Quote:
Originally Posted by urbanactivistTX
On the point of people "needing" $8/hr jobs, and "needing" a plethora of retail options... I say that's a definite FAIL. We don't need all of this crap... we need to be investing in our country's future. There are plenty of job growers out there that will propel us for decades that have nothing to do with retail. Like, oh, I don't know-- cleaning up the GULF, moving away from foreign energy sources, increased progress in healthcare. We don't need all of these miniscule busy jobs. We need to grow a pair and get out of this piddly consumer-driven economy.
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And years ago a family would set up a retail shop and have a good living.
Not today with all these chains and $8.00 an hour jobs.
People lived just fine before, without all this chain store crap, and they were able to afford things.
We really have lost out a lot by letting corporate America take over.
My parents lived in NYC before the overtaking of America by chains, and it is interesting to hear their stories of how they shopped. If you wanted low cost items, there were tons of stores for that. They would either go to I think it was 8th Ave in Brooklyn or down to jewish area of Lower Manhattan. And you could visit more than one discount store and work out a better price at one of them.
Try doing that today in these big box stores. Does not work that way.
The consumers are the losers in this, because they just trust these corporations to give them the best price, etc. When in fact they may not be.
Toronto's Honest Ed had the right idea. People were asking him to make his Honest Ed's discount department store into a chain and open branch locations. And he said "no". If you want to shop at his store than you will have to come downtown and shop at the one and only Honest Ed's. He said opening branches cheapens the store and reduces the quality of it.
He knew what he was talking about.