Crowds dwarf protests at Hawaii Wal-Mart

[Freddie Stubbs]

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HONOLULU -- Wal-Mart opened a store in Hawaii on Wednesday with hundreds of eager shoppers rushing past a handful of protesters who accuse the giant retailer of desecrating ancient gravesites.

Customers lined up hours ahead and then poured into the discount store after a traditional Hawaiian blessing and the untying of a lei at the main doors.

Native Hawaiian groups had tried to stop the opening until 44 remains of Hawaiians unearthed during construction could be reburied at the Wal-Mart site.

"Wal-Mart's pitch is that it's slashing prices for you. In this instance, it's slashing graves," said Moses Haia, a Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. lawyer who has filed a suit against the store.

more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Hawaii%20Wal%20Mart

[gmoney]

1. Paradise defiled (further)

I hope a volcano erupts right under housewares and vaporizes the whole place

[WatchWhatISay]

2. Maybe I'm going to the wrong Walmart

But its pretty rare that I feel like I buy anything there whose price has been slashed. Cheap stuff for cheap prices. Better quality stuff for about the same prices as all the other local retailers.

[DeadHead67]

4. Those who shop at (or rush into) Wal-Mart . . . . .

. . .are those who have the jobs, and therefore money, that haven't been offshored to third world countries that now manufacture the crap that Wal-Mart sells. What happens when enough of the jobs go overseas that people here can NO LONGER shop there. No job, no income, no shoppee!!! HELLO!!!

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. But they keep expanding rather than shrinking

If your theory were correct, Wal-Mart sales would be decreasing, not increasing.

[funnymanpants]

3. Perfect

If there is one story that encapsulates the decay of our democracy, this is it. Protestors try to call attention to a problem, and Americans are thinking "Where can I get something cheaper."

The image would only have been more perefect if the shoppers had stampeded the protestors in their blind haste.

edited for clarity

[Goathead]

5. Big Box on the Big Island

Big Box stores are sprouting up in Kona and in Hilo all over the place. The two Walmarts on the island are always jammed packed. We started going to Kmart to get away from the crowds at Wallyworld.The first time we went to Kmart there was hardly anybody in there. Now we go there for piece of mind while we are shopping. Kmart being the lesser of two evils.

[PartyPooper]

6. Aloha, kahukushep! Welcome to DU!

I lived on Oahu about 40 years ago. There were no box stores there then. It was another era entirely. *sigh*

:hi:

[PoiBoy]

7. Aloha and Welcome to DU...

kahukushep... :hi:

[Marxdem]

9. I always pray for a arson to strike that place

I always wish an arson would burn down Walmarts....only if no one gets hurt. I honestly think this or rampid shoplifting is the only way to stop this behemoth.

[Freddie Stubbs]

10. How about healthy competition from a competitor?

Being the victim of crime is not the only reasons that businesses falter.

[Marxdem]

11. They are all out of business

How can you compete with a company that demands its suppliers give them a lower price then anyone else.

If walmart can order a hammer from "craftsman" for $10 and sell it for $11, how can I (small business) compete when it would cost me $12 just to stock it? All Walmart has to do is tell Craftsman that they will stop buying from them unless the lower the cost for them.


Yea, competition is really going to beat out Walmart.

:puke:

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. 20 years ago K-Mart was the biggest retailer in the country

Now they are second banana at best. Soemone will come along that will do it better than they do.

[Must_B_Free]

13. I used to work right next to that place.

Hawaiian DUers, do me a favor and go buy a coffee from Mrs Oh at Happy Day coffee house in the alley across Keeamouku. She is a nice lady.

[PartyPooper]

14. Support a progressive company in Hawaii. Shop at a nearby Costco!

Hawaii Kai (Oahu)
Iwilei (Oahu)
Kona (Hawaii)
Maui
Waipio (Oahu)


http://www.costco.com

[Goathead]

15. Kona Walmart

Aloooo-Ha All! Thanks for the welcome.
The Walmart that I used to visit in Kona has cameras all over it's parking lot. They must really not trust anybody, their employees, their customers, to have constant surveillance like that. My girlfriend used to point up to them and say "Big Brother is watching" and we would get a laugh. It is actually really intimidating and is part of the reason I won't shop there anymore, the other reason being that they are a souless corporation that is defiling the countryside of our once beautiful nation by creating homogenous fast food and big box corridors on the outskirts of small towns.
Also, what is up with this place getting a tradional Hawaiian blessing? That to me seems like a slap in the face. It is a common occurance in Hawaii, but there are certain things that warrant a tradional blessing and certain things where I feel this is inappropriate, one being the grand opening of a parasitic mega store that just bulldozed over the ancient remains of 44 native Hawaiians.