A CHALLENGE TO ALL

<font color="red">I Have made a decision in my life and I challenge/dare you all to do the same!......I am no longer shopping at big conglomorates(Lowes, Home Depot,Walmart,Target...ect ect ect).....I have started shopping at local stores for everything...sure it may cost me a little more . . . but . . .it is worth it to me!.....I am meeting new people and connecting with my community.....in the old days you KNEW your butcher , your grocer ,your lumberman, your car parts sales man, your milk man ect ect ect......I t may not make a big difference in the over all plan of the world because lots of you will still go to where it is the lowest price(no matter who it hurts)....it is still better for me and my well being.....we have become a nation of impersonal service and no-one cares about each others well being. . I for one will not put up with it any more.....I am NOT sorry for this little rant I am PROUD of my choice in this!

R E D M E A T </font>

 

Dude, one step ahead of ya... in CA we have a hardware chain called Orchard Supply Hardware... well, they have bitchen fastener section... even have heim joints...

after they closed the one in Whittier, I am determined not to let the one in Burbank die... Never touch lowes or home despot unless its and absolute emergency....

Even though theres this guy at the burbank OSH that has some skin malady... he's growing horns... out of his forehead... I'll avoid his checkout line like the plague... cause I think he has it...

 

J,
orchard is owned by Sears... they were wallmart before wallmart wiping out mom and pop shops since the 40's...

Where we live bro, even the mom &amp; pops are run by Ace. in this part of the world there aint no Indy places to shop, and if there is one needle in the haystack of gentrified So. Cal "they can get it for you in two weeks"

Welcome to Capitalism...

 

not trying to start a big conflict...and nice choice for you...but if it wasnt for lowes my car wouldnt be almost finished.that little check every 2 weeks sure helps out...i understand your point.but you need to understand mine too.the little man works at those places too.

 

kartbreaker, from what I've read from you, you obviously are not a fucking braindead moron hellbent on insulting customers in your store....

Thats a prerequisite for working at the Lowes near me.

Asshole store employee comes up to where I am shopping, grabs whats in my shopping cart, sets it on the floor, and takes off with my cart.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, cocksucker?" I casually inquire.

He just flips me off. I laugh, drop the product I'm holding, it breaks, I walk out never to enter another Lowes unless I need warrenty service on that Kobalt shit I bought...

At least OSH doesn't suck...

 

does Costco Fall into that category?



I think I will stop shopping at businesses on the Mainland, and only buy from the ones in Westseattle.....

 

I agree. My local hardware store is an Ace, and they know what the hell is going on. My local Home Depot doesn't have a clue. Nobody knows where anything is, there is always 10 people standing around sniffing their thumbs- they don't even have Grade 8 bolts. Not to mention they always overcharge me for stuff that doesn't have a price tag right on the item- like plywood. They stack it in one pile, with a sign up in front that says $16.xx. When you get it to the register, they have to call the guy in the dept. who always adds a couple of bucks. I'll go to Lowes, because they know what the hell is going on, and where items are, and, let's face it- it is much higher class than HD. But, the Ace around the corner from me is usually my first choice.
It kind of reminds me of Howard Beale's speech from "Network"...

"We sit in the house and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms, let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.'
"-Well I'm not going to leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest, I don't want you to riot, I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first- YOU'VE GOT TO GET MAD. You've got to say, 'I'm a human being-God Damn it! My life has value!'
"So, I want you to get up now, I want all of you to get up out of your chairs, I want you to get up right now, go to the window, open it and stick your head out and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!'"

 

i go where i'm treated the best, that's why i DON'T go to the indie lumberyards.
i ain't alking price, either.

 

I know what your saying, I kept moving further out from “The Big City” and yes the local store or General store , would say guday Mark when I wonder in, he would get it next week if he didn’t have at the time.

10 years ago I moved were I live now and in that time, we got a traffic light and next it was a big supermarket (Safeway) and now the jewel in the crown - Mac Donald’s.

This is a Fishing/tourist town, people come for the holidays (and leave their brain at home) drink too much, locals have to rescue them, clean up after them, put on a smile and say “your Welcome”, After the holidays the place goes back to being a small country town again. There’s room for you and your mate but it’s a small world after all.

 

It is getting tougher to find small rural places, the Polaris dealer over the hill quit recently. He can't buy new sleds to sell competatively, all he has been doing is selling and trading used and mechanics. Warranty work on the superstore sleds the locals brought in gagged him so he said screw it.
I never ask questions so I don't interact with the staff. I do know I was hard up one saturday afternoon to finish a project, tie a new patio to a sidewalk. Went to Home Depot for 10 bags of portland, had to stack 5 in the asile to get enough not torn open. A week later I was back for conduit and they were still in the asile with a few more tears and cement all over the floor.
My dad uses the term slatherass, should apply there.

 

I no longer shop at Walmart.
They are a major influence in America losing jobs...
r

 

[ QUOTE ]
I no longer shop at Walmart.
They are a major influence in America losing jobs...
r

[/ QUOTE ]
Wallmart and the others like them are symptoms of our problem, rather than the cause. Wake up, our government has sold us out. The rich get richer.

 

I'll shop where ever the fuck I can find it the cheapest!!!

 

If I did that here about all I'd get aquainted with is the local chemist.
If you live in Smalltown USA you need to be shopping with the locals, but in the city the mom'n'pops is about a thing of the past.
Tough challenge friend, go for it.

 

Right there with ya- Been boycotting Walmart for about a year now and I try to stay away from Home depot as much as possible- Lowes is a hard one to avoid though- Just for the sake of mine and your job I boycott MAJOR corporations and foreign made products

 

[ QUOTE ]
I'll shop where ever the fuck I can find it the cheapest!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

typical attitude that is destroying this country! thats the same attitude YOUR EMPLOYER has! guess where the jobs are going? wal mart is not the biggest by using domestic labor...news flash. some chinese kid is going to love what you are doing to help him out.

it doesn't take major lifestyle changes to stop shopping at, at least the worst of the stores, Wal Mart, Home depot, Mcdonalds, etc. i reallw wish there was "one liners" that were effective, but untill you pay attention and sit your ass down and do some reading on what these companies are doing, the masses won't change. whatevers cheapest. whatever, thats what you get, whatever is cheapest.

ever sit back and look at those cheap accessories form the 50's and 60's, ever bitch about the quality of old Cal Custom parts? many of you, in one breath bitch vcause none of the old stuff makes it, then turn around and buy everything you own at wal fucking mart.

it really amazes me how many "old car guys" only have old cars to be cool, completely oblivious to the advantages of driving old tin.

have some PRINCIPLES people!

take a few minutes and do a google on wal mart. for example, each walmart store costs taxpayers nearly half a million each year, because they do not pay their FULLTIME employees enough to stay off government assistance. i don't know about you, but i like a job that i can stayy off the gov't nipple.

 

Last spring and summer I worked in (but not for) Wal-Mart stores putting together bicycles. They're horrible places, I could barely stand them... in fact, the only reason I kept working that job as long as I did was that I got to wear earbud headphones and listen to my evil music all day long. But eventually I'd have to turn the CD player off to take a leak or talk to a store manager or something, and when I did I'd hear the sound bites they run over the store's speaker system. It's like something out of 1984.

Most of the stores were new ones that were built in the middle of new housing developments. One enormous Wal-Mart, one enormous Sam's Club, right next to each other. They couldn't run the smaller businesses out of town because they beat them to it! One store was fully built before anyone was even able to move into the housing developments.

And I never, EVER shopped there. If I had to get milk or something on my way home from work, I'd drive out of my way to some other place and pay a little more.

Oh, also, lots of Wal-Marts have a McDonald's inside them. One store had a McDonald's inside it, and right on the other side of the parking lot, not 500 yards away, was a regular McDonald's. I couldn't friggin' believe it.

 

YEP!! THIS IS AMERICA, AND WE'RE AMERICANS DAMMIT!!

Red, I started this years ago and have come to the conclusion that

"it's to little and to late!"

We've been sold down the river by the Government. We have

"THE BEST POLITICIANS THAT MONEY CAN BUY!"

all elected officials have been bought and paid for, before they enter office by Big Business. it too is the American way!

My feelings for our American dream is being shipped overseas to low paying countries so big business profits can grow and the rich get richer.

Mean time all the so called MOM AND POP STORES are being bought up by foreigners that have come here with there own American Dreams and will work long hours at low pay and think nothing about it.

I think that it's is a terrorist plot (used to be a communist plot) to take over America buying all these gas stations and convience stores and even hardware stores that do 90% cash business they are able to ship billions of American dollars out of the country to fianance a take over of America and we're paying for it shopping at Mom and Pop stores.

Tell me how to win and I'll back you to the Hilt

Jim Arnold" an old fart that remembers how it was and might not be around for the end "

 

I really started noticing this type of stuff when I befriended a guy that owns the local hardware store in our town. He is a hotrod guy at heart. He owns a blown 454 in a 48 Chevy pickup.

I know him, his wife, his kids, his brothers and his parents. He is the owner, the operator, the manager, the stockboy, the inventory clerk, etc etc. I saw how he reacted and how it impacted his family when they put in a Lowe's 10 miles away. He worries about this stuff. All of the people I mentioned above work at the store. If they go down, all of my friends, which they are friends, are unemployed. Now, there are rumors of an Ace coming to town. He is trying to make the extra effort, the emphasis is on customer service. Knowing people's names, what they want, who their kids are. I try and buy all my product from him so that I don't cut my buddies throat. His name is Chuck.

So ....what's the managers name at Home Depot? I didn't think you knew.....

 

Buick 59, your sled is gonna look rad with all those Tiawanese parts on it.
But think about it man, where do you want your money to go?
If there's two guys standin there, one a guy from Wall Street in a suit who owns an import conglomerate of car parts chains, or the local parts counter cat who knows you and your car, which one will do "the right thing" with your bucks? Spend it in your town, pay his taxes there, maybe spend it at the place where you work?
I think you probably posted to get us goin on this topic, right?
I'm pleased to see so many HAMBers on the right side of this issue, it's important.
What got me started...
The little black clips with the wire handle, that offices use to clip papers together?
Used to be made in New Jersey, little company.
Now they are made in a Chinese women's prison, prostitutes have to assemble 1100 a day or they don't get fed. Yeah Office Max and Office Depot helped the Chinese govenment set it up... and of course the little factory (union) in NJ has been out of business for years.
No real American would be part of a slimey fucked up deal like that, right?
Well back to work and then workin on my Bonneville

 

I may not know the manager's name at Walmart, but I know a hell of a lot of the checkout, stockers, and department people. If they weren't working there, they'd be at their old jobs selling french fries. We haven't had any local places to shop in my town in 20 years. Walmart, Target, Home Depo, Albertsons, Safeway, Shopco, Sam's Club, all the Mall stores, Sears, Everything is a chain. Even the parts places that claim to be independent get their parts from the same source as the chains. I can get a part at Autozone where I know the guy, or I can get the same part from "Parts Service" where I also know the guy. Either way, the part came into town on the same truck from the same distributer. The difference is "Parts Service" will charge me more and have me go to the distributor's warehouse to pick it up and Autozone will have it on the shelf or they'll send someone to the warehouse to get it. Autozone has 5 employees in the store and "Parts Service" Has 2. That's why you have to go get it from the warehouse yourself. As for the little stores, they're all run now by ex-illegals who took advantage of amnesty and government aid to buy stores and settle here instead of just working the farms in the summer. They'll charge you higher prices because you're white instead of mexican. Mom &amp; Pop stores died a long time ago. It may be different in the cities, but out here everything comes from distributers in Salt Lake and it doesn't matter who you go to.

 

Disastron, a year or so ago, some friends were in town from New England, and they were hanging out with someone that went to their high school years before them who also lives out here. When I met back up with them they were telling the story and laughing about how the guy that they were visiting had his own construction company, and that he'd hire the illegals that hung out at Home Depot for cheap labor, and at the end of the week, he'd dime them out to INS so he didn't have to pay them.
It made me fucking sick. Just one of the reasons I wish this was a union state- so assholes like that could't get away with screwing honest people so easily.

 

[ QUOTE ]
. Mom &amp; Pop stores died a long time ago.

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Not around here....

 

No Wal-Mart, no Sam's, no Domino's. I try to support my local small business if I can. I'm there with you guys, I just wish the sheep woould wake up and see what's going on.

 

This is the one I like
"can I help you sir"
"yes I need a set of wiper blades for my 91 chevy c 1500 pickup"
"OK sir is that a extended cab?"
" it actually doesn't matter but it is a regular cab"
"is it a 4 wheel or a two wheel drive?"
"it actually doesn't matter but a C truck is two wheel drive and a K truck is 4 wheel drive"
" Is that the 5.7 or the 4.3 engine?"
" I only need wiper blades "
" but sir I'm trying to get the computer to give me a #"
" OK it's a 4.3"
" do you want the winter or summer blades?"
" it's 104 degrees out there ,what do you think?"
" sir I'm just trying to help you!"
" heres your blades sir, will that be cash check or debit card."
" cash"
" Sir would you like a credit card application?"
"no!!"
By this time I am looking to have some fun ,I take them out of the box and tell them " look they put two lefts in this box,could you check the other boxs please?"
they then drag out twenty boxs of blades.
" sir they are all left hand wipers"
" could you call your district rep and ask him how I can get a Right one?"
"sure sir ,I'll do that right now"
Oh well you know how it goes.

 

thanks redmeat,

now I'm totaly depressed...

I have never been inside a Wallmart or Costco, I rarely shop at Home Depot or Lowes* or Schucks or any number of those big chain stores.

It's not only the political part that bothers me but, I really can't stand trying to deal with morons.

*there is a Lowes nearby that actually has a few good people working there, and the stuff they stock is better then Home Depot, barely.

Paul

 

Owens Salvage Company.......another Mom and Pop business. Brother Flt-Top Bob's family owns this 65 acre salvage yard in Wellington, TX. Family owned and operated.

Sorry for the shameless plug......gotta give the mom and pops all the advertising they can get.

 

this topic really hits home with me. my father and i recently opened our kustom/car audio shop. after being in this business since '92 i decided it was time for me to try it on my own. this is probably the worst time in history to do this, but it's now or never.
in a world of best buys,car toys, circuit citys, it's very difficult for an independent to succeed. many customers also purchase these products online. in many ways i cannot compete with online sales. they have no overhead, most do not stock product. they just drop ship to you.
i was very selective in choosing products for my store that are not allowed to be sold online. does this mean i can charge more for them, NO.
my prices are dirt cheap compared to EVERYONE else around me. my products carry the best warranties in the biz as well.
it's the attitude of people nowadays that the cheapest is the way to go. "oh, i'll shop till i find whoever sells it the cheapest." well, go ahead. you do that. and when someone you know is moving away because they lost their job due to closures, pat yourself on the back, a job well done.

the internet is killing my business. people do not care about warranties i guess. or customer service. just think about it. you can go into best buy, look for a dvd player, choose from several, compare prices and features,grab the one you want right off the floor, and head to the register. the store is designed so the do not even have to know your name.(unless you finance it, or charge it, then they wanna know you!!) hell, now some places you can even check out without talking to somebody, man what a world we have built for ourselves.
i shop locally at everychance i get. my local hardware store built my shop. my local grocery store, even though it's way outdated, feeds my family.

to me it's kinda like route 66. we all wish that the road was still intact. it's fun to eperience the charm and all the quaint shop and stops. but all those people who wanted it faster and less stops built their highway, and killed the 66. they cruise by and miss all the things that made america great, just so they can get somewhere faster and cheaper. congrats folks, a job well done.


i'm sorry this is so long and possibly boring to some, but it really hit home for me.

 

Mom &amp; Pop hardware stores are pretty few and far between around here. It doesn't hurt to try to make a difference wherre you can, though. I rarely eat at chain restaurants, though. In fact...I'm headed out the door now to go to the taco joint down the road. Owned and operated by a really nice family. Later.

 

We all know the problems.Need real answers.GERM help please.