I like to think of myself as an equal opportunity consumer! Because I grew up in the burbs, I like the idea of both the convenience of a Wal-Mart and the friendly familiarity of the mom and pop shops. But having either just for havings sake doesn't work for me.

I refuse to shop in a small shop if the customer service sucks, or if the merchandise is second-rate. I'll pay a little more at the register if I get a friendly smile and a nice hello.

On the other hand, I won't head to a superstore if it takes me an hour and a half on the train to get there. Yes there are Kmarts and Home Depots, Targets and Whole Foods in the city, but none are anywhere near my house so I don't go to any of them.

As a consumer, I have the right to spend my money where I please...and generally it goes to the place where I get the best service. That being said, convenience and time-saved is a real issue here in the city. If I had my choice (like I did when I lived in the burbs) I'd frequent both a nearby Wal-mart late at night for emergency tampons AND the little mom and pop shop because the chubby cat who sits in the doorway always lets me pet her and the store owner always smiles and says hello even though I know he doesn't speak English that well.

A person is not EVIL because they need to save time or to combine a days worth of shopping into one stop at a Super Wal-Mart. Neither is a person a SAINT for eating nearly-expired food or half-wilted fruit to support a corner store whose owner doesn't re-invest funds back into his or her community or who'd rather finish their phone call rather than greet you when you come to the register. Lets stop insulting one another. Its pointless.

This has got to be in the top ten most entertaining Gothamist donnybrooks I've ever read.

i wonder if the tinfoil hat libertarians realize that those regulations would only apply to massive corporations, and not the little guys they pretend to give a shit about

the free market is great...until it's your job. it's all those liberals keeping sugar tariffs high and corn subsidies up so we can keep propping up the "american farmer", not those vaunted champions of the free market, the republican party

We need the big discounters back on 14th st. I miss the low brow Union Square of yore...

"I miss the low brow Union Square of yore..."

me too

The resurrection of the old "John's Bargain Stores" af ancient Brooklyn would be a welcome relief. Come to think of it, bring back Odd-lots, Job-lots, Radio Row and the great places on west Canal where you could find just about anything. Damn, I'm feeling old.

I'll take 'em in Little Neck.

www.forgotten-ny.com

I'm just wondering where the heck they'd be able to find enough space for a Wal-Mart in Manhattan if they're aiming for all five boroughs. If it's small, it won't be a real Wal-Mart. But not even they can afford 100,000 square feet in Manhattan, and I think that's only half the size of a average Supercenter.

They can open up in one of those "stumps" planned at WTC.

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/community/

walmart employs more people than the US Army...stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

dear god - what are you people's THREADCOUNTS?!

Mall Wart Your exclusive source for cheap plastic shit

jesus christ, people, there's more to life than saving a few dollars on crappy ice cream and bulk toilet paper. please read up on walmart's business practices. those $2 you're saving aren't worth. and i'm a poor, so money is an issue for me, but not enough to compromise my morals to praise such a heinous business.

Who are you to decide that $2 savings isn't worth it, or any savings, for that matter? How can you possibly make those judgment calls about an entire population's finances?

If you don't want to "compromise your morals"...don't shop there. Welcome to America!

i suppose you libertarians would want to eliminate all business regulation - see where that gets you. seriously, dude, get out your little myopic bubble.

I am going to make a judgment call here and say that you are amongst those who believe in a woman's right to choose (and before you jump to conclusions, as am I). Why is it that you are able to espouse this anti-Wal-Mart nonsense framed in terms of morality (i.e.- I think Wal-Mart is evil and everyone else should, too) but you are (potentially) uncomfortable with the idea of a stranger deciding what a woman can do with her uterus? Aren't both these arguments framed in morality...you just like your argument framed in morality better, so it's ok?

It is foolish to assume that you know best what I should do with my 2 dollars...just as it is foolish (in my opinion) for a stranger to decide what is best to do with my unborn baby or what have you. Give it a rest maybe, and just don't shop there.

PS- I am not dude and I am certainly no libertarian.

And it's not just two dollars -- it's two dollars per item. If I drop $250 bucks at Target in Jersey you can bet that the same combination of napkins, soap, garbage bags, etc. at Duane Reade or Gristedes would cost close to $400.

I'd pose the same argument at you. We had plenty of laws on the books and look where it got us...

It's not new laws or better regulation that the issue; it's regulation in itself that's the issue. You can't stop greedy behavior, you just have to let it destruct itself on its own. Fraud is not a viable business plan.

Anyway, saving $2 here and there matters. It's the same tired shit the politicians in Albany throw at us with the sales tax. Eventually the tax will be 25% using the logic of "What's another dollar here or there?" Add up all the increases to the countless taxes, and we're talking thousands of bucks.

Exactly...and even *if* 2 dollars "didn't matter"...it is my two dollars to do with what I choose-- not anyone else's. And if I want to buy cheap bulk toilet paper with it, why in the hell can't I do it in NYC?!!