Wal-Mart Crushing Mom and Pop Shops
Mary Ritter
English 122: English Composition II
Lauren Higgins July 8, 2013

Wal-Mart Crushing Mom and Pop Shops That one of the paper’s opening quotes is actually from a pro-Wal-Mart article, which goes on to discuss the merits and efficiency enhancements that result, claiming that “in a free market, large suppliers of nearly everything will drive most small suppliers out of business.” Wal-Mart watch, one of the largest Anti-Wal-Mart organizations, features an academic article claiming that in Iowa, Wal-Mart’s expansion has been responsible for widespread closings of ‘mom and pop’ stores, including 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building suppliers,161 variety shops, 158 women’s stores, and 116 pharmacies. Perhaps because of its size and success, unlike most other firms, Wal-Mart’s ability to open new stores is decided within the political process. State and local economic development authorities, and state courts, in most cases make the final decisions on whether to allow the entry of a specific new Wal-Mart store. These decisions are often influenced by arguments about the harm done to small businesses. For example, in her comments to a local reporter surrounding the city commission’s vote on allowing a new Wal-Mart store, Aberdeen, South Dakota city commissioner Pat Klabo stated “If this were a moral decision, we would have voted right away in favor of the ‘mom and pop’ stores.” Even President Clinton's former Secretary of Labor, Robert B. Reich, writes in the New York Times that Wal-Mart will turn “main streets into ghost towns by sucking business away from small retailers. These previous estimates of the negative impact of Wal-Mart on other businesses, such as the numbers cited above, are misleading. These estimates come from a series of