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At last, Ms Opyr gets it - or at least part of it. The point being made
in my previous post is that Walmart has little or no impact on those
businesses prepared to compete. A local economy <b><i>is </i></b>a
complex entity. Our local economy survived the existing WalMart
store and will survive the new WalMart store. Some businesses found
a symbiotic relationship to build off of WalMart's presence here.
Some became challenged by the competition and lost. Some came and
some went for a variety of reasons. By the way, Ernst entered
bankruptcy because of fractured business processes across their system
(the local store did ok).<br><br>
But at the end of the day, WalMart is one of the largest profit making
employers in the County - because it satisfies their customers'
demands. No one is expecting Ms. Opyr to shop there and I am
certainly not trying to persuade her to "give it a go".
The myopic (and selfish) view she is trying to argue is that because she
doesn't want to shop at the store in Moscow, everyone else should be
denied the opportunity to shop there - the old "greatest good for
the fewest number" shuffle. This is very much like the old
"less is more" argument - in this case, less choice for you and
more cost for you. <br><br>
I won't use tawdry sexual references to entice you to a position - there
is enough of that on network tv. This is a debate about choice and
who should or should not determine your consumption decisions. I
think it is pretty clear where I stand. Let WalMart, an existing
business, expand their operations with additional investment so that our
local consumption choices get the benefit of their product lines at
reasonable prices. Let competition work - because it
works.<br><br>
At 07:27 PM 11/16/2005, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font size=4>Jeff Harkins, in
his list of businesses that have opened in Moscow since the arrival of
Wal-Mart, makes the most common of logical errors, i.e., post hoc, ergo
propter hoc, meaning because of ABC, XYZ happened. I'll give you
another example of this logical fallacy: all of the businesses that Jeff
cites have opened since Melynda and I moved to Moscow. Therefore,
lesbians are good for business! If it weren't for sodomy, you
straight folk wouldn't now be shopping at Winco, Staples, or the fabulous
expanded Tri-State. Just for the record, Tri-State is *the* store
of choice for lesbian fashionistas! That's where we all get of our guns,
knives, and prom attire. <br>
<br>
Here's a question: what Moscow businesses have closed since the existing
Wal-Mart opened? K-Mart. Tidyman's. Ken's
Stationery. The Beanery. Creighton's. The Main Street
Deli. The Nobby. The Spudnik. Myklebust's.
Karen's Ice Cream. The Army Navy Store. The Emporium.
The JC Penney's. Ernst Hardware. The Chevron on the corner of
Third and Jackson. Is Wal-Mart to blame for all or any of
these? I don't know. And who -- apart from Jeff Harkins -- is
willing to make a post hoc, ergo propter hoc argument regarding these
closures? <br><br>
I'd be willing to argue that Ernst is a direct casualty of Wal-Mart, but
I'd use another rationale for my analysis: proximity. The study I
forwarded to the list earlier suggests that proximity to a Wal-Mart has a
direct effect in terms of both benefit and detriment. Restaurants near
Wal-Marts often see an increase in business; hardware stores, on the
other hand, go tits up. <br><br>
Jeff asserts that hard data should win this argument. Well, there's
an old saying among accountants: figures lie, and liars figure. We
don't need a Wal-Mart Supercenter period, but we sure as hell don't need
one across from the Moscow Cemetery. What a disgusting, tacky,
trashy prospect. <br><br>
Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment <br>
<a href="http://www.joanopyr.com" eudora="autourl">www.joanopyr.com</a>
</font> <br>
<br><br>
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