Reader comments
Protesters take on big-box retailers

Taylor | 5:57 a.m. Nov. 18, 2007

And why should I pay 30% to 60% more for what I buy??? Big box stores generate more garbage than a small mom and pop? Well duh, they sell a zillion times more products. Add up the garbage from enough mom & pops to get to 60 to 80 percent of Wal-Mart sales and they'll have a lot more garbage. Big box stores have mad life affordable for me and a lot of people like me; they have significantly improved our standard of living--the standard of living of a lot more people than the collective ownership of small mom & pop stores, who want to live extravagantly on my back. Let them go to work at a big box store instead of ripping me off with their high prices. I am going to always shop where it costs the least, and I appreciate stores that help our community by making products affordable and convenient, with way more selection than any mom & pop shop. Get real. Why can the media only ever tell half of this story??

dave | 7:41 a.m. Nov. 18, 2007

These silly protestors don"t seem to realize that the "big box" stores make many items affordable for low incaome people. I suppose the feel these folks should just learn to do without in order to feed their elitist egos.

Retired | 10:06 a.m. Nov. 18, 2007

Taylor says it all...Shopping at Wal Mart for most our food items has saved us 30% on our staple food bills over the large food retailers in St. George, Ut. Likewise on other items. The folks at Wal Mart have become our friends. They work extremely hard and most seem happy becuase they are employed. It saves us a lot of driving around also, which has become much more costly with outrageous gas prices. Our Honda Civic has solved most of that problem, For those of you out there who still drive large, gas guzzling pick ups who do not need them, except to try to intiidate others on the road, get a real life, buy a Honda. Remember, the money you save is like getting tax free income.

Comments continue below

Christmas Shopper | 10:19 a.m. Nov. 18, 2007

They forgot to mention the other pains of big box retail: lead tainted toys, food-borne illness, racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and the drain on our social services system due to lack of employee health insurance

Eric | 10:31 a.m. Nov. 18, 2007

I can understand that people don't want big-box stores taking over the world, but as long as my family is living on a tight budget with high housing prices and outrageous gasoline prices, Wal-Mart will be my favorite store.

agree w eric | 10:43 a.m. Nov. 18, 2007

how come nobody sys anythin about mcDonald's when the started pop all over the place which it did make my grandfather close his shop back in the day he dealt with it and went to a diff type of business it is captalism at his best make the best win the market the rest of the competition will have outsmart or be creative to compete with the big box retails or how in whole diff direction mom &pop shops are not what this global economy will rely upon since cst expectation are higher in the line of business

tristan | 11:00 a.m. Nov. 18, 2007

As a participant, in the parade (Santa?), I just wanted to give a brief explanation on the major issue I have with the industrial economy: complication of the supply chain. I understand that WalMart and other large stores often offer lower prices, but they do so at the cost of actually being able to choose what industries you support. Products like makeup and Barbies are marketed as "necessary" or "desirable", then manufactured from coal power in China and shipped to the United States, with parts from 30 different countries, a quarter of which have labor violations or violence against unions or unchecked pollution levels. Those violations become invisible, because it is impossible (I have spent years trying) to track down the conditions of production on each part of each product. In the case of the over $3000 of styrofoam animals I found in dumpsters in provo last week, I see four problems: 1)advertisement of useless products 2)environmentally-damaging materials (styrofoam and plastics) 3)immense energy used in production and transportation (made in china, shipped to utah) 4)thrown away, found in dumpsters. Until local stores solve these problems, I will criticize them as well.

Amanda B. Reckundwith | 11:24 a.m. Nov. 18, 2007

Funny how these protesters can't let the marketplace decide whether big-box retailers can or should survive. As some comments point out, before big box retailers, the holy and divine mom and pop stores would charge full price for everything which is a disservice to consumers. It's just like the folks who protest Barnes & Noble and Borders for driving small stores out of business. Hey, given the choice between 30% hardcover versus full price, I'll take the discount every time.

Look at Deseret Book. They charge full price for everything because they have no competition.

One last thing, out of all those protesters, how much do you want to bet that much of the clothing they were wearing was purchased at a big box retailer. Reminds me of the WTO riots in Seattle years ago. Some of the folks smashing up the Nike Town store were wearing -- drumroll please -- NIKE BRAND SHOES. Irony can be pretty ironic! :-)

They don't care | 1:20 p.m. Nov. 18, 2007

Wal-Mart doesnt care about your protest and I bet the registers didnt even notice your protest either. This is America, the choice to shop at Wal-Mart is the consumers choice. If Mom and Pop can not survive that is not Wal-Marts responsibility.

SLMG | 1:42 p.m. Nov. 18, 2007

The staff Working in big box stores are the same ones working in small shops, they are your neighbours, they didn't drop from outer space so get to know them. The small stores are selling the same products made by the same people in China, Thailand, Korea or where ever. China is a coal powered country and the 2nd largest polluter in the world behind the USA. A business only stays in the market place if it is viable, when it is no longer viable it is time to move on and do something else, that is the American way, it is call capitalism. Bring on the big box stores and anyone that will give me a good product at a good price and I will shop there.

selfishness is where its at | 2:05 p.m. Nov. 18, 2007

Wal-Mart gets a lot of criticism for a reason. Shopping at Wal-Mart has harmful effects on our country at large. Of course, reading the comments here, we should ignore those problems, or pretend they don't exist, because Wal-Mart provides us with cheap stuff, and that is what's most important. You getting your stuff for cheap is the most important thing in the world. Isn't that the definition of selfishness? Oh well, I'll just ignore the problem, hope you all enjoy the celebration of Jesus' birth with your junk shopping.

In The Know | 2:06 p.m. Nov. 18, 2007

If look up the chain of command in these protests, you will usually find union involvement. The Unions are against Wall Mart because unions have far less controll over WalMart employees. They also can't get their "cut" of the wages (also know as union dues). If WalMart paid it's "protection money," then many of these same protesters would be singing it's praises.

A lot of the time . . . | 2:19 p.m. Nov. 18, 2007

. . .it's worth the extra money to buy from local vendors, especially when you need advice or technical support. While there are some folks at Wally World who have the expertise, you're more likely to find it at the local place, where the owner made the decision of what to stock, not someone a couple of thousand miles away.

Consider the irony of Wal-Mart showing off a wall of widescreen TVs, while stocking racks of "full screen version" DVDs. You wouldn't find a local place doing that.

Wal-Mart has good prices on a lot of things, but is there anybody who would claim that donuts at Wal-Mart are as good as at Banbury Cross? For Magnolia brand ice cream, you need to go somewhere like the Filipino store on Redwood Rd.

If you want choices, you have to support the people who offer them to you. Even when you can save money at the big box place, sometimes it's worth it to pay a little more to keep the local guys there for when you need them.

JWK | 4:04 p.m. Nov. 18, 2007

To those who say that Wal-Mart is bad because it buys from China, or doesn't pay it's employees enough, or doesn't provide health benefits:

Small businesses pay less and don't offer health benefits.

Small businesses charge higher prices because they don't have the buying power of Wal-Mart.

However, those small businesses that find their niche do succeed and prosper. Anyone can succeed if they can find that part of the economy that is needed and is not being offered to customers.

If it cost me $200.00 a month more to live I would be homeless because I would not be able to afford food and shelter. Wal-Mart saves me that money and allows me to afford both.

If you don't like Wal-Mart then compete against it. Only the unions and certain extremists are fighting against big box stores.

Soaring Eagle | 7:06 p.m. Nov. 18, 2007

I challenge the notion that big boxes have cheaper prices. In my experience, if you read the ads and pay attention to the sales you can get better quality for less money at local stores. A little effort on the part of the consumer would pay off in savings for the consumer and business for the non-chains. I have recently switched back to local pharmacies because their over-the-counter products are higher quality and much cheaper than the junk at the national chains. Shop around . . . you might just be surprised.

Local information? | 9:19 p.m. Nov. 18, 2007

Maybe local purchases would be better. But try to find their merchandise or specials in local advertising. Not there. I have no idea what local shops are available. I read the newspaper and seldom see local stores advertising. If the local stores want to get my business, they too need to support local media and local customers and a) buy advertising and b) tell us where they are and what their specials are. I don't have the time to go find them and call them and try to determine what the special of the day is.

Have YOU been to a store lately | 10:29 p.m. Nov. 18, 2007

I doubt any of these protestors have been to a real store lately --meaning a Wal-Mart, Target, Smith's, Home Depot or Albertson's. I have and sometimes I hate going there because I have to wait in line for someone picking up his or her two-year food storage supply. Our stores are terribly overcrowded.

Now consider the amount of people who shop at typical big-box stores having to shop at small stores. It ain't 1950 anymore. We live in an urban city center. Traffic is incredible and the stores will be busy.

This is another sad example of people out of touch with reality. Can we offer a course in modern economics for protestor groups like this? Where do they shop? I'm sure they're part of the Starbucks drinking, anti-driving, and I'll ride my bicycle everywhere I go kind-of crowd. Good thinking, but hardly plausible in reality.

Mahershalalhashbaz | 12:17 a.m. Nov. 19, 2007

Wal-Mart's insurance opposed to popular myth, is top notch. Especially now. There are very few companies who provide unlimited medical insurance. Also, these kinds of decisions on whether to allow a big box store should be driven by the consumer. Just the fact that a big box store plans to open means they have done their research, and they think the consumer wants it. That is the correct way. So if you oppose Wal-Mart, you need to convince consumers that it's evil. Without that, you lose. That's all there is to it. So quit whining. People don't understand that buying from China might not be the smartest thing. But you can't blame Wal-mart for giving them what they want.

Eileen McCabe | 11:58 a.m. Nov. 19, 2007

There are lots of reasons for shopping locally; supporting your neighbors who are also trying to earn a living, buying local produce to support family farmers and regional sustainability. The best reason is to help build and sustain community. I donï¿½t go to Starbucks, I go to Cup of Joe, Sugarhouse Coffee and Coffee Club. I get great service, have great conversations, and donï¿½t pay more than at Starbucks. I go to local restaurants like Wriggles, where they know me, what I want, and always throw in a little extra. I shop local hardware stores, and local supermarket chains, such as Harmanï¿½s and Macyï¿½s, who carry local produce and dairy products, are more likely to carry local brands and respond to customer requests for products, unlike Krogers. I shop seasonal farmerï¿½s market, who donï¿½t have the overhead of brick and mortar stores, and have fresher produce and lower prices. I buy books from Sam Wellers and The Kingï¿½s English, not Barnes & Noble or Borders, because the staff know books, make great recommendations, and are supportive of local events. Yes, I pay more, but I am also not supporting the huge waste streams of the chains from their overstocking.

Eileen McCabe | 12:00 p.m. Nov. 19, 2007

If price has to be your primary or only criterion, and I have certainly been in that position, make sure you really are getting the lowest price. Wal-Mart, especially has a reputation for coming into a market, driving down the prices and then raising them again once they have dominated the market. Comparing is the only sure way. For clothes, toys, housewares and even furniture, I shop Savers and DI, and offer and request on the Freecycle list. A great way to save money and recycle. In making careful decisions about where I shop, I find that I shop more selectively and actually save a lot of money. I donï¿½t buy what I donï¿½t really want or need. No, itï¿½s not 1950 anymore, but we still have neighborhoods and communities worth preserving. When the economy is diversified and local, everyone has a vested interest in preserving it.

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2 photos

Michael Brandy, Deseret News

Protesters march on 400 South on Saturday during the International Day of Protest Against Big Box Chain Stores. Parades were held in 16 countries and 20 other states across the United States.

Gallery (2 photos)