Chained Melody

Wal-Mart is one of those American institutions some people just love to hate. San Diego has shut the door on any opening their doors there, to protect local establishments and to protest their wage scale. It may be that some bloom is off the rose: the store chain's profits are down in a quarter for the first time in 10 years. I haven't been in one in a few years, because I have a wide variety of retail choices where I live. But I can't deny that using economies of scale in buying things (whether toothpaste or now, generic drugs), allows many of their customers to stretch their dollars.

And so we come to the typical American's love/hate relationship with chain stores, the subject of an article in the December 2006 issue of The Atlantic magazine by Virginia Postrel (former editor of Reason). We love the lower prices, the better hours and locations, and the wider choice of goods usually provided by chain stores. But she doesn't worry about how shopping at a Starbucks, Target, or Macy's in any location in the country can alter how we perceive a place:

Stores don’t give places their character. Terrain and weather and culture do.

Her argument is pretty convincing. Besides, I have little doubt that a hundred years ago, there were some people who welcomed, say, Woolworth's to their town, and others who fretted. Like Horn & Hardart, Two Guys, Best Products, and lots of other retailers, it didn't change to fit conditions, and disappeared from the scene. Someday, maybe Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and the Olive Garden will as well.