You know maybe I will get flamed for this, we shop at Wal-Mart. We also shop at the mom and pop stores in our small town to keep the town economy afloat. With a family you have to do what's best. At times we cannot pay two dollars for a can of tuna at the local mom and pop store. It adds up quickly. So it seems to be a catch 22. I support the people who have started there own business and want to thrive. I don't see Wal-Mart as the evil beast who is taking over the neighborhood however.
there=their
Shopping Malls are bad for communities and Mom & Pop stores? Everyone agree? Boycott J.C. Penney, Sears, Mervyns, Target, Millers Outpost, Costco and Sam's Club.
Eating at Fast food restuarants are bad for Mom & Pop Cafes also. Let's boycott MacDonalds, Churches Chicken, KFC, Jack in the Box, Wendy's, Carrows,Dennys IHOP and all of the rest. How stupid. These businesses meet a need that obviously Mom & Pop establishments did (can)not meet.
No flaming here. We do the same thing. We help the local businesses when we can but sometimes they are just overpriced.
Around here the "mom&pops" have long since succumbed but the convenience stores are their replacements, and most of them are, in fact, mom&pop operations. We have them every few blocks and each hires more employees than Mom%Pop ever did when they had their own stores. Nowadays Mom and Pop tend to be ex-Hindu or ex-Egyptian or ex-Vietnamese or their parents were. They provide the same high prices we all remember and love and they are successful. They pay taxes and they provide jobs, mostly for family members but many for non kin.