Many cities and towns across the country are reporting that big-box retailers are generating large numbers of police calls—far more than local businesses do.

One reason for this is that Wal-Mart and other big chains, as a matter of company-wide policy, involve the police in every incident, no matter how small. While someone caught shoplifting a $3 item from a local store might simply be told by the owner never to come back, that same $3 shoplifting incident at Wal-Mart will cost the city hours of police time in responding to the call, filling out paperwork, and a possible court appearance. Another factor is that big-box stores seem to attract criminals passing through, particularly those outlets located near a highway interchange and open 24 hours.

Perhaps they prefer the anonymity of a supercenter's aisles to the intimate environment of Bob's Hardware on Main Street, where Bob himself greets you from behind the counter....

(Philadelphia Inquirer 2004)

Unless I have been misinformed by friends who work there, Costco is much like Sam's or Wal-Mart, as it is different from them, in a few critical areas:

Their CEO takes only $350k salary, the lowest paid CEO of a major Corporation in America. It also pays its employees much better than Sam's or Wal-Mart, or Target, or Borders, or Whole Foods and most other retailers and supplies them with better benefits.

Shell writes on a subject near to my heart, however, President Obama, like his predecessor, has ignored my articles sent him by my broker and the information I placed on his website, in which I suggested placing a huge tax on Publicly traded Corporations which outsource labor, place a Cap on Executive Compensation Packages of $2.5 Million. Anything more is stealing from the investors of that company.

I have sat on boards of Directors and the participants have jointly and in unison in a One-Hand Washes The Other, conspiratorial plan which has, and nothing other has, raised CEO Compensation packages from 25 times the salary of average employees to 550-1100 times the salary of average employees. In my association with CEO’s who served on boards with me, I found their IQ to be not nearly as high as those of Academics, or entrepreneurs, or artists, architects or lawyers. In fact I found them to be rather not so bright but very lacking in innovation and their only concern is slashing quality to make a greater Corporate kitty for their own avarice.

President Obama is a great disappointment to my colleagues and me. It would seem that just as there was only one Jesus, one Babe Ruth, there was only one FDR and we shall perhaps never see another.

As I sit here on my IKEA chair at my IKEA desk with a gentle breeze wafting through my IKEA curtains, I feel compelled to chime in. IKEA sucks. Nah, just kidding. IKEA rules...remember people...taste is subjective. I don't give two shits about some old heavy furniture that your grandmother drooled on. Quality my ass. I'll take mine new, light and Swedish please. Seriously, to me it's not even about cost...I really prefer IKEA furnishings on an aesthetic level...the affordability and compactness are just a bonus. And I loooove assembling it...it's kinda the best part. So don't assume that people only shop there out of necessity, kay?

Gee, what a surprise.

Where old urban hippies go to die.

Laurel, I hear a lot of what you're saying. {I'm reading some of your other letters (hundreds+Editors Choices).} Is there really that much of a philosophical rift between the 'heartland' and the 'hipster' coasts?

And, BMerz, I think shopping at IKEA is an entirely reasonable thing to do. I liked your post

I'm from Upper Michigan; I know all about the Midwest. I love it too. I left because some of those 'heartland values' made me feel physically very unsafe, but that's another story

There is an odd string of arguments going here...

Some folks refuse to shop at Wallyworld but are enthusiastic IKEA fans (for which they are scathingly criticized). Some people defend Wallyworld (for which they are scathingly criticized). Some people scathingly criticize all retail chains (for which they are scathingly criticized), and some people are refuseniks (like me and Betzee) who (possibly because we're involved in the arts) think our whole culture is a kind of cruel joke (for which we are scathingly criticized). What a mess. I don't know where to start

Wow. All I can say is everything I needed to know about thrift stores I learned in the Upper Midwest. I feel oddly accused of being a 'thrift store hipster' (not that Laurel acuses me directly, but I feel the flack; I'm in Laurel's general target area - i.e. the West Coast - or any coast but the North Coast). {I Love the Great Lakes, Laurel; it was not a lighthearted decision to leave after 50 years.} I may have trendy hipster values lurking in my subconscious, but I think a few of us West Coast types (in spite of our trendy hipster inclinations) lament in our bones the demise of the small and unique - better than a lot of Midwesterners do. Is baulking at huge retail chains really antithetical to 'American' values? Weirdly, sometimes, it would seem so

I'm not saying I refuse to shop IKEA; they have a lot of great stuff (though I am a wallyworld refusenik). 10% of my purchasing is Not thrift store. {I have a definite weakness for Clair's bling, for example. ;-} But I try to moderate my consumption of 'brand new' stuff (usually reserving it for key items - like knickers)

You are right, of course. If everyone shopped at thrift stores... Why, personally, I think they'd cease to exist. It would be like a Star Trek future come true; we wouldn't need them. The schism between the culture of newness and the culture of second-hand wouldn't exist. Or, perhaps, rather than an imaginary utopian future, it would be more like going back to the past. That thrift stores even exist means something is distorted. We just get rid of stuff 'cause it has no value to us, psychologically. There is no attachment - no emotional investment. We're really bad materialists. {I'm speaking broadly and inclusively of American culture as a whole not of specific individuals (just in case what's-his-name wants to get in my face).}

Many here Did express a sense of attachment to things they consume. I don't think that's bad. I'm attached to my musical instrument; it means a lot to me. It wasn't a casual thoughtless purchase. {It involved phone calls, weeks of negotiating with the Luthier, special shipment... And, it was MADE IN WISCONSIN - hand crafted, in fact.}

I think I'm saying our actions as consumers would be better for everyone if we were more thoughtful and deliberate. Sure, I save money by thrift shopping. But I deliberately buy things that are not new. I deliberately prefer to buy things from friends. I deliberately buy things from local shops. I tip well, too, and part of the reward is that Bartender remembers me. That local shopkeeper remembers me

Heh. It's pretty old-fashioned, really. Imagine, a hipster like me... Very strange

{Time to press 'Publish' before this gets any more mish-mashy ;-}