20 April 2005 >> ...and so do the parties.

20 April 2005 >> TechCentralStation has an article discussing an aspect of the “Wal-Mart effect” that gets little attention: namely, that by providing everyday commodities at drastically lower prices, people who live in Wal-Mart communities have more disposable income to spend on boutique items, locally-grown foods, etc. So, while it may be true that Wal-Mart has driven out some “Mom and Pop” stores that distributed commodity merchandise inefficiently (i.e. at higher-than-necessary prices), those stores are being replaced by other “Mom and Pop” shops selling specialty items that, by definition, will never be sold by mass-merchandizers like Wal-Mart. This creative destruction can lead to a renaissance of downtown areas in communities that are served by Wal-Marts on the outskirts of town.