We watched a documentary last night about the decline of "Mom & Pop" businesses across the USA. It wasn't one of the better documentaries I've watched but it did set me to thinking...

One of the loud and clear messages was that you can't compete when a large box store comes to town. WalMart being of course, the easiest target. When WalMart comes and sets up in your community things change for the other retailers in the area. One of the main arguments from the WalMart execs interviewed was that it is a free and open market and part of that freedom means that people can shop where they please. So if they choose WalMart over smaller, usually more expensive stores, then that is their right. As town councils across the US move to block large big box stores from being able to come into their areas - WalMart sees it as a slight against the fundamental right of Americans to choose.

As a consumer I think it is important that we educate ourselves. What is the true cost of shopping cheap and big box? I believe it comes at a much higher cost than we realize. On the other hand, we would be hard pressed to support only our local businesses. There is little selection and generally yes, it is more expensive. And we just can't afford it.

As a family we have made some decisions though. We have been to WalMart probably twice in the last 5 years. We have many reasons for not supporting them but I certainly understand why people love it. We are trying to buy what we can locally. We support the local theatre, local coffee shops, local pharmacy, local mechanic, local video store. We do what we can.

I think that this issue is once again one of those issues where "thinking" is the key. We blindly shop and consume. It is time once again to start THINKING about where we put our hard earned money.