It was only thirty or so years ago that one could drive through virtually any of America's small towns and find in them thriving, closely knit business districts. On a single street, there might have been a barber's shop, appliance store, hardware depot, luncheonette, and, of course, a five-and-dime. The sidewalks would be teeming with life as shoppers, most of whom were also neighbors, went from storefront to storefront in search of the best bargains of the day. Fast forward to the second decade of the twenty-first century, however, and a very different scenario is playing out; perhaps as much as seventy percent of all the businesses which had been alive with such vigor are now closed. Very few walk the streets, and those who do are either en route to another neighborhood or up to no good.
There is still commerce being conducted in town, to be sure, but as far as retailing is concerned, virtually all is centered inside a massive rectangular structure built on what was once a gorgeous meadow just outside of the former business district. Here, the doors never close and jobs are to be found without shortage. People roam its aisles with the intention of snagging great deals on anything and everything imaginable; from potted plants to cat chow. It all seems so wonderful, so convenient! With everything in one location, who could possibly need to venture elsewhere to shop? This place is just fantastic; the answer to every time and/or cash pressed consumer's dream! Is this not simply wonderful? The entire world in a single big-box super-center. Honestly, does it get any better than this?
Welcome to Wal-Mart, and the environment which it creates. Since the mid-1990s, when the children of Sam Walton began bringing their late father's chain of megastores into isolated communities with an unrelenting passion, thousands of small businesses, mostly sole proprietorships and generational enterprises, closed shop as they simply could not attempt to keep up with the new competition. Their employees then sought new jobs at, you guessed it, Wal-Mart, and as it was the only economic power in the region, spent their paychecks there as well. Today, this is the reality faced by millions in our nation. Creating a plantation-like atmosphere reminiscent of the old South, Wal-Mart has a labor force from which it not only derives a handsome profit, but has fenced into its shadeless fields for, more than likely, life. The saddest thing of all, though, is that many of the individuals from which it enjoys modern indentured servitude do not even realize the futility of their respective situations. No, all they see are good prices, moderate pay, and unbelievable convenience. What lies beneath this facade is inconsequential or, more frighteningly, irrelevant.
Article comments
1 - Tommy Mack
Your argument about Wal-Mart can be made for competition with any of the Big-box store, like Lowes, Home Depot, and Best Buy. I like your solution about patronizing local small business. It would also be a good idea for those local retailers, however, to learn how to compete with Big-box stores and how to earn back their business. It can be done.
I know it can be done because I have helped many small retailers do it. So have countless other business management consultants like me who have helped their clients rethink pricing and marketing tactics in similar competitive situations. The first step is to get over the idea that somehow the Big-box stores have a lock on cheap. They don’t.
Consider this; Big-box stores also have huge overhead, which means that smaller stores actually have an advantage. In the marketplace there is much more to the retailing than the article you site about a Brooklyn Wal-Mart reveals. It is not so much about being conned as it is about being marketed.
Tommy
2 - Terence57
Uh huh...Lessee, what's missing here is, oh yes-by-the-way they aren't UNIONIZED. Interestingly, neither were the mom&pop stores which had neither the merchandise or the service. I don't think the mom&pop pharmacies offered 4 dollar prescriptions either.