What the store that shall not be named is doing.

[cornermouse]

Had to go there today. I couldn't get what I wanted to Target or K-Mart and I didn't want to spend the time, energy, or gas to drive further.

Either I could spend my money on a major name brand countertop appliance made in China at $15 or I could spend my money on what appeared to be a "store", "home", or "in-house" brand also made in China for $6. Eventually, I decided that the major name brand's excuses, "Its cheaper." and "We need to cut expenses so we're laying everyone off and moving to China." were appropriate to the occasion and chose accordingly.

So take that, (major name brand).

[pooja]

1. Would it be illegal for states to impose higher sales tax on

items made outside of the United States, say 5% more sales tax on top of the original sales tax?

[cornermouse]

2. Probably.

And if it wasn't before they did, it would be shortly afterwards.

[kenny blankenship]

12. Only federal gummint can impose duties on imports

Article I, Section 10, Paragraph 2, 3
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.

No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

Even you could get Congress to approve it, the Federal gov't would be the beneficiary (which removes the incentive for any state to ask permission for such a tax), and the amount of the levy could not exceed what it costs the state to inspect the imported shipments.
States aren't really supposed to interact with outside world except through the mediation of the Federal union.

[movonne]

3. I was in the store that shall not be named a few weeks ago( live

in a rural area and do not have much choice) and it seems to me that they are not carrying as much as they used to,also prices are getting higher...anyone else experience this??

[catmother]

5. why is everyone so paranoid about mentioning the stores name.

i assume your talking about Walmart. i hadn't been inside one for about 5 years and about a month ago i needed a few things and there was one in the area i was shopping in. i went in, and much to my surprise their prices were not lower than target. they used to be. so it's not even a bargain anymore. i don't know about the food part.

[kenny blankenship]

6. That's *LORD* Wal-de-Mort to you

[blonndee]

7. I think it's because now that they've driven most of their

competition out of business, they no longer need to compete and pretty much charge what they want. It's unfair. :-(

[catmother]

11. of course it is. it all comes down to profits. remember when

they used to advertise it as such a nice company. i don't even see their ads anymore.

[michaelpush]

9. Prices are getting higher everywhere

Due to higher fuel costs. Havnt you seen the "rollback" signs? Oh thats where they go up on an item, then 2 weeks later go back to the original price calling it a "rollback", to make you think its a lower price when its actually the same price you paid for it 2 weeks before! The poor are becoming the "retail slaves" of big retail stores...to replace the good paying manufacturing jobs which have been shipped to China so they dont have to provide "good pay"...Do you think people will slow down on the Interstate highways to save gas? Nope! I keep my speed at 60 MPH and evryone flies by me like I am not moving! We have some power but people wont use it! We could save millions of gallons of fuel a month by slowing down to 60MPH!

[cornermouse]

10. Yeah.

I noticed the less variety part too. Everyone's prices have gone up. I expect prices to go even higher and variety to shrink even , though, once they take over the manufacturing part with their own store brand.

[graywarrior]

4. They are building a huge superstore 4 miles from my house

in rural NH.

[TexasProgresive]

8. There goes the neighborhood!

I thought you New Englanders were locking big box stores out of your states. Here's what'll happen if rural Texas is any prediction. They will run every Mom and Pop business out and then if the sales are high enough they will pull out leaving you with a dead downtown and a big empty box. I just saw last week that the Wally world in Rockdale Texas is closed. These people are not good neighbors.

[graywarrior]

13. They have a captured audience here in the Berlin area.

The mill has closed, there are no jobs, so 80 people will get part time gigs. There are no other places to buy furniture, appliances, computers, etc. Berlin NH is ready to either crumble into a ghost town (there is more crack & coke dealers in that town than they want to admit) OR, it will turn itself around and become a tourist mecca. You can still buy a really nice house for $59,000.

They will pull local customers from surrounding areas for a 30-40 mile radius. We're close enough to the Canadian border, Canadians drive through here daily.

We sit between Maine and Vermont. Tourists from Mass, NY & NJ are here all the time for hunting, hiking, camping, skiing, snowmobiling, ATVing.

They will thrive here.

[LastDemocratInSC]

14. The store's name should be MAO-MART

Someone used MAO-MART in a thread here a few weeks ago. I think it's an appropriate name.

I recall reading that MAO-MART was going to offer less variety in most product selections in order to cut procurement costs.