Wal-Mart is the evil empire.

[RHooks]

Interesting article on CNN website. I've seen what Wal-Marts do to small rural towns in Texas so I would say the Vermonters are right on the money. Thoughts?

Wal-Mart will soon rule the universe. (http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/24/news/fortune500/walmart_historic.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes)

[Mara]

I saw a piece done on NOW with Bill Moyers on PBS about Wal-Mart and it was not a pretty picture. I saw another article on the internet as well not too long ago which portrayed Wal-Mart as a big bully using scare tactics to change voters minds in those places that try to keep Wal-Mart out.

The gist of the piece on NOW was that while Wal-Mart's practices may make good business sense, they are very poor citizens. They are responsible for other stores closing their doors leading to unemployment for their workers. They make it difficult for employees to qualify for health insurance and encourage them, instead to use subsidized health care. It helps their bottom line but not that of the communities they reside in. They also gave an instance, where a town gave them some tax breaks for the first xyears they were in town. The year they were to start paying taxes, they closed that store and moved outside the city limits. Good business sense. Maybe, but not good citizens of their communites.

[Torsion]

Being one of those mythic Vermonters myself, I can personally attest to the general upheaval that Wall Mart brings with it.

Virtually all the sketcy people in my town congregate around wall mart. Its like the twilight zone over there. We have had a person get kidnapped there and then murdered. We have had narcotics busts on numerous occasions at Wall Mart. Everyone goes there to buy cheap useless crap instead of buying from local businesses. The local business is struggling as a result. Wall Mart is the devil and I really hope they build no more stores.