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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I beleive if you check it out that you will find
that the reason Ernst left was because the corp offices did not make a payment
to the bankrupcy court it keep it here. Yes, it was successful and I miss it
still but I do not think Wal-Mart had anything to do with it. I have friends
working at Wal-Mart that are very happy with their jobs both here and in
Spokane. Are there problems?...with that many employees they couldn't help but
have them. But, there are complainers and real problems and I have to
wonder how much is because they read some poorly written article and decided to
be unhappy. (I have worked with someone who did just that!) I don't think any of
this is going to help us keep a bigger Wal-Mart out of Moscow. If we don't work
with them they can just build out on the highway and Whitman county will get all
the taxes. Surely there is a way for us to make this work without all the
roadblocks. They are in business to make money and work hard at it and are doing
it very well and it is a capitalist system we work under. I don't believe Costco
is nearly as big as Wal-Mart so they wouldn't have all the problems.
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=joanopyr@earthlink.net href="mailto:joanopyr@earthlink.net">Joan
Opyr</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020 Moscow</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, November 16, 2005 11:17
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Wal-Mart cause
and effect</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><BR><?bigger>On 16 Nov 2005, at 22:12, Pat Kraut wrote:<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>K-Mart was in trouble corporately and has had trouble changing
with the competition nationally and very badly managed locally so it
doesn't count. The same could be said for some of the other businesses
listed. The Ernst corp was in bankruptcy and couldn't make the local store
payment had nothing to do with Wal-Mart. Creighton's has been heading down
the road for some time because of the high prices and too many people who
can buy at that price go to the bigger cities because of selection and
price. At the Palouse Empire Mall it is mostly teeny bopper clothes so
most people I know go somewhere, anywhere else to get clothes. Some of the
businesses you listed just had trouble with the management at the Mall
Moscow had little to do with their leaving.<BR>Some things I know Wal-Mart
cannot do for me are special order anything. I get the movies I want at
Hastings and the books I want at Bookpeople...they will special order so
they get some of my business. I know someone who likes Fiesta Ware and I get
that at Tri-State because it is local and Macy's is not. But, at my income
level I shop mostly at Winco and Wal-mart can't be helped at this point in
my life. I am most assuredly not the only person I know in this city with
the need to shop there. I really would recommend the book 'Who Moved My
Cheese' to many on this site. Its a book about change and being able to work
with it not get blocked into a wall of the same old stuff and loosing your
business or city.</BLOCKQUOTE><?/bigger>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR><?fontfamily><?param Arial><?smaller><?/smaller><?/fontfamily> <BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><?bigger><BR>Actually,
Pat is mistaken about our local Ernst. The national corporation was in
trouble, true, but Moscow's Ernst was turning a profit. I recall talking to a
friend who worked there in management at the time the place was in the process
of liquidating its stock; they were doing quite well before Wal-Mart arrived
on the scene. <BR><BR>I want to be clear that I do *not* criticize people for
shopping at Wal-Mart. Hell, I buy toilet paper there. Why? Because Scott
Tissue is dirt cheap at Wal-Mart; Scott Tissue is not a repeat-use product;
and I'm not a millionaire. I can't afford to flush money down the toilet. But
I hate Wal-Mart. I hate the way they treat their employees. I hate that they
import 80% of their goods from China. I hate that much of what is sold there
is shoddy, awful, plastic crap. But I'm not the shopping police. There are
some things I don't/won't buy at Wal-Mart, but then I'm lucky enough not to
have to shop there. I recognize that this is a socio-economic privilege. I
don't have to buy anything at Wal-Mart that I want to last longer than a
one-way trip through my septic system. Good thing, too, because stuff from
Wal-Mart isn't built to last. I don't shop at Wal-Mart for clothes, shoes,
appliances, or tools. Why? Because in my experience, you're lucky if a
Wal-Mart shirt lasts through the first washing. I buy most of my clothes from
the Goodwill. Not because I have to but because I want to. I'm a cheap ass;
let someone else take the "new" off those jeans and 95% off the original
department store price.<BR><BR>The reason I don't want a Wal-Mart Supercenter
in this town is that 1) I believe it will drive a whole heap of local retail
stores out of business; 2) there will be a net increase in unemployment that
will not be offset by Wal-Mart's hiring; 3) siting a Supercenter across from
the cemetery is a rotten idea; and 4) Moscow needs good jobs with good
benefits, not shitty jobs with zero benefits. <BR><BR>On a completely
unrelated note, I absolutely despise the book, "Who Moved My Cheese?" The
premise of this book is that the average worker is basically worth about the
same as an old bit of rubbery Velveeta. Why care about your job? In the new
economy, your job -- and you -- are disposable. "Who Moved My Cheese?" advises
you to just get used to this; that's the way it is, and you can't do anything
about it. Why fight the system? Well, I say you should fight the system
because it stinks. Costco doesn't treat its employees as disposable objects,
and, somehow, Costco still manages to make a profit. Costco also enjoys high
employee productivity and low employee turnover. <BR><BR>FYI, there's an
amusing parody out there called "Who Stole My Cheese?" I bought a copy at The
Strand in New York (ah, The Strand -- 18 miles of bookstore shelves) but
unfortunately, I left it somewhere in Kings Cross Station while in the midst
of a gallbladder attack. Damn gallbladder! Out, out, I say! <?/bigger><BR><BR><?bigger>Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment<BR>www.joanopyr.com<?/bigger><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica><BR><?/fontfamily><BR>
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