Savvy Shopping 'n More Blog May Archive

It's Okay to Shop at Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart has gotten a pretty bad rap in recent years for mistreating employees, putting smaller companies out of business, and quashing unions in ways unrivaled throughout all of history. There's always a nugget of truth to these things, but it's not quite like that.

• Wal-Mart is a proven equal opportunity employer, and not just for racial minorities, but also the elderly, who don't honestly get a second choice in employment.
• The prices really are pretty good, almost all of the time. Not always, but close to it, and sometimes by far. Case in point; dozen tube socks for a buck-ninety-nine.
• Tremendous internal opportunity for promotion.
• Schedules often flexible for parents or students.
• The lines are always short.
• They're among the very few who actually care how their international factory workers are treated.
• They've opted to pay more for electronics to use eco-friendly parts, recognizing that they sell so many, they really can make a difference.
• All stores have internal recycling programs for things like cardboard. Multiply that by a million employees and you've got an acre of forest a day preserved.
• Penn & Teller did a special on "hating Wal-Mart", and found it unfounded and BS.

If you want to be dogmatic about it, you can protest the color fuchsia, but in the mean time, grab a flier, park a mile away, and don't feel bad about hitting the big sale.