Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Walmart - even the playing field
I've never invested much in the walmart is good vs evil debate. However, this weekend I was out of town visiting relatives for the holidays. I had hoped to run each day I was traveling, but forgot my running shoes. Well, I wasn't about to lay out 100 bucks for a decent replacement pair just to get three runs in. Later that day, I was searching for eggnog and was forced to go to Walmart, the only store open at the time. Low and behold, not only did they have eggnog, they also had running shoes for $23.49. So I picked up a pair. Granted, they are hideous looking - i'm not sure which midwestern marketing department came up with the logo and name - "starters". But they felt fine on the run. So in the end, if Walmart can put out a decent pair of running shoes for under 25 bucks, I'm a supporter. One shouldn't have to make two times the median income to be able to afford to buy good running shoes ... Of course, I'm back using my Asics, but have those "starters" in reserve.
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I'm mixed on the whole Wal-Mart thing. On the one hand, I think places like Target are getting a free pass even though I doubt their model is all that different from Wal-Mart. Maybe it's because Wal-Mart built itself on the backs of small towns, either that or it is its profession to be all-American. My concern is that Americans are consumers and it doesn't matter how rich or poor you are, we tend to take so much more than we need. I remember when I went off to college and bought my first VCR. I spent $300 on it and at the time thought the price was fair. Now you can buy DVD players for $40. I have a co-worker who makes $50,000/year and is the supporter of a family of five. In his house he has five TV's and five DVD players. When I see that I just see waste and it kind of makes me wish we went back to the days of $300 DVD players where people actually save up and consider item they are buying rather than getting multiples of items just because they are cheap. I'm as guilty as anyone, I own 44 pairs of boxer shorts from the Gap bought at an average price of $2.50.
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