Originally Posted by Counsellor

A friend of mine grew up in what some call a "blighted" neighborhood, right next to one of those "local stores". He reports that the owner sold rotting produce at high prices to the folks who shopped there (because they didn't have alternatives nearby), and "hired" his extended family rather than spending some of his profits on the customers he got them from.

Then a Wal-Mart opened in the vicinity, and sold fresh healthy produce (and other food) at lower prices, and hired folks from the neighborhood to stock shelves, run cashier lines, and be greeters.

There was many a dry eye when the "local store" closed.