From a South Park Episode :
"How do we stop Wal-Mart then?"
"The Wal-Mart is inside each of you."
Stan Punches mirror;
Wal-Mart implodes.
The simple truth is this : Wal-Mart not only kills the economy of the city its in, it also has a 60 mile radius of effect. Case in point : My mom and dad owned a sewing / arts 'n' crafts shop and a woodshop in Dighton. Back before the Wal-Mart in Garden City (roughly 60 some miles from Dighton) things wre good. Wal-Mart was put in. My parents shop went under because everybody would rather drive 60 miles to Garden City because Wal-mart was cheaper. Then the same old ladies came back, wanted to buy some needles 'n' thread; these were the same old ladies who would rather go to Wal-Mart, said to my parents "Why don't you have your shop open so we can get what we need here anymore??" My dad was like "You closed the shop by taking your business 60 miles away".
We also have a small grocery store in Dighton; it employs a few people, but is a cornerstone of the community. I know the guy personally who owns the store; poor guy will probably loose the business to "Wal-Mart" and citizens of Dighton won't know how, or why, it happened, and will have to more than likely drive at least 20-30 miles to another city just to buy a damned can of cream corn, milk, ice cream, etc.
However, in Great Bend, the local Dillons can easily compete with Wal-Mart. Why? Its bloody simple : quality customer service, friendly people there to assist you. Also, there aren't bloody 400 people shopping, working and in some degrees living there.
