Count me in as one who is very pleased with our local WalMart.

Ours is always extremely clean and well-kept. They are very generous with local projects, programs, and schools. They were one of the first businesses to step up and help when another business - a locally owned one - was destroyed by fire. They hire teachers in the summer and college kids in the holiday season.

Sometimes they're cheapest, sometimes they're not. Because they are a national chain they seem to have access to produce our two locally owned stores do not, so if I want something unusual I know to check our Super WalMart. In our small town there are a number of things I simply couldn't buy anywhere else locally... like socks and undies for my kids!

We do have a Walgreens and it's closer to my house, so I go there just about as often as WalMart. I'd say 60% of the time I go to a state chain (there are four of this store in our state, and it's not found in any other states) and the rest of the time I make the trek out to SWM.

While I think Target somehow has a more *fun* feel, I assume that they, too, squeeze their suppliers for the best possible deal and also sell cheap "Made in China" stuff. That Dollar Spot isn't exactly filled with designer plastic junk. I like Target a lot, don't get me wrong... but I don't see them as any more or less virtuous than WalMart.

For us, the location of our WalMart is a plus. We are along an interstate and the presence of the WalMart at our intersection, open 24 hours/day, pulls people off in a way we wouldn't be able to otherwise. It's a few miles into town-town from the interstate exit and people wouldn't bother to come all the way into town... but they definitely stop at our SWM and when they spend money, our tax receipts go up. It's a win-win.