Target vs. WalMart

I actually prefer Books-A-Million to Barnes.
BAM sells comic books and graphic novels, while Barnes only sells the novels.
I can kill an easy afternoon just by going to BAM once a month or so. The coffee shop there also sells cokes, while the Starbucks inside Barnes does not.
Also, in my town, out in one of the very affluent suburbs, Wal-Mart has a store that kicks Target in the butt. Very upscale, well-lit, even the floor is different, like a polished concrete that has the look of marble.
The building's design, the color scheme, everything is different from a normal Super-Center. I was told that was the direction Wal-Mart wanted to go with the new stores.

 

I was recently hired to do in-store marketing/advertising and signage for a new Super Target opening here in the new town in July.

I am thoroughly addicted to the store, and am excited about promoting products that I believe in.

 

Do not use the word signage! It is a word used by people to make signs seem more important [/hostile copy editor]

 

I used to boycott Wal-Mart on principle. No, this isn't about the Big Box eveil empire putting the mom and pop shops out of business. I was miffed that they stopped doing business with my paper, choosing to deliver their inserts by mail instead of as part of the Sunday paper.

I dropped in on the neighborhood Wal-Mart not to long after quitting my job at the newspaper and soon found another reason not to spend there: It's a dimly lit, seldom cleaned, always noisy, sparsely staffed hell hole.

 

I used to do all my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, but now Dr. J insists on shopping at the real grocery store nearby. It's a bit more costly but I do like it better.

I really hope we get a SuperTarget in our area, but right now we don't even have a Target.

I rarely go to Wal-Mart now, but once Target comes I don't think I ever will. I don't hope it goes out of business though since it employs a ton of people.

 

My friends and I used to go to Wally World after midnight after eating at Steak & Shake or somewhere in town. It's just about the only thing open 24 hours here, besides a few gas stations.

 

You know what I've always wondered? How does K-Mart stay in business? It's Wal-Mart quality merchandise in a sub-Wal-Mart quality store, at Target prices.

 

Shop Wal-Mart. Damn straight. Buy crappy shit manufactured by indentured servants in third-world countries and sold to you by the terminal poor in your own country. Feel good knowing the people stocking the shelves will return to Wal-Mart on their off hours to buy crappy shit with the food stamps they get because their employer pays them so little.

Wave the flag. Go Wal-Mart.

It's a great deal for all involved.

 

They don't.

They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002 and merged with Sears, Roebuck & Co. in 2004.

 

We still have one in our area. I had heard they were in financial trouble, and I know they closed a bunch of stores, but I know we've still got one nearby. I drive past it nearly every day.

 

I know they're both bog box stores, and to that end, they both fuck up Mom and Pop businesses, but Wal-Mart=shudders. Probably b/c for the longest, Wally Mally refused to fill prescriptions for birth control on the stance of some high moral grounds, but has no problem filling orders for Viagra.

That, along with the shitty pay and the systematically awful way they treat their employees, and the general depressing nature of their stores, is why I hate Wal-Mart and will not spend a dime of my money there.

But if something must be purchased at a bog box discount store, Target's the first place I go. Maybe they just know how to keep their dirty laundry out of the news?

 

Well, I'll drive 30 miles out of my way to browse a good bookstore and avoid a shitty one. Life's just too short to trundle around a Books-A-Million, unless you're looking for one of them good picture books on origami or flower placements.