08-21-2001 - 1:58 p.m.
There's a Walgrens going up in the field across from our subdivision, near the Walmart. The whole block is becoming a black hole of places I feel guilty to shop.
I have this moral obligation about avoiding Walmart. I just don't like the place. Mediocre merchandise at rock bottom prices - until the local stores go out of business. Then they sell mediocre merchandise at inflated prices. And Walgrens... I have a problem with that chain for two reasons. First, the store built on Rt 360, near my old house in Midlothian, was built at the expense of a very old, very large oak tree that I admired. I could have gotten over that. But then they built another store on Rt 60 (Midlothian Turnpike) right next to an historic house previously secluded from the turnpike by a thick screen of trees. That really annoyed me and I've never shopped in a Walgrens because of it.
Am I nuts? Yeah, maybe. I do miss the "mom and pop" stores my family frequented when I grew up. Even here, on the border of Pungo, it's difficult to find anything but franchises. Like Walmart, they have the structure to support a new store driving all the local competition out of business - degrading the fiber of the neighborhood. Ever been to a Walmart with friendly employees? Paul Harvey is always raving about them. But every time I'm there, there are two or three checkout lines open, staffed with grumpy teenagers slowly checking out a lengthy line of grumpy customers and, if you can find anyone stocking shelves, no one knows where to find what you want. The whole thing is faceless.
