blockbuster-mart 3

BLOCKBUSTER-MART 3

For anyone who finds the end of Blockbuster a joy to behold I say unto thee, verily, dumbass, the Digital Age is all flash and false hope that will disappoint and endanger. It is convenient. So is McDonald's. And about as healthy. What did we lose when the video stores closed? Physical copies. Personal recommendations. And a “special event” that was planned, executed and enjoyed ( not that Blockbuster was small or personal enough-I speak of the retail segment in general ). It is the same with the death of book stores.

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Web page surfing takes away the experience we enjoyed, either as the only place in the mall I could go to as the women folk chattered and clucked among the clothing, or the weekly treat of spoiling yourself with special entertainment the TV could not match. Going to Amazon or Netflix and scrolling through thousands of offerings? It isn't the same ( and not just because Hollywood is cranking out extra special levels of crap. Even the latest Mel Gibson, “The Madman And The Professor”, better than months of mediocre pap, simply wasn't a must re-watch masterpiece it could have been ten or more years ago ).

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Like the actual lives of most Americans it is all quantity and near zero quality. Did the Romans eat faster and faster, puking more and more in between courses, in a vain attempt to enjoy more luxury as the city decayed around them? Did the Nazi's in the bunkers stay drunk as the Soviets got closer, hoping their last days of excess were better than reality? The death of retail video is also the death of Hollywood ( the death of The Walking Dead-the last season, once again, degenerating into episodes to endure rather than enjoy-might portend the end of the smaller Hollywood brethren surviving out of the state of California ).

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The death of analog. Hollywood went to crap, retail went to crap, books went to crap, our political system went to crap, all about the same time after 2008. The death of the old system ( malls in business for fifty years going to crap wasn't because Amazon-it was the death of the anchor stores which is the beginning of the death of the Big Box Stores ). Nobody is even beginning to believe grocery stores are going to fail. But if they are attached to a failing over indebted over stretched version of K-Mart? Sure.

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When Wally takes a big puke, how do Po Boys survive? I don't actually believe things will be that much worse for you. The simple fact is, almost every single thing in half the store is complete and utter low quality garbage. I don't say this as a snob. In certain things, low cost products are fine. If I don't habitually saw wood, how high of quality of a saw do I need? I hear you say, buy once, cry once. And I don't disagree. What I do ascertain, however, is that we are no longer in a position to treat EVERY single product like that. On a reduced budget, you must sometimes trade longevity for budgetary considerations.

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Fact-unemployment is high. Fact-it will get much higher. Fact-you can't always get what you want. In a lot of cases, middlin quality is the best you can hope for. Almost nothing on the merchandise side of Wal-Mart is of middlin quality. That whole half of the store is a black hole for money. In almost every case, a little shopping around buys you three times the life for only twice the money. You SAVE money buying outside Wal-Mart. How about food? That is much tougher. Not AS tough as it used to be however.

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Long ago Wally switched from generics to brand name. I grant you, their brand names are cheapest. But who the Hell is such a luxury dripping Yuppie Scum they can afford brand names? Not I. You can, usually, get cheaper generics in the Yuppie Grocery stores than you can buy brand name at Wally. Yes, in a few instances brand name is better. Libbey's corn was five times better tasting than any other brand name and ten times better than generic. In some generics it tasted like I was eating deer corn.

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That is rare, at least to me, without any refined taste. One great thing about decades of company consolidation is that your generic item is made by the same idiots making brand name items. Usually. So you buy generic. Whoopie Pickles. You abused little First Worlder. Now, for those already eating generic from Wal-Mart, most times you can survive buying on Yuppie Grocery weekly specials. The Loss Leaders ( because of those, a lot of times you are paying less than anywhere else. This is when Wally's “always low price” bites them in the ass, as they never have specials ).

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You will have to start stocking up on all food items, so that you can go six months without visiting a grocery store ( start at one month, work your way up ). This means you never buy EXCEPT on the sales. Plenty of folks sell used freezers because they suck too much energy or they look ugly. Is rotation a PITA? Of course. I'm sorry, were you under the impression that saving money was easy? Haahahaha! You are so cute when you discover reality for the first time.

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The stuff you need to buy daily or weekly? Well, you'll have to shop around. That means for a lot of us, a bicycle. Which you need anyway. You were saving money JUST driving to Wally. Now you'll need to save money by pedaling around and comparison shopping, buying the cheapest. Your days of assuming Wally is the cheapest are over. I'm not going to pull out the stale and overused “gardening”. This article is on substituting where you buy your food. And everyone is aware of farmers markets and such.

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Some items you can create. This will be a high up front cost. It will take two years for my newest grain grinder to pay for itself, but less if I shopped for the flour at Krogers instead of Wally. It frees me from Wally's low price, by its eventual much lower price. Dehydrators and pressure canners can help for buying produce on sale, if you are really a bunny. Or even meat, if you worry about the grid going down. The empty jars are cheaper at Wally, unless you bulk buy them at the end of the season from ranch/farm supply stores.

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Yes, you'll have to stock inventory to beat the cost of Wally. Is that such a bad thing? Hell, it is a guarantee that Wally is ALWAYS out of something you need anyway. You had to stock up from Wal-Mart. There is no difference if Wally closes down! We can break this unnatural dependence on a company that hates us and has been screwing us for a decade. It won't be simple, a little less easy, up front costs. But you do it now while you can still cheat at Wally, or be forced to do it quickly and not as cheaply when they bankrupt. Good luck!

( .Y. )

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