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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BigFreekinGoblinoid" data-source="post: 1630104" data-attributes="member: 5988">Wow, Wal-Mart is the best company ever!I guess all of these things I have read about them destroying rural America must have all been gross exaggerations!  Things like: -Choosing sites just out of towns where real estate is cheap, pressure lobbying for public infrastructure money  - AND pressuring small towns to accept them with the threat of moving into the next small town and stealing their local businesses money anyway.  ( The "Tons of Cash" they give for roads and streetlights etc... mentioned above is to build access to their stores! - And they only pay PART OF THIS! ) Causing ghost-towns and killing downtowns is the real legacy of Walmart in many rural American cities. -Artificially lowering prices until local competing family businesses close up shop -then raising prices! - Calling less than 40hrs/week "Full-Time" & Keeping most workers at hours just below benefits eligibility- History of misleading advertising-Constantly accused of gender preference in management decisions-Censorship of product offerings- Jotting down prices in Wal-Mart for comparison shopping purposes is against store policy! ( ! )- Dictating unreasonable ordering guidelines ( we can return your books - in REALLY bad condition - without paying for it !)- Paying suppliers extremely lateIf even half the stuff in this book : Bill Quinn, "How Wal-Mart is Destroying America, and What You Can Do About It."  is true, my decision to never shop or even step foot into a WalMart is completely justifed. Sorry for the rant, but since I saw the 'Wal-Mart is great' post above, I thought it justifed a response in the name of clearing up any possible misconceptions.  Granted: Wal-Mart is not ALONE in these policies - but they are guilty of more than most, and have perfected practices and paved the way for others! That being said, you might think I'm firmly in the FLGS camp. Well, it's true that I do support 6 different games stores from Santa Cruz to Fremont/Palo Alto, but I love browsing the goods that I may be "on the fence about" ( or may not have known about ) and looking at minis before I buy. I do a fair amount of ordering from online sources too, including the ENWorld online RPG shop and FRP games ( They have a retail location near the San Jose/Santa Clara border too! ) among others. Other random thoughts: Shrinkwrap discourages buyers. ( Do you see the period? )I'll special order from an LGS - IF I get a discount. I learned to play from a game going on in an LGS ( '79 !) - Still a great way to get exposed to the hobby. Bad lighting IS an American epidemic!</blockquote>

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