General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWould you shop at Wal-Mart if it was owned and operated by the government?
A "public option" retailer, similar to a military PX? Or a "public option" bank like the Bank of North Dakota?
PDJane
(10,103 posts)el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)They have the best selection of cool-aid where i happen to live - so go in, buy 20-30 packets and leave.
Bryant
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)antigone382
(3,682 posts)...as roughly 90% of U.S. purchases are. We cannot produce all of this sustainably.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)eomer
(3,845 posts)I think I would.
99Forever
(14,524 posts).. not just no, but Hell NO.
moondust
(19,917 posts)Because it doesn't have to play the Wall Street game, let's say the profits would not go into giant CEO salaries and bonuses and advertising but would instead go into employee salaries and benefits. And maybe try to sell more stuff Made in USA.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)My beef with Walmart is about their business practices and the disastrous effect it had on everyday Americans, not who owns them. They aren't the only shitty corporation that has kicked us in the teeth, just the largest.
Peregrine
(992 posts)"Government Employee Market." It was a membership store where you had to be a government employee and you paid a small annual fee. Prices on goods were pretty reasonable.
Lex
(34,108 posts)and to infrastructure, education, public health, etc?
Employee salaries and benefits, public good, whatever. It would not go to private investors.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)United States, and us, as in you and me. US-Mart.
mike_c
(36,214 posts)...with a living wage and decent benefits, then I might. Not that interested in buying cheap crap though, so they'd have to offer something I need/want to buy. Other than that, my biggest impediment to shopping at Walmart is the way they treat their employees.
LeftInTX
(24,554 posts)It was always a treat to go shopping off base. They didn't have "cool stuff" on base either.
But now that I'm old and "uncool", I would shop there.
Initech
(99,915 posts)idwiyo
(5,113 posts)southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)You can get alot of good deals. Especially if you go to the commissary and buy bulk canned veggies. Some good buys. But I don't go as much now because we don't live near a base. I do go around the holidays and can find some great deals.
JI7
(89,177 posts)how they treat employees, whether they have what i want, whether i have other choices etc.
most people who shop are walmart do so becuase of lack of choices now. even the poor are avoiding them if they can go somewhere else because they actually end up spending more because of crappy products.
places like target offer a better shopping experience if you want to go to that type of store.
walmart just looks like crap also. there is nothing appealing about it. it looks depressing. and the don't seem to have some basic products i usually buy anyways.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)regulated, keeping them smaller and more competitive with mom and pop stores. I would like to see a state bank to compete with the private ones though.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Would you go to Walmart, if it was nothing like Walmart.
DollarBillHines
(1,922 posts)I found that place to be depressing and dehumanizing. Today, I feel truly sorry for those among who have no choice but to shop at WM.
For those who actively choose WM over local businesses, I have only contempt.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)Properly spelled as ГУМ. Pronounced Goom. Note: Your browser may not support Cyrillic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store)
Not a great idea, I think.
moondust
(19,917 posts)Only the GUM was stuck behind the Iron Curtain with little access to goods and services outside the Eastern Bloc, a fact which surely contributed to the demise of the USSR. Russians were starved for consumer goods, i.e. Levis, etc.
A government-run big box store in the U.S. obviously wouldn't have that problem, though there may be some others.
(Cyrillic intact.)
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)A pretty spectacular, but very pricey shopping experience, I understand. I've not been to Moscow, more's the pity.
lanlady
(7,133 posts)(state general store).
Ah, good old GUM.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)in and of themselves, evil. There is a place for private enterprise and it does produce some very beneficial results.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Your question makes no sense.
moondust
(19,917 posts)Your reply makes no sense.
But it was an interesting attempt at summary dismissal. That you, Mr. Duke?
Autumn
(44,762 posts)And often stop in at our small local market.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)and a group of American front men and cut-outs for passbacks of political slush and influence money, most of which goes to the GOP.
The answer remains, No.
librechik
(30,663 posts)hypothetically