Adam@Home by Rob Harrell for December 09, 2013

must be nice to live in a town where Walmart hasn’t driven all of the little businesses out of business.

Sadly, there aren’t many stores worth shopping at in my city’s downtown. I can’t remember the last time I bought anything downtown. I buy some things at Walmart, but not clothes.

Downtown is where you get all the best coffee shops, i.e. not ridiculously overpriced corporate chains.My downtown is mostly dollar stores, so nothing to go there for. (And you have to pay over a dollar to park in front of a dollar store!) If someone would open a “Nothing Made In China” store, they’d make a fortune!!!

Adam doesn’t need to go to Cinnabon!

Walmart will actually hold meetings with small businesses to teach them ways to compete. And, like was said, better quality and different variety but not the same things at higher prices will bring people in.

I cater to our local Coast to Coast hardware store. Quality merchandise at a good price. I have never returned an item. I will always shop the mom and pops even if it costs a bit more. More often than not, customer service is great. Burlington, WA

We have a few local Mom & Pops……..at a place called The Walking Mall. Great stores with things you’d never see in the big box stores. That’s how they stay in business! Our two favorite restaurants are locals…….best food and coffee!!!! Bad thing, is that they close after the lunch rush!

Downtown has a Starbucks, Blenz and Timmies on every corner. Waves sneaks a couple of coffee shops in here and there.(lets just say you just have to walk a block to change your mind) And all the downtown gorcery stores have a deli & space to eat. Discovered last night while going to Urban Fair for dinner why a 7-11 store was closed & we have suffered construction at that corner. deBeers has opened in Vancouver!.Anyone got a few thousand lying about? I suddenly have this urge to spend.

Downtown here we got the Cafe Du Monde.

I haven’t bought anything at a Mall in at least 20 years. I’m an SBO, too, and my first choice is always a local business. Good for Adam.

Malls in Albuquerque have Starbucks. There’s an area that is less than a mile round with three of them.

Local businesses – car repair, hair/nail salons, EXPENSIVE ladies dresses, jewelry, card stores – mostly owned by people who do not live here, but in FL and have managers, so they are not locally owned. Of the actual stores (as opposed to services) high prices, no service, no returns. When Walmart opened in the area I felt sorry for the bike shop next to it – 15 years later bike shop still there (but this is an hour from us). Only business that has closed in the 2 counties due to Walmart is Kmart. There were no local businesses before WM/KM came. Kmart took over location of “local” store of a chain that had closed way before it came.

Husband and I have a business making and selling handcrafted gifts. Unfortunately in this area handcrafted is looked at as inferior to manufactured items. “Craft shows” are mostly manufactured items. We were at show where husband was selling (among other items) leather belts – he bought the hides, cut the belts, hand stamped the designs $20, including almost 9% sales tax – next to other someone had belts from Mexico $9, think we sold much? We started doing craft shows in 1986. We were down to 1 show a year and that was mostly sentimental, not sales, when we stopped 4 years ago. People are only interested in mass produced items. The only items that still sell of ours are items made for 18th century reenactors that we sell online and through a “sutler” who sells this sort of item at reenactments.