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Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

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Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#161

Post by RF_Enthusiast »

no_wizard wrote: post #157
RF_Enthusiast wrote: post #135

Focusing here on the "Walmart Didn’t Kill the Small Town" part of the story. I recently purchased some land in one of the rare US towns that does not have a Walmart (or any big box store). In fact, there are no big box stores within 100 miles of this town. It's a town with about 2,500 people, all within the town core, almost no population in the outlying areas. Not enough population to support a box store. The busine…

Cherish it, because that's a rare small town in the US. Usually the reason they don't have big box stores is because they're becoming economically desolate by that point where no economic engine can really help it along. I've heard of it referred to as "zombie towns". The fact its that small, and thriving, and I hope has a reason COL, makes it a rare gem. I'm curious too, do you have fiber internet out there? An inte…

My understanding is that the town had a few rough stretches, but came out strong and resilient on the other side.

Yes, COL is quite reasonable, food costs about 60-75% of what it does in the metropolitan suburb area that I'm coming from. The only drawback to the area is that the hospital closed many years ago, but they are in the final planning stages of a new one. So medical emergency costs are temporarily higher.

And yes, there is fiber internet. I just looked up the company that provides it, and it's registered as a Cooperative with the Secretary of State.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#162

Post by scottLobster »

newswasboring wrote: post #127
scottLobster wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you don't get out much. I'm 35, grew up in a sterile DC-area bedroom community and even I walked down main streets when I went 10 minutes down the road on shopping trips. Then again there are a lot of cities/towns on the east coast that predate the car, so there's probably an increased concentration of "main streets".

> Sounds like you don't get out much Just completely unnecessary ad hominem. Why?

I was responding to a guy saying anyone under 50 has probably never walked down a Main St. Which I took as yet more "old man yells at cloud" sentiment. It's not just where I grew up either, the town where I went to college had a literal "Main St" with privately owned shops/bars/etc, and a permanent population of ~35,000. All of the ~20,000 students walked down it at some point because that's where the University book store and most of the popular bars/restaurants were.

The suburb I live in now has a literal "Main St" as well. Maybe it's an east coast thing, but saying he doesn't get out much was more a statement of fact. I can't think of anyone I've ever met who has never experienced a Main St, and the only people I can think of who might possibly meet that criteria are people who live in tiny rural towns that they never leave, aka people who don't get out much.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#163

Post by johnnyanmac »

frumper wrote: post #156
dragonwriter wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems the difference is a mall requires checkout at each “department”, Walmart only once. (Also can be cheaper because of economies of scale, though this can adversely effect convenience—you don’t have to man every department at all times a WalMart is open.)

You've now re-invented the mall killer.

TBH loitering killed malls more than a centralized checkout. They became one of the few places for teens to hangout and teens don't have much money. No coincidence that the remaining malls tend to be in high income areas.

But I digress. The removal of hangout spots in the country (especially post pandemic) can be its own topic.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#164

Post by johnnyanmac »

no_wizard wrote: post #96
leetcrew wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised they care. I can't speak for all "people of affluence who want to save money", but personally I feel that everything about the experience is catered towards a person who values small discounts a lot more than their own time. the inventory is barely organized and I have to walk all the way around the store before I even find the right section. it's even harder to find a human employee who might know wher…

it has a negative impact on their brand perception and top line growth. Except when the economy blips into recession their growth seemingly caps at 2-4% a year, sometimes essentially remaining flat. I always thought the secret weapon to attracting wealthier shoppers is their far too under-capitalized and under-utilized Sam's Club model that is similar to Costco, but not Costco. I think thats what they should have inv…

From my experience (S. California) the Sam's club is more expensive. So despite one ironically being next to my Wal-mart I still prefer driving the extra 5 miles to Costco.

slightly cheaper food court (and IMO slightly better tasting food, especially the pizza) is a nice draw as well.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#165

Post by johnnyanmac »

scottLobster wrote: post #27
lotsofpulp wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be surprised if most people under 60 or even 50 know what strolling down “Main Street” means. In my 30+ years, I have never once strolled down a Main Street. I have always gone to big stores and malls (and now online shopping).

Sounds like you don't get out much. I'm 35, grew up in a sterile DC-area bedroom community and even I walked down main streets when I went 10 minutes down the road on shopping trips. Then again there are a lot of cities/towns on the east coast that predate the car, so there's probably an increased concentration of "main streets".

I'm 30 and I had to look up "Main street". Those simply don't exist in western suburbs where I grew up (At least, not 90's+ suburb.). Let alone the boonies where there's simply 1 "super"market, one liquor store, and maybe one fast food restaurant.

I understand it, though. There very much was a main street downtown in my college town. It wasn't literally called "main street", however.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#166

Post by johnnyanmac »

mrits wrote: post #20
lotsofpulp wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be surprised if most people under 60 or even 50 know what strolling down “Main Street” means. In my 30+ years, I have never once strolled down a Main Street. I have always gone to big stores and malls (and now online shopping).

If you name a large city in the US I can probably tell you the name of the main street that is packed with locals

Los Angeles (City)? It's just packed with locals in general (mostly for the worst). There are a few "main streets" if you really think about it, but it's not really a meaningful term in such a huge city.

Maybe it's more of an Eastern US term?

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#167

Post by johnnyanmac »

audunw wrote: post #121
ilyt wrote: post #4

Author is delusional. A bunch of small stores close is nowhere near similar. I just want to go to one shop, get the stuff, and leave, not to go to 8 shops, pay 8 times, pack groceries 8 times and overall walk more edit: that is not to say opening big supermarkets is great, just that once they are there that's why people skip local stores and go to the big supermarket

Would you really be going to 8 shops every time though? Realistically I would go to a grocery store or supermarket and maybe one other store (like clothes or sports supplies, maybe a butcher or something if the town has that and I want something really special that week) I guess what Americans are missing from how smaller towns work in other countries is that they tend to be more dense, with more mixed zoning. Not as…

>I guess what Americans are missing from how smaller towns work in other countries is that they tend to be more dense, with more mixed zoning.

Probably, I live in a California Suburb. There really is no such thing as "walkable" here in the same way some older eastern US cities and other countries have them.

>Being in town - to me - is a part of living life. It’s where you’d have a third place, where you’d do various activities, meet people and discover new things.

Yeah, that doesn't exist here. We don't really have a "community" in my town. Or perhaps I'm too old and too young for that part of community. No kids to bring to activities but way too old to simply show up for "community activities".

>If you’ve felt the need to optimise your life to maximise your time at work and in your house.. that feels really sad to me.

well the cool thing about land in the US is that it's also huge. I'm in a 1600 ft house, so if you have friends it's great for arranging get togethers and house parties.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#168

Post by johnnyanmac »

freeopinion wrote: post #54
throwawaysleep wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deal with 8 different potential return policies. Have 8 different conversations. Deal with whether all 8 take Amex or not.

Let different people shop at different stores depending on their preference for return policies or credit cards. Heh, let one store try to differentiate itself by accepting crypto payments. Or sell only products produced within 100 miles of the store. Or only employee people shorter than two meters. Just because there are 8 stores doesn't mean that everyone has to use all 8 of them. It does mean that anyone could use…

>Let different people shop at different stores depending on their preference for return policies or credit cards.

to be fair, the people did choose. I know it's out of vogue to blame the general populace for the actions of coporations, but at the end of the day corps can do this because it works. Every single time.

Not sure if anything can be done, but I think it's also worth considering WHY people don't consider much past their immediate convenience when shopping.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#169

Post by johnnyanmac »

afavour wrote: post #68
throwawaysleep wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why even own a lawnmower at this point-- just pay someone to mow your grass for you. The lawnmower is so cheap that it is the same price as two mows. It is indeed wasteful, but that isn't a problem you deal with directly.

I’m not sure if you’re knowingly ignoring the OPs point or just ignoring it. Buying two lawnmowers is vastly more wasteful (to the world, not to your pocket) than buying one and maintaining it.

That's the point. To the customer the pocket is all that matters.

Reducto Ad absurdum: if you break a bowl, do you spend time learning how to glue back the pieces, take it to a shop expert to repair, or simply go to any store and buy a new bowl for $5-10 (Assuming it's at least a decent porcelain bown)? Option 1 will take a lot of time and have a flimsy result, option 2 may cost $100+ upfront, so would only be used for a truly extravagant bowl or something.

well, our lawnmower is metaphorically $5 here, not 500. I see prices around $200 for cheaper lawnmowers, so paying $200/year isn't that much more expensive than say, paying a neighborhood kid $15 every month to mow the lawn.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#170

Post by johnnyanmac »

throwbadubadu wrote: post #28
throwawaysleep wrote: post #6

It’s price and the ease the price enables. Low price demonstratably rules in everything from plane tickets to groceries to basic services to clothing as it enables a life of abundance and mental ease. A friend loves Walmart as it means he no longer has to maintain his lawnmower. He just throws it away and buys a new one annually at the start of the season. He can still mow his lawn while abandoning the need to mainta…

Except that we should have more long lasting things and should not add to the garbage pile because of cheapness and laziness :( But money sure trumps environmentalist idealism. Different topic: As a foreigner, really every visit to a Wallmart left me with a very strange feeling, because almost every employee had a zombie like appearance one or the other way, demotivated, sad or emotionless looking, slurping slowly th…

>But money sure trumps environmentalist idealism.

every time, yup.

>demotivated, sad or emotionless looking, slurping slowly through the shop.. like employees super abused or completely lost and aimless. Nowhere else, even in cheap fast foods or similar I got that, why?

Wal mart tends to attract some of the worst folk, and they aren't only there for 5 minutes to pick up a burger. That plus a dead end minimum wage part time job with zero hopes of progression dont make for happy employees

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