If there are no other stores for Walmart to "pricematch" against, I don't think they will maintain their cheap prices...

One interesting point of the Walmart-type phenomenon is the entry of outlets like Walmart, Costco, LeClerc (in France) to the gas pumping business. Yes, if and when the number of other gas stations is reduced, will Costcos prices stay as low? I also think I remember that there's a beef over LeClerc (or was it Costo?) selling gas below their cost as a loss leader.

Aside from the prospect of "wipe out the indies and then raise prices" aspect, there are bigger reasons I have never shopped at a Walmart. Before they appeared in my neighborhood, I remember reading about Walmart's ability to dictate changes in record cover content/appearance to record companies. That was scary enough for me to stay away. In my mind, there is art and music out there that I find personally repugnant, and if Walmart doesn't want to sell some items, so be it. But to start tinkering with it? Slippery slope time. Ditto Blockbuster. Never been there.

I feel like I am constantly agonizing over the balance between my own pocketbook and convenience on one hand and the negatives of Walmartization on the other:

I don't patronize Starbucks at home, but when I travel I confess I seek them out as a way to get coffee that doesn't suck as bad as other locally available brew. Even though I know their presence pretty much precludes a lot of local competetion with potentially better products and service ('course, some of these folks weren't thinking about selling coffee until Starbucks appeared on the horizon). I mean, have you watched the workflow lately in a Starbucks with a drive-through? So much for the vaunted barista! Might as well be Burger King -- "Would you like a scone or a muffin with that?"

There are others on my love-hate list:

Home Depot: They have everything as long as it is what they have.
Macaroni Grill: Better food than Chilis/Applebees/Fridays, but some of the most annoying, formula-driven service in the world.

The progressive homogenization of the world. Ugh.

I *am* lucky that I have a local PC shop 1 block away who survives mostly on service/repair, but who sells a bit of everything and sells items on consignment. I still buy much of what I get on line, but mix it up with the occasional local buy like the USB-serial adapter I bought from him for $35 instead of getting it on line for $18.