I think most of these complaints are valid for just about every large chain discount department store, including K-Mart and Target. I understand now that Target is getting into the Superstore business. It's all sort of funny to me, though, because when I was a little kid, in Louisville, KY, K-Mart had superstores in the early 70s. The grocery was on one side, the department store on the other. It ain't a new idea.

The concept of one-stop-shopping is pretty appealing - but the problem, as my dad put it, is "the store's so damn big you spend all day wandering around and can't find anything." And where he used to live... well, before there was Wal-Mart, there really wasn't anyplace to shop. Any mom-pop stores had already long gone by the wayside.

Here in Nashville, most of the privately-owned clothing stores are chic boutiques that someone like me can't even afford to breathe the air in. So if I want clothes, I pretty much have to go to a chain store, or mail order them from somewhere.

There are some things Wal-Mart hasn't touched around here. We still have those chic boutiques, privately owned hardware stores, gift shops, restaurants, etc. Nashville still has a local grocery chain that does very well, thank you. BUT this is a major metropolitan area with room for an awful lot of stuff. I realize not every community is like that.

It's a double-edged sword, I suppose.