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We do have a Wal-Mart and a Target near each other. I prefer the Target. Wal-Mart is so "successful" with their cheap crap that if I wanted to save money on flour or Chinese Alarm clocks, I would be waiting in line for a good 45 minutes. See, they are saving money by not putting enough $8 an hour cashiers out. The ones who are out, are the people who could not get the $15 jobs at Albertsons or Ralphs.

It's simple economics. If you have a choice of checking for 30 hours and getting paid $450, or have to work 58 hours to get the same amount of money, with no benefits, if you are competent, where do you apply for a job?

When Wal-Mart is the only game in town, their employees do get better, I will grant that. I was in a Super Wal-Mart in Gonzales Louisiana this spring, being asked to pay $2.00 each for red bell peppers. There is only 1 Supermarket left now. The others shut down after the Super Wal-Mart moved in.

I will buy chinese food at an american restaurant, but just refuse to buy Chi-Com crap at Wal-Mart.

One of the advantages of living in SoCal is the breadth and depth of shopping alternatives. We now do all of our meat shopping at a big Vietnamese grocery mart in Little Saigon. (We'd do produce as well given the quality/range, but 5 miles is too far to drive for non-freezable perishables.)

We stumbled upon the store after taking a little stroll through the shopping center after eating lunch at one of the many Vietnamese restaurants in the area. When we cruised in the first time, we couldn't believe our eyes: a huge full service butcher shop that probably had 100+ kinds of fish (including tanks with live crabs, lobsters, fish, etc), beef, poultry, pork, etc with about 20 butchers working behind the counter.

We were the only white people in the store; while the vast majority were Asian, there was a number of Hispanic guys loading up what looked like restaurant supplies as well ie buying caseloads of produce, etc.

But what really caught our attention were the prices: $3/lb for fresh (farm bred) salmon, $5.29/lb for 5-7 pound rolls of filet mignon (we don't bother with hamburger anymore), $1.59/lb for 5 lb racks of ribs, etc.

We have lunch parties now and then and people always think we spent a fortune, when actually we spent less money than buying hotdogs & hamburgers at the local Vons.

"...but just refuse to buy Chi-Com crap at Wal-Mart."

Try buying the "Chi-Com crap" at any Sears, Jacque C. Pennay, or any other store for that matter. Wally World carries many major name brands. The manufacturers of those major name brands may have chosen to have their products assembled in China. You're faulting Wally World for the decisions of Westclox or Sunbeam or some other brand?

Michael