New Business in Old Big Lots

[jay]

If you are looking for "Made in USA" tennis shoes and walking shoes, visit this web link which is affiliated with the New Balance Athletic Shoe Company.

www.nbwebexpress.com/information/madeinusa.asp

[ForumManager]

Lets take the discussion away from ourselves, the members on this board and look at the big picture.

It was mentioned that discount stores sell counterfeit shoes  Then it seemed like anyone who shopped a discount store was somehow causing the economic woes in this country.  I felt it was necessary to point out the lawsuits against a famous  department store that was used as a pricing example.
Walmart is apparently taking over the world
Walmart and other foreign interests are now retailing bigtime  in China.
Here is the list  of Walmart and Sam's Club stores in China from their corporate page.
http://www.wal-martchina.com/english/walmart/wminchina.htm#sc
I've said all I want to say about the subject.

[Towntalk]

The lead story on my web site home page is one of the reasons why I'm so passionate about the topic under discussion here

http://farrell-report.tripod.com

If this report is even partially true, we're all in for serious problems economically.

[Towntalk]

Lets take the discussion away from ourselves, the members on this board and look at the big picture. You hit the nail right on the head when you pointed out that buying imports isn't confined to the little discount  stores but includes the major retail corporations.

One of the biggest offenders is WalMart followed by K-Mart and Target. Combined, these stores outrank Dillards and the other major retailers.

We know for example that for every bargan leader that WalMart sells, they have 10 items that are more in keeping with the other major retailers.

I'm not blaming anyone here any more than I'm pointing a finger at those who buy foreign brand cars that are made outside the United States. We're all victims of a trade policy that was created by major corporations that couldn't care less about any of us.

If anything at all, I'm frustrated because there's actually nothing we can do about it. We are all being sold out by a government that is suppose to be protecting us.

[ForumManager]

I understand what the word rave means. 
I wasn't raving about the deals.
I was stating that you could get them discounted.
I  don't even feel that $30 is really that great of a deal.

I also understand the word rant.

MY ranting was in regard to the fact that it was stated we don't care about buying foreign products when we mentioned alternative retailers instead of the mall stores.

• Do you people even care? Or is the drive for "cheaper is better" more important to you than the safety of yourselves or your families?
  
• so you can bet your bottom dollar that the shoe that these discount stores are selling are not the real thing.
  
• Obviously you don't listen to the news,

2 different subjects.

Again just because a retailer marks  something up doesn't mean it is the real thing vs. a counterfeit.
They are just greedy PERIOD.

Someone's got to  pay for all  that "ambiance."  it doesn't need to be me.

[Mary]

We also buy Adidas. the kind that my boyfriend wears sell for about $70 at Kohl's. I can find them at dick's or even on sale at Kohl's for about $40. They last at least 1 year sometimes 2 depending on wear.

I understand that buying Chinese goods puts Americans out of jobs. However, i can not get a job either and have to buy what is cheap to be able to put food on the table. (and that means those shoes he wears better last at least another 6-9 months!!!) It's an ugly ugly cycle. I would love to buy all made in America items but the Chinese items are cheaper and when i or my daughter need shoes it means i need to spend the least amount of money i can.

On a side note i know someone who visited china last year and brought home 6 Coach purses because they were so cheap over there (about 15 US dollars) they asked someone how that was possible and they explained that the Coach plant stayed open an hour longer then they were supposed to and produced more purses. The only difference was the number that goes inside the purse is not there.

[Towntalk]

RAVE = PRAISE AS IN RAVE REVIEW OF THE SMASH HIT STAR WARS

RANT = Angry comment

Use of a Webster's wouldn't be amiss here.

[shantrivialand]

I wasn't raving about any bargains either....just simply stating I get the same shoes cheaper at Dick's and Gabe's.   I only buy 1 pair of shoes every year or two.  I buy Adidas because they fit good.  When they get dirty, I throw em' in the washer.  I am all for fit over price.  If the shoe fits, buy it.  Like I said. I mostly wear flip flops.  I have about 7 pair.   My husband has had 2 pair of Nikes in the 5 years that we have been married and 1 pair of Redwing boots.   

[ForumManager]

No raving here about getting deals -
Will it help  anyone but the corporation CEOs, if I pay $100 for a  pair  of shoes when  I can  get THE SAME SHOES for $30 at a different retailer?  That extra $70 isn't going to help anyone that really needs it.  It isn't contributing toward the tax base  with all the big business loopholes. Granted it will garner more state and county sales tax but that is all.

[Towntalk]

Let me rephrase it ... you keep raving about the values that you get at bargan prices ... BUT let me ask this ... aside from children's cloths ... how many times a year do you have to toss out shoes that have worn out because there are no shoe repair shops that want to bother reparing shoes like they did when shoes were made in the U.S.A.?

We know that children outgrow their shoes at a rapid rate so I'll not even go there, but I know that I buy four pairs of shoes a year ... I've gotten them at Pay-Less, and have to toss them out after a year because they stretch out of shape, the heels go, and the soles seperate from the rest of the shoe.

I also admit that I can't afford to buy shoes at Dillards or Penny's. I have all that I can handle just paying the utility bills and putting food on the table, but that does not say that I should be happy at the state of things.

When all the good paying jobs are gone, and all we have left are low paying jobs at minimum wage or just above, then who is going to take up the slack to keep Social Security ... Medicare ... and our schools solvent? Our cost of living here is very good, but it doesn't mirror what's happening in the rest of the country.

[ForumManager]

I didn't say anywhere in any of my posts on this subject that I like the idea of everything being made and produced in China.  I did however say that I don't believe that the shoes I was buying at cheaper prices were counterfeit.

Neither of us preached about how good  bargain goods are.
I think you mentioned Gabriel Bros.
I said that you could get the better shoes on sale at Dicks and at Value City and asked if that meant they were counterfeit.

BTW-
Reebok was  originally founded inUnited Kingdom and Fila is from Italy.

[shantrivialand]

When it's almost impossible to buy products made in the USA ... when this country starts buying imported food stuffs that were once produced here, when most of the cloths we wear are imported, and when American workers are tossed onto the welfare lines because to the loss of jobs, or when both parents has to work two and three jobs just to keep their heads above water, then preach to me about how great these bargain goods are.

I didn't say anywhere in any of my posts on this subject that I like the idea of everything being made and produced in China.  I did however say that I don't believe that the shoes I was buying at cheaper prices were counterfeit.  I never once preached to you about how great bargain goods are.  Only stated that not all Reebok/Nike/Adidas etc shoes are priced at $100 or more. 

I don't give a hoot anyhow because I only wear flip-flops and they are relatively cheap.

[Towntalk]

You're absolutely right when you said we must hold our elected officials in Washington to blame for the sorry mess they have gotten this country into and no one party is to blame ... both Republicans and Democrats have had their part to play. They talk the talk when they want our votes, but then go to Washington they stab us in the back, and like the fools we are, we keep reelecting them just because they brought back pork.

Because this website deals with local issues, I'll not go into the subject of pork, but at my website there are links to this subject and you can go there to see how Ryan rates.

But while we have every right to hammer the government, and hammer them we should, we must also look at ourselves. We can't on the one hand protest the use of foreign goods paid for with taxpayers money, yet on the other hand sing the praise of the cheap goods that are coming into our country at the expense of American workers who pay taxes that provide the services we demand. Just look at the sorry economic state of the Mahoning Valley. The cost of living is among the lowest in the country, but where do folks have to go for jobs that pay decent wages?

By the way, the latest Fed report says that in the last quarter, American productivity rose 1.8%

By the way, the problem will get worse thanks to NAFTA and a new scheme to do away with the borders of the U.S., Canada and Mexico so that foreign goods can come in much easier in trucks driven by Mexicans who are paid much lower wages than either American or Canadian teamsters in trucks that are high risk at best. This is also well documented at my web site with OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

[ForumManager]

Sure we care.
Where should we shop?  What should we buy?

Please tell us.

Apparently it can say  "Made in the USA" and not really be....
And then when caught, the coporate thieves  use the profits they made to pay the SMALL judgments or fines and move on to dodging the next hiccough.

This situation will not be resolved until there are lawmakers that ENFORCE strict penalties, sanctions etc.

Sears was sued because they claimed craftsman tools were made in the usa and they were not.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/sears_craftsman.html
Some related links and court documents --- apparently being dragged out?
http://www.jpml.uscourts.gov/Pending_MDLs/Sales_Practices/MDL-1703/mdl-1703.html
http://www.mcglinchey.com/images/pdf/1_int12.PDF
PDF file

Stanley tools (slap on the wrist compared to their profits )
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/06/ftc_stanley_works.html

More on sweatshop corps-
http://sonic.net/~doretk/Issues/00-06%20SUM/madein.html
http://www.olympicflame.org/legal/99-01-13.htm

According to the lawsuits:

    *      Garments made in Saipan's sweatshops may carry a "Made in the USA" of "Made in the Northern Marianas, USA" label. American consumers are deceived into believing they have purchased a product made by American workers protected by U.S. labor laws, that guarantee a decent wage and a clean, safe work place.

JC PENNY is prominently on the lists as are the other "mall" stores.

As far as I'm concerned, there is not one big retailer that isn't selling  foreign made merchandise
AND even lying about where it is made.
Some corporations mark it up higher than others.
Why should we make it even more profitable for them?

Let's all go live in a forest, kill some deer and small game for skins to wear and food to eat.
Oh wait a minute. 
There are no forests left that would accommodate us all except for maybe in the Amazon.-
then our own hand made products would not be made in the usa.
Let's get rid of our cars, houses, computers, telephones, tvs, radios and even our food.
All of them have some part or production aspect  that was not MADE IN THE USA.
The lumber yards even  have materials from CHINA.

We can't avoid it - so the less the profiteers make from us the better.
When we buy imports at the big department stores it is certainly not the employee  behind the counter  that is receiving  that high markup.

Where do you think ALL of the components for your computer were made?
Just because it might have been  COMPILED in the US makes it "made in the US"?
Your radio?  Unless it is over 40 years old, something inside of it was made in Taiwan.
My favorite scene in the movie Armageddon is when the Russian cosmonaut gets the ship  running by banging on it with a tool...
Saying:  "American components, Russian components, all made in Taiwan!" 

Ain't that the truth.

Are Americans  going to stop buying stock in these companies and boycott everything  until something changes?

The responsibility lies with our elected officials. We need to hammer them into making some very difficult decisions.
Will they? or are part of the big corporate machine that runs this world?

Value City, Dicks and other discount chains are selling the SAME merchandise as the others... just not marking it up so high.

[Towntalk]

http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/135268.html

I'm certainly not against the discount stores by any means ... I shop there myself, but knowing that what I'm buying is not MADE IN THE USA, will not last over the long haul ... is costing Americans jobs.

The overriding question though is at what point do we say enough is enough.

How many more jobs must be lost to foreign made goods, before our economy collapses?

We cried when Delphi moved most of its jobs to Mexico ... our valley was shattered into a million pieces when the steel mills closed because they couldn't compete with imported steel. When the State office Building was built, we were outraged that the steel being used was imported.

On my website is a whole series of reports about the quality of imports from China. This is a problem that I could never make up. Recalled drugs ... recalled health and beauty aids ... toys ... tires ... food.

Do you people even care? Or is the drive for "cheaper is better" more important to you than the safety of yourselves or your families?

I suggest that you either watch LOU DOBBS TONIGHT on CNN or at least read the transcripts of his program, he reports on this topic almost every day, and backs up everything he says with cold hard facts that you can verify yourselves.