MIGHT WANT TO SELL YOUR STOCK IN WALMART!

Sometimes I refer to Walmart as "Redneck Heaven." Now, there is controversy in the Redneck community over whether Walmart, or Bass Pro Shops deserves that title...but I come down on the side of Sams' clan (God rest his soul).

I've been hearing folks complain for 25 or so years how bad it was when Walmart went into all these little towns, and put folks out of business. You know...dry goods stores, little Mom & Pop grocery stores, little flower shops, little auto parts places, and on and on.

But I'm for free enterprise, and I believe that "nothing is forever." Folks have to be willing to adjust to the times, and move on in life, or life will just move on past them...that applies to us all, no matter what we do for a living.

But I've been hearing how Walmart ain't the retail power that it once was, and that they don't dominate retailing like they once did. I heard this expert fellow the other day on TV saying how other stores like "Target" were appealing to Walmarts' customers due to the fact that they are siphoning off the more "upscale" Walmart shopper. Well, I ain't exactly sure that's the reason that Walmarts' numbers ain't what they would like. I mean, there ain't that many "upscale" Walmart shoppers to siphon. Here's my thinking:

I have noticed a (let me get my word book...) phenomenon over the last 10 or 15 years, which I will refer to as a "Dollar Store Epidemic." Traveling around my town (which is a pretty good sized city), and especially when I travel through these smaller Redneck towns in the South, it seems that everywhere you look you see a new Dollar Store.

Either a Family Dollar, or a Dollar General, or a Dollar Palace, or a Dollar "something" has popped up on every corner in the city, and one or two on every highway in little towns. It's like an outbreak of the bird flu or something!

Now you can't tell me that all these little dollar stores haven't took a bit old bite out of Walmarts' business. Sure, they don't sell computer things, or tires, or televisions...but they sell a whole bunch of stuff that are "high profit" items for the big retailers at really cheap prices.

But I had suspected that it was more than just the cheap prices. And my suspicions have been verified. I ran across a piece of an article from a little hometown newspaper. Obviously the woman that this reporter is quoting here is a Redneck gal. And it is obvious that this gal has other reasons for forsaking "Redneck Heaven" for the new Dollar Palace other than cheap prices.

After reading this, I'm thinking about selling off my Walmart stock. There's about a gozillion dollar stores out there, and if this is the sentiment of Redneck gals everywhere...old Sams' folks are in a heap of trouble.

Yep, Redneck gals hate to have to put on airs...you'd better watch your back Sam!