[adolfojp]

Not shopping at Sam's Club because its parent company destroys small town America is a perfectly reasonable sociopolitical stance so I respect it. Bravo.

But if you're still shopping at Costco then you don't really care about the effects that these big box stores have on small town economies.

You're just into performative activism.

But Costco does have better working conditions so I'll give you that.

[cucumber3732842]

>Not shopping at Sam's Club because its parent company destroys small town America is a perfectly reasonable sociopolitical stance so I respect it. Bravo.

Not saying you specifically, but it drives me up the wall that the same people who complain big business bad have so much overlap with the people who champion government policy that makes it so only the big businesses that can amortize the fixed costs of doing business over absurd quantities can exist competitively.

[insane_dreamer]

Which gov policy is that?

[insane_dreamer]

> But if you're still shopping at Costco then you don't really care about the effects that these big box stores have on small town economies.

Costco operates quite differently from Walmart and therefore does not have the same effect as Walmart.

Walmart carries a much much larger selection (~150K SKUs at a SuperCenter vs ~4K SKUs at a Costco) and therefore competes with local grocery stores and pretty much any local store that carry just about everything needed for day-to-day living.

Costco aims at a much narrower demographic, and is designed for bulk buying, which most people don't do, or might only do for a few items. That's why, though its prices might be lower than a local grocery, it doesn't necessarily put the grocery store out of business.

It did not, and does not, target small towns the way Walmart did (doesn't do it anymore much because all the small businesses are gone now).

Also, Costco has a much smaller footprint across in the US -- about 600 stores vs ~4600 Walmart.

> You're just into performative activism.

No. While I'd like to do my shopping at small local stores out of principle, and I do where I have a choice, most don't exist anymore, and I can't resurrect them. Even the small "local" grocery that I do shop at, it turns out (I found out quite by accident on Wikipedia) is now owned by some larger company. That means instead of the "best" options, I have to choose the "least worst" options.

[gamblor956]

Costco doesn't have any stores near small town economies...

Walmart does, and it achieved its dominance by deliberately targeting and destroying small town America economies.