apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

"The store is evil, item must be crap, bit it's pretty and I want it."

Nice convictions!

I don't know, but I agree...that lamp is supercute!

Yeah, I'm going to vote that you stay strong. Surely there are other cute lamps in other stores that have better policies than Wal-Mart. I know that isn't what you asked, but I wouldn't buy it.

Dont buy it. The store is bad, bad. Its not worth giving them your money.

I agree with Molly.

I wonder if the folks collecting paychecks from Wal-Mart would agree that the retailer is evil incarnate.

For $19 - 28 I'd get it. You get what you pay for and all that but its pretty cute (and cheap!).

It's cute and less then 30 bucks. I say go for it - you can always return it if you don't like it in person. Yes, walmart isn't the best store, but for those in smaller cities or on a budget sometimes it really is the only option.

Why not spend your dollars elsewhere, and help to create jobs at other retailers where those folks can collect paychecks AND get reasonable health benefits in a non-totalitarian workplace?

I thought Walmart was the hero of Katrina.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourHome/RealKatrinaHeroWalMartStudySays.aspx

Politics aside, I own the lamp....but in a brown color they carried in stores a few years ago. Yes, it looks great (especially for the price). But be warned, it loves to short out (and blow through bulbs)....i think there's something wrong with the cord connection at the base. It could just my particular lamp, but I doubt it.

Boycott WalMart if you can afford to.

I'm sorry, but not everyone has the luxury of living near incredible, marvelous, design stores where they can buy expensive goods with a clear conscience. I live in a rural area and am glad for Wal-mart--I can afford to feed my family with their prices and sometimes they do have nice things. I have two gorgeous gourd lamps that I purchased there and love. No one would suspect they came from Wal-mart.

I don't know all the "evils" of Wal-mart--alleged or true, but I will say that around here Wal-mart gainfully employs a lot of folks, there is a sense of community when you shop at one (you'll always see someone you know), and their prices are affordable. Yes, there are times when I get irked with them, most of their clothes are blah, etc. . ., but I'm glad it's there and close by when I need it.

Also, this is just a personal justification, but it is only 24 miles round trip to Wal-mart as opposed to 60 miles (rt) to Target (which I love!). That saves a lot of gas.

WOW. A cheap vase or bedding is one thing, but low quality electrical products are another. That lamp sounds dangerous.

There is always something better down the road...

I work for Walmart and it is just as evil as most other major corps. It is, however, in the midst of a massive sustainability overhaul that is pretty cool. Our store, for one example, uses skylights for most of its daytime lighting. Sounds small, but it's a pretty neat step. I've also worked for Target, and while they throw huge sums to schools, etc, they paid me substantially less, fewer benefits, had much worse working conditions, and (my store) had zero concern with sustainability.

It's also a pretty cute lamp.

It costs a little more, but check out this lamp:

http://www.pier1.com/catalog/viewproduct/148.mosstone-ceramic-lamp

I try to avoid WalMart whenever possible. My mom worked for one as a greeter and quit due to age discrimination (they gave her the worst shifts, and paid her significantly less than her younger co-workers, even though she had seniority over them). I hate to think what they're doing to the kindly old man who always seems to be working the crappy late shift at my local store.

Yes, Patric (TOO), I'm sure many employees would agree they are evil incarnate.

Watch the documentary "WAL-MART: The High Cost of a Low Price" for a little light shed on the subject.

And I'm very surpsised someone has the gall to say Wal-Mart promotes community, as it actively destroys them one by one across the country and globe. Who needs mom & pop shops along Main Street when you can drive your SUV to an ocean of a parking lot to save 30 cents on jiffy peanut butter? Mom and pop can just close their store and get a job at Wal Mart, making minimum wage with no benefits. Winners, all.

PBS Frontline did a very informative show on Walmart - link below. Yes, I too have a very tight budget, but getting things super cheap (you know the internal thought: "how do they even make this for this amount?") is us as a country throwing our international political/economic weight around at others expenses.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/

I purchased a similar lamp from Wal-Mart. I've had it for about a year. It looks great, and it hasn't had any electrical problems.

There are federal standards for electrics, and the lamp has to meet the minimum. It probably requires a 40 watt bulb or less. Double check. The glaze may have lead in it, so don't lick it. The shade is probably super duper cheap -- you can always get a new shade.

That said, here's why I loathe wallmart. It's not their hiring practices or benefits packages or cheap quality. It's not even that other stores go out of business when they come in to town, exactly. It's that the incentive WallMart requires from a city to set up shop is a sales tax exemption. They get to keep the sales tax you pay [for a period of several years, usually] -- and those taxes don't go back into schools, roads, public safety, parks, etc. The mom & pop shops can't compete with that type of "free market" competition and then go out of business. When Wallmart has to start paying that sales tax to the city again, their prices creep up a bit -- but by then the competition is dead and gone.

That may not be the deal in every town, but it's the deal they were given across Utah.

Resist the temptation! Don't do it!

Lamps are pretty easy to re-wire, just kind of tedious and requires a trip to the hardware store. I requently buy old non-functioning lamps 2nd hand and fix them.

If the base is solid and looks nice, you could always re-wire if/ when the existing wiring shorts out... tho it is still more fodder for the land fill.

What if you started looking for this lamp on eBay or Craigslist? Maybe that would help with the not-shopping-there factor. And you'd be re-using.

word, mellon!

Once everybody finishes watching the above documentaries on the 'evils' of walmart, but sure to check out the episode that Penn & Teller did on their "Bullsh*t" show (for those of you with Netflix, it's on one of their later season DVDs and is available for streaming). While not necessarily pro-walmart, they did say that all the walmart hate is essentially, well, bullsh*t. They addressed many of the usual issues brought up against walmart, and specifically addressed the above mentioned "WAL-MART: The High Cost of a Low Price" . While I myself am not necessarily a huge walmart fan, it did make me rethink some of my kneejerk reactions to the company.

I've had a lamp from there for three years and have had nary a problem. I have absolutely no guilt about it.

Bashing Walmart while drinking Starbucks is a common practice in today's society

That lamp is so cute!

I don't shop at wal-mart cause I can never find anything there worth buying - even at super low prices. If you're living on a budget, try doing-without rather than buying shoddy products. If you're not living on a budget, buy quality, which isn't found in any big-box retailer.

It's chic to hate the big-boxers.

Where are you big-box haters shopping from, btw?

We've all heard the "Why we should boycott Wal-mart" rant hundreds of times, so save it, as hard as it may be. All the girl wanted was an opinion on the lamp, not to be crucified for the mention of spending a few dollars at Wal-mart.

Meg---someone with your delicate sense of discrimination and cognitive values should not buy from Wal-Mart.

All the people who have commented about the policies of WalMart have never had a super tight budget or lived where there isn't anything but....

Here's the plus side of the lamp, even if the electrical is shorting out on past users, rewiring a lamp isn't expensive, drop by your local hardware stores (even small cities have them!) and pick up a rewiring kit, usually just a few small dollars, literally.... and rewire it yourself.

I think it's cute, and it's cheap without looking like it's pricetag, and to me currently... that's all that matters!

I think that anyone who is in a financial position where they are able to debate to morality of what food you buy and where you buy it from should maybe just be grateful and keep the judgement of others at bay -

trust me, minimum wage earners, single parents, and the like do not have the luxury of having a "conscience" about stuff like this - walmart has its place, and helps a lot of struggling families to get by

seriously, just be happy you have the luxury of worrying about stuff like this

I really like that lamp!

Walmart was on my list of places to avoid until my brother convinced me to do my grocery shopping there. I saved over $100 and if you time it right and go in the early morning, it's hardly busy and you have full reign of the asiles.

I don't shop there for home accessories or furniture, but more often than not it's worth the trip to save some money.

And besides, I'm shopping at Walmart Canada where all the employees are paid the provincial minimum wage or more (currently in Alberta it's $8.00/hr).
Though, I have a feeling that they pay way more than that since my nephew (who is 14) works at the McDonalds and get's $9.50/hr to work the cash register.

Everyone makes their trade-offs.

Regarding the wal-mart lamp, my criteria is more about how I view my purchases (do I keep stuff for the short-term, mid-term, long-term). I'm a mid-to-long-term person, throwing things out makes me feel ill. Therefore I tend to spend a little more on an item but buy a lot less than your average bear.

If you're worried about the quality, then I'd say it's not worth your money and the time you are spending considering...a lamp. Period. When the stars align and you find you have $ and a product you feel confident about...then a purchase should be a no-brainer.

Honeyfresh--

If all she wanted was a take on the lamp, she should have left off her own commentary about WalMart to start with.

If Eames furniture is protein, and Ikea is mostly carbs, Wal-mart makes the cheesy poofs of decor. Anybody who won't admit to liking a bag of cheesy poofs now and again is a big liar, and if a cute cheesy poof of a lamp makes Meg happy, then she should buy it.

I haven't got any WalMart lamps, but I just got rid of a ten-year-old mostly-plastic Target torchere that I thought *might* last me through grad school. It's not like lamps take a lot of daily wear and tear.

Meg wanted advice on the lamp, but she was the one who said 'the store is evil', and 'the stuff must be really bad quality'. So I think the responses to Wal-mart are justified.

I lived in a town where Wal-mart was the only option. You had to drive at least a half hour for another option - a Meijer. An additional half hour for more options. It was awful, and Walmart owned the town. A year after I left they built a Super Wal-mart down the street, and left the old one vacant. Awesome.

I was broke. So what did I do? I just didn't buy stuff from Wal-mart. Lived with friends, shared stuff. Used hand-me-downs, stuff found in alleys after people moved out. Less was more really.

Buying inexpensive, cheaply made items purely for looks is a problem. This increasing type of product is responsible for many issues. Now it is 'okay' and acceptable to consumers - and when Wal-marts take over towns, they get away with it. Consumers let them. Buy object, dispose of it after a year or two, buy new object to replace it. Repeat. Beyond all of Wal-mart other issues, this type of consumerism spans all classes and is not only bad for business but also the environment.

There are other ways to save money - buy used or just not at all. It's just a table lamp.

we don't have walmart here in the city (chicago) and i for one am glad of it.

call me an elitist. but i'm not interested in buying a lamp that was made out of low quality materials by someone working 15 hour days for pennies. but that's just me.

plus, i don't think the lamp is that great.

Or make one yourself: lamp wire from your mom & pop store (if there is one), a pretty decanter (drill a hole or crack one if you can for the cord to come out) and lampshade from your neighborhood thrift shop or the $0.99 cent store (the cheaper version of Wal-Mart y'all), a can of spray paint and presto!

I appreciate the anti Wal-Mart sentiment AND the fact that in many communities hard-hit with job loss, high gas prices, foreclosures etc., Wal-Mart is the difference between feeding your family and not. That said I have a question: what about 99 cent stores? They're the epitome of all things cheap; yet, there are as many of them in some places as there are McDonald's (don't event get me started on McMysteryMeat).

What attracts us to all things cheap, pretty and disposable?

re: "i'm not interested in buying a lamp that was made out of low quality materials by someone working 15 hour days for pennies."

So I pose the question again... where do you shop?

I'd like to hear one of the posters who said Wal Mart is bad list 5 reason why Wal Mart is worse than any other chain store.

"What attracts us to all things cheap, pretty and disposable?"

Um, I'm guessing it's what happens when we can't afford things expensive and pretty.

Or-- and it does happen-- sometimes the cheap stuff is prettier than the expensive stuff. Or the "righter" color. Or a better size...

davit, a little light reading:
http://walmartwatch.com/issues/

Saying that it's okay for Wal-Mart to conduct immoral corporate practices just because "every other chain store does" isn't productive. It's excusing bad behavior with even more bad behavior. Maybe Wal Mart gets singled out more because it's the biggest animal on the food chain, but bringing up these issues is important.

We are rational, (hopefully) responsible citizens of the free world and we have to be aware and hold these corporations accountable for their actions as they affect us all. I have never understood the overwhelming apathy.

Patrick, I don't shop at Wal-Mart and I discourage others to do the same. I live in a rural town of 10,000, so there are no box stores to tempt me anyway. ;)

I shop at a chain of grocery stores that are owned by a local family. There are probably about 5 stores in the chain. The baggers and cashiers are the friendliest I've ever encountered! I also buy groceries at the food co-op. When I have to buy “general merchandise,” I’ll usually shop at Target (eh, I live in MN so you could call them local—but that’s a stretch). I find myself going there about once per month. Before I moved here, I used to shop at K-Mart because they’re not doing great financially and I’d like to see them stay around as competition for Wal-Mart. The nearest K-Mart now is an hour’s drive, so I don’t go.

I buy my hardware goods at a locally owned hardware store. If they don’t have what I need, I’ll drive to the next town over and shop at one of the big boxes. I buy coffee at the locally owned organic coffee shop. Prescriptions are filled at the locally owned pharmacy. We eat at local, non-chain restaurants, though we’ll go to the “safe choices” of Applebee’s, etc., if guests are visiting and they’re afraid to try new places.

I don’t spend tons on home decor. When I do, I shop at IKEA, antique stores, Craigslist, and a smattering of furniture retailers.

Admittedly, it's easy for me to shop at these places because they're close to home. But if Wal-Mart moved into my town, you can bet that the local shops would disappear and I'd have to drive out of my way to find alternatives.

I have worked at small non-profits over the years. When we'd do a fundraiser, I'd ask every business around for support. Guess who bent over backwards to support us? The little guys. The big chains generally ignored us or at best sent a form letter that said "NO." The small business owners know who and what will benefit their own community, and I'm happy to support them in turn.

Last summer I flew to St. Louis, with a friend, to see the Gateway Arch.

He needed some batteries and there was a Wal-Mart open at 8am! I was glad it was open. It was a clean store. It was well lit and everyone was very friendly.

Weasel Dearest is Mr. Dangerous

re: "i'm not interested in buying a lamp that was made out of low quality materials by someone working 15 hour days for pennies."

So I pose the question again... where do you shop?

__________________________________

well, i do all of my food shopping at local health food stores as i am a vegan and try to eat organic and locally grown as much as possible. oh, and i also ride my bike there, as i have no interest in owning a car.

the lamp that is illuminating my desk right now was purchased at an antique shop in the edgewater neighborhood of chicago. the furniture in my apartment is comprised mostly of vintage pieces that i have acquired from craigslist and ebay. i do have a few things from the cb2 store as they are right on the same busline that goes to my apartment.

did you find any of the inconsistencies that you were looking for in order to validate your viewpoint?

For automotive items I always go to the small local store where I go in, hold up what I need replaced and say " I need one of these" They get it, I pay and walk out.

If I am in Mejier and they have air filters on sale, I buy them.

I go to walmart because I live on Kaishi TLC granola bars.
One local chain sells them for $3.59, another for $4.70 and walmart for $2.25. They did raise up to $2.99, but when I am buying 20 boxes a month that makes a huge difference.
It is the same product, the local chains have about 40 stores each.

For house wares I go to antique stores, yard sales, and such.

I agree - there are better options out there that aren't "evil" -- I found something similar at Montgomery Wards. (But actually kind of like this one better)

Plus: there isn't anything worse than going to a Wal-Mart on the weekend (when most of us have time to shop). I'd drive an hour just to avoid it! :)

"Anybody who won't admit to liking a bag of cheesy poofs now and again is a big liar,"

Yeah, but after I eat them I feel sick to my stomach.

Those of you who think that Wal-Mart drove out the little Mom & Pop stores are living in the 30s and 40s. I grew up in a little town of 3500 in the 50s/60s. There was a Winn's 10c store, but it was owned by a corporation. In the 70s I lived where there was a Woolworths, Franklin's, and M.E. Moses ---not "mom and pop" either. Also K-Mart and Gibson's. And how about that K-Mart---a company run by advertising idiots.

No one was ever dragged kicking and screaming into a Wal-Mart. But when my husband's favorite cereal (Post Great Grains) is $1.50 a box cheaper in W-M, you better believe I'll shop there. I can buy Wal-Mart's store brand of ibuprofen for 1/4 of what the Brand Name costs. In fact, with very few exceptions, the store brands are equal to or superior to Brand Name products.

There will always be a market for upscale products. But Wal-Mart offers choice, and choice is considered a good thing, isn't it.

You know how BIG CITIES get all excited when IKEA comes to town, well that's how small town feel like when Wal-Mart comes to town.

eightdouble: haha! Don't worry, he is always tryin' to pick a fight.

@Patrick: I used to work for Wal-Mart and yes, I thought they were evil incarnate. While they pay decently according to average pay in the area, their health insurance is very restrictive... and if you are a part-time employee (which I was because I was in school full time), it takes 2 years before you qualify.

I say go for it. I've always found that you get a much more precise seam on your lampshade when it has been assembled by tiny little baby fingers!

wow - I shop at walmart by necessity (though not all the time. If I can find an alternative, I will go with that). When I was married, I did register with them - among other stores- because my husband's family literally has NOTHING else. They're poor farmers with no means to shop online. It was about considering their lifestyle as well as mine - I know they appreciated it.

good one, rebecca! :)

Wow.
...
So, Meg- what did you decide?

Interesting. AT readers are eager to rip on an eco-unfriendly and worker-unfriendly company that makes cheap and usually unstylish goods, yet have no problem constantly raving about irresponsible companies that produce stylish high-end goods.

eeka, can you give some examples of these companies please?

There is an awful lot of self-congratulatory, dogmatic crap goin' on in this thread.

That lamp is way cute.

Wow, well I didn't think this would turn into a mass discussion over the "evilness" of Wal-mart. I put that in there as a joke, and while I do agree that our economy and the quality of life for many people both here and abroad is going down the toilet, it isn't just Wal-mart, its everywhere. I totally agree that if you can get around Wal-mart, Target, McDonalds, and any big-business, you should, but sometimes, it just isn't in the cards. Luckily for you all who say I shouldn't buy the lamp from Wal-mart, you've won, haha, I've decided to ditch it, no matter how nice it would look and how good it would feel to have a lamp for $30. That said, if anyone can find a similar lamp around no more than $40, let me know, I'd greatly appreciate it! (oh, and not from Ikea, cause they still won't bring a store to St. Louis and they don't f*#k'n ship!!! haha)

eh - I didn't even read most of the posts on here, I just have a hard time with a company whose family heirs are five of the country's top ten wealthiest individuals, and yet their money has come from catering to the lowest economic class. Seems pretty dirty to me.

AND they just bulldozed a park and some soccer fields next to an elementary school in my beautiful rural hometown to build the SECOND Wal-mart within a 10 mile radius. Despite an extensive town petition, picketing, etc... actually, now I am mad.

eebnyc -- yeah, seriously...how many walmarts does one town need. a bit excessive, but hey, this is america!

eebnyc--

How is *selling* to any economic class *catering* to them?

Were there any public hearings about the new WalMart before it went in?

I second Honeyfresh!

Yes the people who work at walmart think it's evil. I know. Don't ask me how. I'm not allowed to talk about it.

Ok. I have to comment again. I live in the smallest town on earth (or at least in Idaho) and I have a very, very low income (officially below the poverty line), yet somehow I manage to avoid walmart pretty blasted well. Once in a great while I go there to get things they don't have anywhere else and I need immediately (a set of dominoes most recently), but usually I go to the local (yes, locally owned and operated--a chain consisting of about five stores in the area towns) grocery store for my food (they give their leftover bakery items to my housing project, so I shop there). In the summer I go to the farmers' market or eat from my nearby family's garden. I get furniture/clothing/etc from thrift/secondhand/consignment shops or online. I even get nonperishable grocery items online. I don't understand how anyone can say they "can't help" but shop at Walmart. Come on, you are a living, acting human being. You have free will. You shop where you want to shop.

eightdouble--

I was actually just curious. The same way you asked eecka for more info about his/her post. I wrestle with these issues just like many do, and I am always interested in what the alternatives are. Chill.

And, no, spossberg, I am not. I just am irked by the automatic "big = evil" that creeps in to the thinking of this site from time to time, a lot of it regurgitated web content from questionable "watchdog" sites. Nothing is that black and white, and I sometimes pose questions to attempt to shed some light on the gray areas.

Unfortunately, the answers (and thanks to those who answered my question without defensiveness) to "Where do you shop?" have yielded a lot of vintage/thrift/rural/vegan sources. While that works for some, it does not work for all.

And, in case you haven't noticed, big retailers sponsor a great deal of this site, so we can all keep reading and critiquing the practices and shopping morals of others.

Meg, Is there a Tuesday Morning near you? I just heard about them via another website and saw a few cute lamps on their online flyer: www.tuesdaymorning.com

eeka, you said: "AT readers.... have no problem constantly raving about irresponsible companies that produce stylish high-end goods." Which companies are you referring to? Furthermore, I'm not sure where you're from, but there was a well documented case in Westford, Mass. of residents spending years battling Walmart. The town did not want a Walmart, yet Walmart tried to bully there way in. Google it.

sorry: 'their' as opposed to 'there'

How nice for you, eightdouble:

"re: "i'm not interested in buying a lamp that was made out of low quality materials by someone working 15 hour days for pennies."

So I pose the question again... where do you shop?

__________________________________

well, i do all of my food shopping at local health food stores as i am a vegan and try to eat organic and locally grown as much as possible. oh, and i also ride my bike there, as i have no interest in owning a car.

the lamp that is illuminating my desk right now was purchased at an antique shop in the edgewater neighborhood of chicago. the furniture in my apartment is comprised mostly of vintage pieces that i have acquired from craigslist and ebay. i do have a few things from the cb2 store as they are right on the same busline that goes to my apartment.

did you find any of the inconsistencies that you were looking for in order to validate your viewpoint?"

Let's see: I don't have a health food store within thirty miles of me. There are no bike lanes so the giant pick-up trucks would have killed me by now if I tried to bike to work. There are no public buses in my small southern town. There is no craigslist for my town. Antique mall? Ha. Right. Try "slightly upscale hillbilly flea market". CB2? I wouldn't even know where to find one. I think there's a Crate & Barrel in New Orleans, three hours away.

It's easy to sneer at people who shop at Wal-Mart when you have other options. When you find yourself living in a town of 20,000 people with a median income of $20k a year, you may find your holier-than-thou shopping lifestyle somewhat *adjusted*.

If I may make one more comment in this thread: Patrick too and Jezzebella have both commented on the fact that there are no good options for them other than Wal-Mart. And I believe that, more or less. I'm certainly not out to vilify anyone over where they shop.

But the very problem I have is that Wal-Mart has reduced your choices to Wal-Mart or...Wal-Mart. Do you suppose there was just a giant, open void in small southern towns and suburban areas before Wal-Mart came along? Market economics say of course not; their were other stores--maybe they were locally owned; maybe they were regional chains. Maybe they were good or bad. But Wal-Mart came in and now you have no choice.

I'm all *about* choice. If Wal-Mart was present and there was still a plethora of other stores to choose from, well, then we could have the discussion of why people choose to shop where they do. As it is, Wal-mart is the default, and options are seriously limited for many people. How is that fair or right?

I have grew up in the little town that I live in now. I have seen the town both before and after wal mart. Wal mart killed shopping in this town. Before it came this town had a thriving downtown with 30 shops and 5 local grocery stores. Within 5 years this town had one grocery store. Wal mart. It had one clothing store left. Wal mart. It killed this town.
Now, we have had other big box retailers move in. Meijer moved in and knocked wal mart on their a**. The prices there are the same (or less) on a lot of items. I am not afraid to buy meat or produce at a Meijer like I am at a wal mart. They are more of a "local" store as they were started just down the road from us. We have gotten a Menards AND a Lowes. We are finally getting in a department store and a sporting goods store this town is finally going to have choices once again.
Not all big box stores are bad. But when ONE big box store takes over, it is bad. I don't shop at wal mart. I can't avoid a big box store, but I try as much as I can. I don't have a lot of money- but what little I do have is not going to go to Wal Mart.

There certainly is a lot of chatter about Wal-Mart being a "big evil corporation". Personally, I am VERY thankful for Wal-Mart. Not only do I receive a steady pay check that covers ALL of my schooling expenses, but also the Wal-Mart crew is like a family! Wal-Mart sponsors many many charities, and our Wal-Mart even has blue jean fridays where each associate pays one dollar to wear jeans. The benefits go straight towards cancer research. Wal-Mart was initially a small, one-story convenience mart, but Sam Walton's business insight helped develop it into a flourishing business. As a college student on a budget (and someone who lives in a small town), I buy a majority of my appliances and goods from Wal-Mart. There is a plethora of cute options for decorating your home. I bought a desk there when I was in the 7th grade and it has proven to be much sturdier than the solid oak desk that was custom built for me. If you don't find Wal-Mart's goods up to your snobbish standards, then don't shop there. But please don't bash a company that strives to help people in need.

I do understand that WalMart supports some good causes, yadda yadda yadda, but I can't help but think that they do it as a PR measure rather than out of the good of their hearts. It doesn't make sense when a company does highly publicized things to help needy people, when in their every day business practices proceed to exploit other vulnerable people on a much larger scale. The amounts that they donate do not compare to what they are saving by paying factory workers pennies per hour. And sure, they have provided many Americans work with the large number of stores, but it's hard to even wrap your head around the number of jobs WalMart has exported to other countries (thus getting around paying workers a fair wage).

And no, WalMart is not the only one (albeit the worst offender). The truth is, we have become trapped in a system where at least sometimes we are all forced to patronize such companies at one point or another, and no one wants to face the discomfort of acknowledging that fact. What we don't know can't hurt us, right?

Well said, Alicia R.
I never in a million years thought I'd be defending Walmart, but here I want to be. As said above, I worked for Target, bc I admired the company, and they treated me like garbage. My starting pay: $7.50 (us). Walmart: $8.60, with a $1hourly bonus on Sundays. With my $30,000 of student loan debt, this seemingly small difference makes all the difference. Plus, it's a completely different attitude. Target never stopped letting me know that I was entirely disposable, that I was "the help," that I would never get that that first raise (after one fricking year). Walmart has quarterly bonuses, health care on the exact same track, and I qualify for a raise after 90 days. We have moral building activities a few times a month (bbq's, and parties). I actually look forward to going into work because I have opportunites to pursue things I am interested in (sustainability committees, etc). I live in one of the poorest areas of the state. Walmart keeps us fed and dressed. And I have access to info- with those "low prices" that are killing the mom and pop shops, the profit is still disgustingly large.

For my first week there, I told no one, due to the shame. Now I am ok with it. But most of their furnishings are not so cute.

Ay-yi-yi. More hating on Wal-Mart. That trend is sooooo last week!

I certainly understand that everybody's trying to make their money go farther, but I actually haven't found Wal-Mart to be all that cheap. I get my groceries at Big Lots, Cash 'n' Carry (restaurant-supply store) and my local WinCo grocery store, and I get a lot more selection and better prices than at Wal-Mart. I get their own brand of Crystal Light and I occasionally buy some shorts or a T-shirt there, but that's about it. If you want bargains, go to thrift stores, 99-cent stores, or your local freecycle group. In most towns, the "I shop there because there's nowhere else that's cheap" argument doesn't hold up.

Walmart is no more evil than any other retailer.

This lamp *is* cute. And I'm gonna buy one, I think. We do not have an Ikea where I live and the Salvation Army doesn't seem to be overflowing with cool, vintage items, just broke-down trash. And even tho we all think Walmart is a #*%&) piece of crap, it employs some people around here that would have a tough time getting a job anywhere else, know what I mean?