Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard

Nicely put, Larry Bud.

Some people often confuse rights with privileges. They'll shop at places they outwardly state they disdain, while enjoying pluses like convenience of business hours, location, and perceived lower pricing. These false witnesses have complete ability to choose to shop elsewhere, but complain loudly when their pumped-up false pride is pricked by a publicly-available store policy. That complaint doesn't need to be valid to become an op-ed subject portrayed as news, and filler for the media's never-ending need for 'content' (aka product). If it piques divisiveness and subsequent online interaction, more hits for the internet ad machine.

You may not like the practice of cart/receipt-checking, but it's not illegal, immoral, or - IMO - that much of an inconvenience. If the store's practice of checking a cart/receipt is applied equally to all - sorry - you should probably just deal with it, or maybe shop elsewhere?

I understand KMart doesn't perform these checks. "Shop Your Way"!

As I understand, K-Mart isn't checking much of anything these days.

I've had my gripes about Walmart, but I'll be the first to admit that I shop there out of pure convenience. It's the only big-box retailer in our town. I prefer Meijer, although the nearest store is a 12-mile drive one-way. Walmart is a half-mile from my house, and it's just easier to access without spending the extra money on gas.

I was hopeful several years ago when Meijer purchased a plot of land just outside town and announced plans to build a store, but the deal eventually fell through, so we have what we have. Thankfully we have a thriving Kroger for groceries and such (the Kroger store brand tends to be higher quality than Walmart's store brand when it comes to food).

If I can get an item elsewhere locally, like at the hardware store, that's where I'll go. I do believe in supporting smaller local businesses and try to do so whenever possible. If I need to grab a non-grocery item at 10 pm (i.e. something that Kroger doesn't stock), I can make a 24-mile round trip to Meijer or sprint down the road to Walmart. Call me lazy, but sometimes I just don't feel like making the extra trip at that hour.