Editor:
I shuddered as I read "If you build it they will come" (Coast Reporter letters, July 27).
Walmart personifies all that is wrong in the retail world: cheaply made goods that don't last and end up in our landfills, outsourcing to countries that have poor environmental laws and human rights records. Not to mention their predatory business practice of offering low pricing to drive out competition then raising their prices once there is no competition.
Most of the work is part-time at minimum wage with no benefits. I fail to see how this will improve our tax base, as all of this company's profit goes directly to the U.S.
My father was a wholesaler in the textile business and I worked for him for many years. At that time there was a huge textile industry in the U.S. (home textiles like sheets, towels, bedding, etc.). Walmart has a policy to control the supply chain. They started outsourcing to China and India - cheaper labour, cheaper materials equals cheaper quality and yes, cheaper prices. That textile industry in the U.S. disappeared, thousands of jobs gone and an entire industry vanished.
I really take offence to the line "many people choose to not live on the Sunshine Coast because we do not have any major shopping amenities here."
Really, I think it is the other way around. Go down to Cowrie Street and see the variety of wonderful stores. There is nothing you cannot get here unless you want some obscure Swedish bookshelf; then perhaps you may have to go to Richmond.
Look at the big picture. Our town needs our support. Buy locally, support the businesses that are already here trying to offer good deals.
Jill Anderson
Sechelt
