Where does my money go? What corporations do I support?
Del Taco
Wal-Mart
Target
Home Depot
Bed Bath and Beyond
Pacific Theatres (The Grove)
AMC Theatres (Times Square)
K-Mart (Los Angeles & New York)
Apple (Mac Store/The Grove)
McDonalds (everywhere)
Jack in the Box (everywhere)
Panda Express (Bakersfield)
Honda (Hollywood)
Jiffy Lube
Rite-Aid
Time Warner
Adelphia
Network Solutions
Ralphs
Diet Coke Inc.
Motel 6
AOL
Verizon
Ikea
Bank of America
Pay Pal
PetCo.
This is where the bulk of my disposble income is dispersed. It's sort of sad and not very original. Jiffy Lube constantly tries to rip me off but I still patronize them. Panda Express skimps on the portions but I can't resist the orange chicken. McDonalds and Wal-Mart both treat human beings like garbage but who can beat the prices? Bed Bath and Beyond feels racist to me; in New York all the cashiers are black and all the managers are white. I actually complained about it once to one of the white managers but she vehemently disagreed, of course, and yet I still shop there. I think Home Depot treats it's people pretty well but I could go to my neighborhood hardware store to buy a hammer, I don't need to trek to Home Depot for that.
One of the companies I use constantly is Google! I love this company. G-mail kicks ass and I love my Google home page and Blogger. And how much money do I give Google? Nada! God bless Google!
AOl is a horrible company with a horrible product but I keep it cause of the chatrooms and so I can get online at Motel 6. And let's talk about Motel 6. Is this a good company or bad company? I have no idea but I'm very loyal. I've never understood the concept of spending money on a hotel room. I hate staying in hotels. All I need is a clean room and a bed so Motel 6 is perfect for me. Plus, they always leave the light on.
I've been a loyal customer of Honda for 20 years. They made me a great car. But I've recently started using a local mechanic because Honda of Hollywood is way too busy. And the local guy is great. I should use more local no-chain businesses. Why don't I? Why can't I break these chains of love?
Sometimes, I go to Target three times a week. I know every product. There is nothing I need. But still I go, every week, like a worshiper to church.
There are actually companies that give more to me than I give to them: Craigs List and YouTube are two examples of companies that keep on giving but ask for nothing in return.
I don't mind giving my money to Steve Jobs of Apple because my iBook gives me nothing but pleasure. Bill Gates, the businessman, on the other hand makes me sick and everytime I use word or excel I sort of resent it. I quite admire Bill Gates the humanitarian but that's not the topic of this blog. The widow of Ray Kroc recently gave NPR a zillion bucks but it doesn't mean McDonalds is a good company.
I've given the airlines lots of money and I've never crashed so I guess I got what I paid for but I so hate the whole airport experience. I hate the oil companies, too, but I love driving so I guess that makes me the ultimate vehicular-hypocrite. Did I mention I'm boycotting Exxon/Mobil?
I use to give Sprint lots of money and in return they gave me shitty service but now I'm with Verizon and very happy.
One industry I don't mind giving money to is Hollywood. If they're gonna spend 200 million making a movie I don't mind giving them 10 bucks to watch it even if the final product sucks.
I love my Netflix. I only give them 20 bucks a month but I end up saving alot of money on DVDs. I almost never buy DVDs anymore but for 20 bucks a month I can have any movie on the planet delivered to my door. It's a good deal. Though I don't think Netflix will be around in 5 years, not in it's present state. Video on demand seems to be the future.
So there you have it. I'm a typical, lazy, consumeristic American who shops where everyone else shops.
One thing I remind myself to make me feel better is that all corporate giants were once Ma & Pa stores and so by supporting them I'm supporting the "entrepreneurial spirit" but I know that's faulty thinking.
So my next list will be all the local Ma & Pa stores I support...
Hmmmmm
I think the porno theater I visit in Bakersfield is locally owned but I'm not sure.
And I bought my furniture from Wertz Brothers which is a family business in LA.
More than once I've bought a hot dog from Pinks Hot Dog in LA and in NY I order chinese from Mamma Bhudda.
But for the most part I live in chains. Will I ever break free? Do I even want to?
2 comments:
Excellent topic. Generally, people like the comfort and assurance of knowing they will get exactly what they expect (usually) when shopping at a chain, plus the appeal of one-stop shopping (a big plus when you're running errands under a deadline, like getting your kid picked up from school on time). On the other hand, the expansionist philosophy of corporations (they all start with just one store...) necessitates putting the competition out of business, and large national corporations have infinite resources to do that compared to small local businesses. We just watched a documentary about how Borders targets locations specifically to put independent booksellers out of business and it touches on many of the negative aspects of allowing generic chain mega-stores to be our exclusive source of consumer shopping and thereby dictate what's available to us. So, I'm inclined to shop at local retailers whenever possible. It's more enjoyable overall and usually not that much more expensive, unless of course the sales people are rude or they simply don't stock what I need. Then I buy it online :)
There are buying guides put out by social orgs (http://www.hrc.org/buyersguide/buyersguide.htm) rating the relative betterness of corporations, but even so, Best Buy, which ranks #1 on the HRC list, is a place I hate to shop in just on the store environment alone, not to mention crappy selection (although they're better than CompUSA), and for the basics I prefer Office Depot's selection, sales and layout (and they open at 8 am!). I don't like HRC's guide because it's not clear how they're rating businesses... like why does Walmart (ick!) rate higher than Radio Shack (a nostalgic place I love that has every cable and connector imaginable)? Moreover, I resist being told where to shop based on only one special interest group's focus (even though I support their agenda, so it does carry some weight).
And here's an interesting article I just found looking for more information:
The Messy Reality of Socially Responsible Business (the fact that it's on an animal rights site is irrelevant, but there are a lot of interesting links there)
Even the so-called "socially conscious" corporations (Ben & Jerry's, The Body Shop) employ some questionable business practices.
eeks... too many hrefs i guess confused the blogger!
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