I promise: This won't be merely a rant against a corporate monolith. However, I am warning you that this post will contain one. So proceed at your own peril.
Yesterday, as I mentioned, I got a flat. Since Mom and Dad don't ride, and the bike was borrowed, there was no spare tire or tube in the house. So Dad took me to Wal-Mart, which was the only store open, to get them.
I bought a mountain bike tire and two tubes. The total cost, with tax, was $25.88. That doesn't sound bad, except that I know that I could have gotten something of better quality online, or even from my local bike shops, for less money. And these tires and tubes were the only ones offered in the store.
The tire and tubes were from Bell, which seems to have become a generic brand of bike parts and accessories without being, or admitting to being, generic. I've used Bell helmets, which were fine. But I see, at best, a tenuous connection between whoever is making the tires and tubes and whoever is making the helmets.
So, it seems, Wal-Mart is now taking advantage of the apparent lack of competition in the area by offering a limited selection and inferior quality at whatever prices they can get away with charging.
And don't get me started on the way the company treats its employees. That they were working on a holiday, for minimum wage, was bad enough. But the workers--even the young floor manager--didn't seem very healthy. And the cashier--one of those wonderful Southern women of a certain age who calls everyone "hon" and "darlin'"--was missing nearly all of her teeth.
She probably couldn't have afforded the tires and tubes I'd just bought.
Yesterday, as I mentioned, I got a flat. Since Mom and Dad don't ride, and the bike was borrowed, there was no spare tire or tube in the house. So Dad took me to Wal-Mart, which was the only store open, to get them.
I bought a mountain bike tire and two tubes. The total cost, with tax, was $25.88. That doesn't sound bad, except that I know that I could have gotten something of better quality online, or even from my local bike shops, for less money. And these tires and tubes were the only ones offered in the store.
The tire and tubes were from Bell, which seems to have become a generic brand of bike parts and accessories without being, or admitting to being, generic. I've used Bell helmets, which were fine. But I see, at best, a tenuous connection between whoever is making the tires and tubes and whoever is making the helmets.
So, it seems, Wal-Mart is now taking advantage of the apparent lack of competition in the area by offering a limited selection and inferior quality at whatever prices they can get away with charging.
And don't get me started on the way the company treats its employees. That they were working on a holiday, for minimum wage, was bad enough. But the workers--even the young floor manager--didn't seem very healthy. And the cashier--one of those wonderful Southern women of a certain age who calls everyone "hon" and "darlin'"--was missing nearly all of her teeth.
She probably couldn't have afforded the tires and tubes I'd just bought.