Originally Posted by
roadCruiser76
... A lot of the people on BikeForums who criticize purchasing a bike on Walmart are really just liberals with an axe to grind in general against Walmart. While claiming to support the poor, they think we should pay twice as much to buy stuff at mom and pop shops. The old saying is true that you get what you pay for, but it is indeed better to have a cheap bike than no bike at all.
The knock against department store bikes pre-dates Walmart.
But... as long as you bring it up.
The problem I have with Walmart, and plenty of operations like it, is that it's a race to the bottom. Sure their stuff is affordable but they don't pay well enough, drive out other local businesses, and favor overseas suppliers who can deliver product at ridiculously low costs, - meaning even more job losses in the States. They create their own customers because more and more people can't afford anything but the crap that Walmart sells.
Henry Ford did it right. He was criticized as a businessman for paying his employees too much. He thought it made more sense to make sure that his workers could afford his products. Walmart does the same, in a twisted way.