Yes, we do still make things in America

[tinman]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35769753/ns/business-us_business/

Walk into any big-box store in the country and you’d be forgiven for thinking that nothing is made in America anymore.

[Thor]

Of course things are still made in America. Hormel Chilly! That's it :(

Ok well Dinty Moore Beef Stew, and Kates Kitchen Hash too.

[Mister Zero]

The link didn't bring me to a story.

I buy a lot of retro stuff.. good bit of it is made in the USA. Usually better made than it's counterpart today, too.

[tinman]

The link didn't bring me to a story.

I buy a lot of retro stuff.. good bit of it is made in the USA. Usually better made than it's counterpart today, too.

Hmm I just tested it, the link and it took me to the page I intended for viewing

[Areala]

I was made in the USA! *partyhats*

*huggles*

Areala

[tinman]

I was made in the USA! *partyhats*

*huggles*

Areala

me2

[Mister Zero]

I guess I'll have to recheck the site!

What would we do without our Areala, Proudly Made in the U.S.A.!

I just bought MagLite tonight and they're still made in USA, too!

[Thor]

Yesterday it took me somewhere else as well. That's why I responded with what I did. Also the link today about walmart and marijuana brought me to a wrong page as well.

[Data]

I don't buy any of the cheap crap sold in Wal-Mart most of the time. I try to support online retailers in Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and U.S.A. I get quality brand names cheaper than retail and don't have cheap chinese goods fall apart in my hand.

All the goods in Wal-Mart are made of lead anyway. There skateboards aren't made of plywood, it's made of bark that everyone jizzes on.

[Thor]

You know... I really hate it when people feel they have to jump on the bandwagon and hate something just because it's the in thing.

I've bought plenty of stuff from Wal-Mart I've bought a 32" HDTV Vizio, A 51" Panisonic TV, Zune HD, iPod Touch, HP Laptop, HP Desktop and countless other things. Those are just the major purchases and I've not had any ov them fall appart in my hands. I also got them all for very good prices. So I guess you must have the reverse Midas touch if everything you touch falls apart.

[Mister Zero]

I haven't had much trouble with things made in China that weren't made of wood(furniture made from compressed fiberboard and No. 2 pencils come to mind). I have a lot of tools made in China that stand up as well as any.

The skateboard decks you buy at Wal-Mart aren't made for people who can actually skate already- mainly beginners. Real skaters will already have some real brands they like and put together their own boards with different decks and good trucks and wheels.

Sure, you can get quality brand names that aren't made in China, but they'll usually just be made elsewhere, like Taiwan, Vietnam, or India. Not much difference, really. I've found clothes made in Vietnam and India are generally pretty well made, albeit maybe from a sweatshop? =O

As for other goods at Wal-Mart, you can usually buy them elsewhere, but I think because of how Wal-Mart buys in bulk or sets up liscences with the companies it works with, the prices are generally lower. So, sure, you can find them somewhere else, but Wally world's got a grip on them and you can usually find stuff cheaper there. Is it right? Who is really to say. The companies choose to do business with them, so they must be doing something right.

[Data]

Wal-Mart is bad for music if you are looking for something with swear words in it. They censor the swears and don't warn the purchaser of it.

I bought 2 VCR's there years ago that started with the problem of not ejecting tapes and then all together not working in any manner.

Wal-Mart has built its strategy on using its size and massive buying power to undercut competitors. But it sells enough products in enough categories to make up any losses on individual items it uses to bring people into its stores. An example is of new book releases. The mom and pop book stores have decreased so much there not even a threat to Wal-Mart but online shops like Amazon have to lower their prices to the point where there is no longer a profit.

Wal-Mart will buy a huge number of products from a company that it would be lucrative to invest in the cost of increasing production. Then Wal-Mart will ask for larger and larger price cuts as well as larger packaging. If they refuse these conditions, Wal-Mart will refuse to stock any of the brands merchandise.

Some of the food items that have been repackaged for Wal-Mart are actually a worse deal than other stores. They actually put less contents in a jumbo size box when you weigh product material to dollar. This was so with the sweetener packets as well as some other things.

There was a day when I thought I could buy everything I needed at Wal-Mart as far as food and games go and it's true to a point. I mean Wal-Mart has the largest selection of junk food that I know of.

I've bought a few pair of shoes from Wal-Mart as well. A pair of steal Toed Work boots I bought for $45.00. They were the most expensive model they had so I wasn't complaining. I later found that the grips on the bottom didn't like the cool weather. I almost slipped and fell on my butt a few times when the floor was damp. The laces broke after 3 weeks and the stitching came undone between the bottom and top halves. I expected more from a work boot.

I bought a pair of flat bottom skater shoes for like $20.00 bucks. They looked kinda good I thought for just schluping around but between the car wearing them out of the store and the car ride home, I had sand in the bottoms of them and they let in dirt through the bottom. Everytime I put them on I got dirty socks and man did they ever start to stink after 2 weeks.

I bought a pair of runners from Wal-Mart on day because I needed a new pair to wear to the gym and they were the ugliest things I've seen. I carefully chose a nice pair but the next day I was so embarrassed when I was walking down the hard floor in a quiet office and these things were making fart noises like they forgot to add glue or something. A week later the noses of them were peeling off and I had too much self respect to wear them any longer.

Wal-Mart has slowly sourced out all of the manufacturing to China and countries where the people who make these products get paid only a few dollars a day. They have slowly put mom and pop stores out of business. The only business that succeeded are the ones that adapted. Not by meeting Wal-Marts price point but by selling quality goods that they can be proud to offer and giving top notch customer service.

If you look up the models of some of the bigger items that Wal-Mart sells on Newegg or Amazon you can see why they offer it so cheap. I seen a 42" LCD going for under $1000.00 this past February. They were limited in numbers and they sold out in a hurry but it didn't bother me because in two years that tv is probably going to quit working and they'll be back at Wal-Mart looking at another. If Wal-Mart had a website like Newegg does so all of it's customers could review the items, Wal-Mart wouldn't look as good.

I'm glad I live in Canada where I can choose who get's my money and that will always go to my neighbor who is trying to make a living such as I am. I will not sell my soul up the river to save a few bucks now.

[E-Day]

They can choose who gets their money in the US too. In fact, they have far more choice than we do here.

[Mister Zero]

I try to support mom and pop businesses, I've even worked at a few, but they always go under. Not everyone sees things the way we do.

It's like when someone says "I don't do _____ because it's bad for ______." Well, for the one you, there are probably 50 others doing the opposite. You can't win, it's sad but true. The only way things could possibly go the other way if a huge majority of people got together and quit going to Wal-Mart, or using paper towels, or any of those other things.

Just like America's government right now. It could only TRULY change if 3/4 or more of the population banded together and made them change things. They're not going to listen to a select few who know exactly what needs to be done. It would almost take a revolution of sorts. As of right now, about half of the population or more don't even follow politics so they have no idea what's even going on. Same with the Wal-Mart shoppers- people go to Wal-Mart for convenience and don't care or even know that it's eating up all the smaller businesses in the area.

[Data]

They can choose who gets their money in the US too. In fact, they have far more choice than we do here.

Yes it's unfortunate that the USA is the biggest trading zone for the rest of the world and Canada hardly makes anything I'm interested in like computer components and gadgets. This is something both Canada and USA need to do for each other. It doesn't matter what retailer you buy from, it seems all the goods are coming from the same shipping companies in places like Hong Kong.

I try to support mom and pop businesses, I've even worked at a few, but they always go under. Not everyone sees things the way we do.It's like when someone says "I don't do _____ because it's bad for ______." Well, for the one you, there are probably 50 others doing the opposite. You can't win, it's sad but true. The only way things could possibly go the other way if a huge majority of people got together and quit going to Wal-Mart, or using paper towels, or any of those other things.Just like America's government right now. It could only TRULY change if 3/4 or more of the population banded together and made them change things. They're not going to listen to a select few who know exactly what needs to be done. It would almost take a revolution of sorts. As of right now, about half of the population or more don't even follow politics so they have no idea what's even going on. Same with the Wal-Mart shoppers- people go to Wal-Mart for convenience and don't care or even know that it's eating up all the smaller businesses in the area.

I'm not saying my sh** smells any better than anyone elses. I've been seen walking out of Wal-Mart on many occasions with bags of stuff that I simply didn't need or could have had mailed to my door step for less. In most cases I have been a dissatisfied customer with my purchases as well. Like the cheap zipy cut discs that fit on angle grinders I saved 70% on eventually exploding into fragments and nearly blinding me. The shoes with plastic like gripped soles that slip and slide in all weather and the shirts that are paper thin.

I have made the decision for myself to steer away from my poor choices of where my money goes.

[Thor]

I thought walmart and selling of censored music was a thing of the past?

[E-Day]

I try to support mom and pop businesses, I've even worked at a few, but they always go under. Not everyone sees things the way we do.

It's like when someone says "I don't do _____ because it's bad for ______." Well, for the one you, there are probably 50 others doing the opposite. You can't win, it's sad but true. The only way things could possibly go the other way if a huge majority of people got together and quit going to Wal-Mart, or using paper towels, or any of those other things.

Did you happen to see the episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit! that dealt with Wal-Mart. People who say Wal-Mart is ad and no one should shop there forget about the people who actually work in the stores and depend on Wal-Mart for their income. they profiled a woman who worked there and liked working there because she was able to provide for her family. She couldn't find another job in her area for a long time until a new Wal-Mart was put up. She was grateful for the job; something a lot of people who are better off than her are not. They will hire a lot of people that no one else will, which I think is a good thing.

[Thor]

Actually that happened to a guy that I go to church with. No one in this area would higher him because of some issues he has had in the past. Walmart in the neighboring town gave him a job and he is now able to get off on his own again and support himself rather than living in a homeless lodge. He is such a great guy too and I'm so thankful that he found a place to live and work.

[E-Day]

People don't consider that stuff when they talk about how "bad" Wal-Mart is. They just assume that people working at Wal-Mart hate it there and are being stifled. Or that Wal-Mart has to hire old people because no one else wants to work there, when in fact old people work there because they can, or want to because retirement is a bit boring. What other store has someone whose sole purpose is to greet you as you come in and put stickers on your any bags from other stores?

[Gnash]

Lately I've been quite afraid of buying chinese plastic containers. Some have such high concentrations of lead (according to some news) that I'm afraid to use them with food. I wonder if I'm just being paranoid though?