Really they "basically gave you the finger"? Or maybe could it have been that they would to have to absorb that loss out of pocket because of their distributors policies?

>" That "wonderful" "personalized" service from mom-and-pop shops? Mostly myth"

That's a sweeping and completely unsubstantiated generalization. My own experience and history informs me differently. I'm sure I am not alone in that.

But yes thank God for Walmart. I don't know how we functioned as a society before we were entitled to return our purchases months later for no reason at all or when stores closed at 9:00PM.

Is this a distinction that matters to the end-customer, who only knows that they can't return the item?

What loss? All they have to do is put it back on the shelf and sell it again. I'm not talking about perishable groceries here.

>That's a sweeping and completely unsubstantiated generalization. My own experience and history informs me differently. I'm sure I am not alone in that.

I think it's correct. My own experience and history informs me differently. I'm sure I am not alone in that, especially considering all the other comments in this thread.

>or when stores closed at 9:00PM.

This one is just plain wrong. Mom-and-pop stores closed at 5PM; they had "banker's hours".

Why are you sticking up for the mom-and-pop stores so much anyway? Especially with such bogus arguments?

Do you not realize that Mom and Pop stores are still around? There not note extinct so I'm not sure why you are talking about that the past tense. There are many in my neighborhood and none of them close at 5:00PM.

Have you ever been to New York City? Your dry cleaner, your pizza place, hardware store, your news stand, your bodega - all are Mom and Pop shops.

>"Why are you sticking up for the mom-and-pop stores so much anyway?"

Because without them we are left with an endless horizon of chain stores and sameness.

Do you realize how central the role of Mom and Pops shops has been in the history of the US and continues to be today? The history of the US which is the history of immigrants is inextricably tied to the existence of the Mom and Pop business[1].

>"Why are you sticking up for the mom-and-pop stores so much anyway?"

You are actually asking why am I sticking up for the small guy? See all of the above.

[1] http://business.time.com/2012/06/15/immigrants-outpacing-the...

Go back in time to the 70s and they did. They only stay open late now because peoples' expectations have changed.

>Have you ever been to New York City?

NYC is not representative of the rest of America in any way. There's not even any Walmarts there. This is about regular America where there are Walmarts, which usually means more rural areas where Walmart is the main retailer.

>The history of the US which is the history of immigrants is inextricably tied to the existence of the Mom and Pop business[1].

Oh please, spare me the romantic and mythical view of the past. That's just like all the conservatives who pine for the "good ol' days" of the 50s and Norman Rockwell paintings, when in real life America was never like that.

The history of immigrants in the US is inextricably tied to labor exploitation and horrendous working conditions, not mom and pop businesses.

>You are actually asking why am I sticking up for the small guy?

In any small town decades ago, the local merchants weren't "small guys", they were some of the richest people in town.

You want to make sweeping blankets like "they all close at 5:00" and then you want to move the goal posts and say the discussion is only about "regular America" whatever that means or "back in the 1970s".

Replace New York with Boston, Austin, Los Angeles or New Orleans etc and the majority of businesses are still Mom and Pop. For some reason you have(incorrectly) equated Mom and Pop to mean rural America. Mom and Pop businesses are not the exclusive domain of small town America. Similarly they are not just a thing of the past as you keep referring to them.

It really appears as you have no interest in engaging in a discussion but rather just want to argue for the sake of arguing. Even your diction "oh please", "Spare me" and "bogus"? What are we in a dive bar?

That's really rich coming from someone who just went through all my recent posts and down-modded them. You're a petty, vindictive little person, and you have some real gall to call me immature.

>You want to make sweeping blankets like "they all close at 5:00"

These are reasons that many people here, including me, have given you for why we liked the effect Walmart has had. You just refuse to accept it. The statement doesn't have to be true for all small businesses nationwide, just enough of them, and in a time before Walmart, which I'm quite sure you don't remember.

People downvote responses in discussions all the time its a standard part of HN. People downvoted my as well. I don't get upset or accuse people of doing it.

Nowhere have I refused to accept that people have valid praise for Walmart at all, nor have I begrudged them that.

What I have disagreed with are wildly exaggerated and patently untrue statements made about Mom and Pop stores such as "they all close at 5:00" and "They don't ever allow returns" and "they ever have any stock."

All of these things are wildly untrue. That's what I have disagreed with.

Every time one these absolute falsehoods is pointed out you move the goal posts, again saying things "The statement doesn't have to be true for all small businesses nationwide, just enough of them"

But again you seem more interested in arguing than engaging in a productive adult discussion.

It's certainly relevant that we could go after dinner, when many specialty stores were closed, and the prices were probably better. But even without those benefits, the increased efficiency was a big win – especially for parents where every transition from car to shop to car was a hassle.