I read recently "Pittsburgh is the eastern border, to St. Louis being the gateway to the West, Canada to the North and the Ol’ South below.
Living wages? No credit cards? Unamerican - looks like socialism to me!
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Well, I’ve never heard of it before, but there’s one about 6.2 miles from me. I’m afraid that walking to the Safeway, as much as I hate the Safeway, is going to beat out getting on the public transit for 6 miles there and 6 miles back. Sorry WinCo!
This WinCo sounds nice and all but do the employees get to do a brainwashing pep rally chant at the start of their shift? Yeah, I didn’t think so!
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This shouldn’t be a surprise, as it’s a very successful business model used by The John Lewis Partnership in the UK (who owns Waitrose Supermarket), an employee owned, £10bn (turnover) business that sits on top of the “Best Employers in the UK” lists year after year - Profits are shared (between 1 and 2 months salary is the norm.), paid leave for charity work, every partner also has channel for expressing their views to the Chairman, the “corporate” perks of large country estates, golf courses, a bunch of company yatchs and hotels are available to everyone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis_Partnership#Organisation_of_the_Partnership
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I’ve been to it once, the thing that stood out to me was that they had giant sacks of produce for really cheap (should remember that if I get in a mood for pickling) and that it was mobbed with screaming wild-running children – even more so than is usual for Utah. The big problem for me is that it’s rather out of the way in addition to being far.
it is just that easy. wal-mart has been using it’s power for some time to force companies to keep their prices down by refusing to buy from them (forcing many of them to ship their work overseas to keep prices low) except at a certain price. people want wal-mart to stock their stuff because it means more business, if wal-mart goes to one of winCo’s suppliers and offers to pay them more than winCo but they have to sign an exclusivity contract which says they will not sell to any other retail stores, or not sell for less than they are selling to wal-mart, then winCo will have little recourse (wal-mart is bigger and will pay more and will stock them in more stores, if you are a farmer or factory you would be dumb NOT to)
if wal-mart ever sees winCo as a threat they could easily crush them.
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I doubt Wal-Mart would ever see WinCo as a threat, mainly because they aren’t stocking the choices or volume Wal-Mart does. Look at Aldi’s or Trader Joes, for the most part it’s all house brands. And while TJ’s does excel at their packaged good, Aldi’s is lack luster at best compared to the “brand name” version (on most things, not all). So while Aldi’s has produce cheaper than Wal-Mart and damn close to Sam’s Club (while being half to a third in shear amount), I doubt they are any real threat. Besides Aldi’s has it figured out, remove bags and make the carts useable by change…you don’t know how many people I see pay for bags and walk away from a cart without putting it back. It’s like watching a lab experiment in real life, one where the mouse keeps getting zapped and doesn’t even seem to understand or care.
Speak for yourself. I’m not wealthy but I don’t shop at Walmart. I want to buy nothing that enriches the Walton family, so they have nothing at Walmart that interests me. Factors involved in my decisions in where to shop include price per quality, variety, union/non-union, if non-union do they pay their people well, like Trader Joe’s. If you believe only the wealthy can afford to make moral choices with purchasing, you’re being lazy, cheap and cynical. If you’re online, you can google to see who has what. You can even call and ask them. Also, some stores are cyclical in when they stock and there are also peak times when most people shop,. Times like Sunday afternoon/evening, you’ll often find slimmer pickings then if you went Thursday or Friday.
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As I read more labels, I think health conscience packaged food buyer is often an oxymoron.
How nice it is to work anywhere is going to be dictated by your co-workers and management, for sure. It’s not like working a cash register as at a supermarket is suddenly someone’s dream come true just because it pays a living wage.
But at the same time the culture of a workplace is going to be heavily affected by whether or not people feel respected. Suddenly that cash register job is an “honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay” instead of a slave drive. I would wager that at places like this you’ll find a much better atmosphere that will be better for everyone.
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So poor people don’t want to waste a bus fare making two trips but they don’t care about the price of the things they buy? I’m not sure that scans.
As long as we’re clear that if you are marking up a product 30% then 2% of the transaction is nearly 10% of your profit. If you are marking up products 200% then it’s not such a big deal.
As a small-ish female, I completely sympathize and endorse jhutch2000’s position on cash. I only carry as much on me at any given time as I would be OK with having stolen from me should I get mugged. I’d be fine with the seller passing the transaction fee on to me if it means I don’t have to carry a couple hundred bucks on me at any given moment.
You say “get over yourself,” I say grow some empaty.
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When I lived in an area with a Winco, I loved, loved, loved the bulk section. Where I live now, I can only find couscous as a specialty food in overpriced boxes; the inexpensive bulk couscous at Winco was awesome.
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Oh, definitely. I worked mainly in restaurants for the first chunk of my adult life, before landing a gig at my local co-op grocery. It’s just a world of difference, and I really can’t speak highly enough. This is not to say that there wasn’t the occasional frustrating bullsh*t, workplace politics, or what-have-you. It was, after all, work 
For the first time in my life, I earned a real “living wage,” had access to a reasonably-priced health plan, and accrued retirement benefits. The upper management of the store generally took care to provide promising employees with opportunities for increased responsibility and advancement. I could afford to live in a decent place, enjoy the occasional luxury purchase, and do some traveling. Hell, I actually got these things called “vacations”; If I took time off to visit family or recover from illness, I still had a job. (That one took a long time to adjust to…)
- “Normal” service industry job (at 4 yrs.): no benefits, no security, no real agency, maybe $16k/yr.
- Cooperative service industry job (at 4 yrs.): full benefits, security, significant agency, approximately $30k/yr.
I’m sure that for many Boingers, that second figure still seems paltry. However, in context, it’s freakin’ life-changing. Then there’s the mental health benefit of feeling reasonably valued as an employee, and the positive feedback loop of employee ownership.
I would wager that at places like this you’ll find a much better atmosphere that will be better for everyone.
So, yeah. ^Exactly. That’s why I’m thrilled than non-hippy-dippy businesses are succeeding with a similar model. Let’s mainstream that sh*t!
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… only wealthy people shop at places because they support the company’s ideals.
I have to respectfully disagree. I’m hardly a wealthy person. The most I’ve ever earned was roughly $35k, including the value of benefits, and before taxes. Yet even when I earned half of that – or less! – I still made a point to make purchases that reflected my values, whenever possible.
Indeed, the farther down the income scale one goes, the harder it becomes to do this consistently, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t done at all. If it’s important, a balance can be found. Poor people like to feel good about themselves and promote their values just as much as anyone else. I’m not sure if you’re coming at this as a poor person who feels frustrated by a lack of perceived options, or as someone who is on the outside looking in on that experience. But to make such a statement comes off as a limiting at best, and condescending at worst.
After all, as you say;
Price has little to do with what store people choose.
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Interesting. I am also a woman. I always carry a bit of cash, neatly separated from everything else, and with the largest bill on the outside. I figure I can throw money and run, giving some one a choice between easy money and assault/murder charges.
I used to do this long ago when I worked retail for a terrible place in a truly awful part of town. They made us drop the bag to the bank after closing ourselves each night, driving out to the bank drop involved walking through a dark alley, a largely unoccupied and poorly lit parking lot near midnight, and going to the bank which was separated by a short chain link fence from a club notorious for violence when the patrons left for the morning. I used to keep all the day’s earnings in their bag, pressed inside my trench with my hand on them. Not to protect them, mind you, but because I figured some one might rather have a store’s entire day of earnings rather than a blood soaked night with my vagina. As for the store? Screw them, they were awful. May they go out of business. I assure you they would have much prefered I died over their cash.
Anyway my point is, for the very reasons you list, I make sure I do have some money around.
Now this store sounds interesting. I’m a terrible shopper, where I used to be quite frugal. I mean I waste a lot on groceries now and tend to frequent Central Market (if you think HEB is too big…) and ilk. I need to stop, but it’s like an addiction or something.
But I’d be interested to see how a smaller store like this might fare. Especially in an area where cost is an issue. I used to shop at Sack-n-Save and Fiesta, but they are getting harder to find around here.
Off the top of my head I can think of some parts of the Metroplex where a store like this would be so convenient and helpful. There are definite grocery store deserts there, where you are stuck driving (or riding a bus) for several miles to get to a grocery. Small convenience stores stock some key items, but always for a higher price.
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Yeah, my mom was a social justice shopper when she worked two jobs and lived as a single parent. I can assure you she wasn’t rich. She just had strong values.
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