Let me tell ya bout an incident I had one time...not at Walmart but at the Grocery store I had shopped at for years.
Right after my divorce...I moved into an Apartment that was close to a less than desirable neighborhood shall we say. It was the only thing I could afford at the time.I bought groceries on this one particular day...was checking out and handed the cashier my check...a cashier that had previously taken checks from me countless times with no prob...she looked at the address and got on the public announcement system and called the manager up the to inspect the check...her very words were "Manager please come to Checkout ...I need you to inspect this womans check "...there was a long line behind me....I knew the Manager...went to church with him...he walked up to the check out and turned beet red ! Told the cashier...of course her check is good....I looked at her and said...you can put the groceries back on the shelf...she only did that because of the address.......I was furious....the Manager apologized later but I never shopped there again.

Francie you are for sure my kind of girl!!!! One time I went to the bank to withdraw money to get my boys some new clothes. Mind you I'd had this acct. with my hubby for many years and we were both equal signers and never had a problem day 1 with our account. Well on this particular day she would not let me withdraw $500.00 of my own money from my own account. I was HOT!!!!!!!!! Pulled around from the drive-in, parked, grabbed both boys by the hand marched into the bank asked to speak to the Bank president and had him close my account and give me every cent I had in both savings and checkings! Went to the bank next door opened up a new account and got myself a nice new Knife Set for opening the new account with them! I called them my "cutting the ties knives", I cut all ties with that bank forever. I swear there is something absolutley wrong when someone won't let you have your own money! Darn it wasn't hers to tell me I could not have it!!! Irish Tempers can be awesome hee-hee!!!

These comments were all very interesting to read- and I agree w/ much of what everyone posted. But I have some slightly differeing views to add, too.

I differ quite a bit than Jafo, on this aspect... I've always been fairly political in all that I do. Maybe much of this comes from being gay- and not ever wishing to give $$$ to folks or businesses who I perceived as practicing anti-gay policies. But I do try to be aware of the civic activities and corporate citizenship of businesses out there, because I feel one has the ability to maximize the power of their buck far beyond just its initial purchase-power reach. This personal practice does require a drive and extra time and devotion to one's cause though, so it's not everyone's cup of tea. Most could care less- and I understand that too- we all are driven by different motives and concerns. But I prefer to shop with my conscience.

I also disagree with Jafo on the idea that Wal-Mart doesn't drive out smaller businesses including Mom & Pop stores. Jafo- that's the KEY to Wal-Mart's SUCCESS! What are you talking about? Wal-Mart has tremendous purchasing power and favorable contract pricing. I worked for a division of Compass/Eurest, the world's largest corporate/industrial contract caterer, and I know a great deal about advantaged contract pricing. As a huge outfit, no caterer in the world was able to buy goods as cheaply as we were able to- from toilet tissue, meat and pickles- to bleach, chewing gum & Pepsi. Trust me, Wal-Mart's contract pricing allows them to buy EVERYTHING far cheaper than ANY other retailer is able to. Mom & Pop have to sell goods higher than Wal-Mart can, becuase they have to pay more to purchase them, themselves. Wal-Mart has a direct and severe impact on the closure of businesses in all areas that they move into.

I've said it here before but one of my biggest pet peeves is Wal-Mart's crazy litter. Every Wal-Mart I've ever been to or driven by has acres and acres of their flimsy plastic bags around littering parking-lots, private yards, farmers' fields, etc. YUCH. And I'm no Al Gore-worshipping, tree-hugger, global-warming-zombie either (excuse the comments if YOU are!). I just believe in personal responsibility and expect a wealthy front-runner in commerce to do its part to provide a good example to others. If Wal-Mart cared to, they could correct this problem in a heartbeat and inspire all others to follow along with them. They could stop using these fly-away plastic bags today and the impact would be immediate. One certainly didn't see the old fashioned folded paper bags flying all over hell years ago (plus, most folks I know re-used/re-cycled those folded brown bags)... If Wal-Mart stopped providing any type of bags period, today- I doubt they'd lose a single customer.

I am also a deciple of CNN's Mr. Lou Dobbs who abhores Wal-Mart for being a huge player in the outsourcing of American jobs. As KYH offers, Wal-Mart is an entirely different company today than it was just 10 years ago. At one time one couldn't walk into a damned Wal-Mart anywhere without bumping into a red, white & blue banner, placard or poster promotiong American goods. Today one could walk up and down 5 aisles and not find one single American product. Say what you will, but between GIVING our money to the Middle East and China, we will absolutely live to regret it one day- and sooner than later, I fear.

Lastly, I disagree with KYH on this... I find Wal-Mart to have the cheapest price of most products (not all- but most) that I consistently buy on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I buy them regularly enough and visit other stores frequently enough to where I pretty much have the prices memorized. Here we also have Kroger, Shnuck's, Dominick's, Jewel, Cub Foods and a few others, and I never get out of any store with a cart full of same brands as cheaply as I do at Wal-Mart... ever. Luckily, we also have an Aldi's which is as cheap and in some cases cheaper than Wal-Mart on many items... but one usually must purchase the Aldi brand and sometimes the product is not choice.

Quite possibly there are regional differences in how supermarkets behave, Kevin.

I guarantee that around here, with the exception of the former Winn Dixie, there won't be 2% difference in a shopping basket, one store to the next.

Given all the other identifyable problems associated with Walmart, I don't see why I should support them with my dollars. Not when I have other choices.

Wal-Mart presents me with a huge dilemma, Brook... I hate them on so many different levels, but today I currently make literally 1/3 of the salary I did just a few months ago, so pricing is more important to me than ever before. I still shop at Wal-Mart less than my pocketbook wishes I would- but everytime I do shop there my stomach is practically tied-up in knots over my agonizing decision! AGGGHHH! That's just one more of their successful marketing components- Ha!

Only time I CAN'T shop at Wal-Mart is when my Mom is with me and we can't go in there together because their huge store is simply too large for her to get around in. And they position their goods within each store in such a way that the average shopper's grocery-list requires them to walkk 99 friggin' miles to get 10 things! Mom can't do that, and since they don't have benches for periodic rests, and since one of the three motorized scooters they boast is always on the fritz, Mom always opts for Kroger's and their higher prices.