Joe--

Is there no Costco out there?

Costco, though not perfect,-- (I think there is a recent lawsuit)--treats its employees far better than Walmart, in fact so much better that they have received some flak from stock analysts. (Walmart's stock has, however, been stagnant for about 5 years).

At any rate, Costco treats particularly its low level employees-- (the majority of any business' workers)-- considerably better than Walmart--(see my 16 April 04 11:55 PM posting on the Walmart Sidesteps the Government thread, with specific figures taken from the Wall St. Journal this year.)

Prices are also extremely reasonable--all that's required (besides annual membership, which I make up for in two trips) is that you have space to store in bulk since they sell in bulk. I stockpile all sorts of stuff--goal being to avoid emergency trips for staple items.
Drug prices are very good---far better than CVS for instance.

They also, amazingly enough, have good books at excellent prices. I feed my addiction all the time--I've picked up the McCullough John Adams book, one on Jefferson, two recent ones on John Paul Jones, the recent one on Washington (An Imperfect God), as well as a 3-volume photographic history of the Civil War ,and others---all hardback and usually half price or under (far better than Borders, for instance). I just ignore the Reagan hagiographies--no problem.

It is in fact possible to give good prices and still not be a blight on the retail landscape.