Steve Bainbridge, in his post on the conservative case against Wal-Mart. âIf I'm right about that, it's hard to see why a conservative should...