www.CostaRicaTicas.com

One Walmart would not affect much. But Walmart is in to world domination.

dapanz1

Do not think anyone reasonably expects Wal-Mart to stop at one store in Costa Rica. I would think, at the very least, they would eventually convert all the existing HyperMas stores to the Wal-Mart concept.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Sh-h-h-h! Hear that sound? Listen carefully... hear it?

It's the sound of 1,000 ferias, pulperias, small tiendas, independent mercados and small retail shops dying.




Wal*Mart = Cancer

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Pura Vulva! Wandering through the dark, I am El Ciego.

El Ciego,

I hear it loud & clear ! I don't see Wal-Mart as so wonderful. I remember a time in the USA when we had small hardware stores. These people knew their customers by name & greeted you with a smile & had some expertise in what they did. They took an interest & actually knew something. Ask someone in Wal-Mart something about anything if you can even find someone other than their paid greeter.

I hate to see the change & CR becomes more influenced by our ways. I like the contrast of life styles & hate to see us move to one BIG UNHAPPY place all over saving a couple of bucks !

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"Run silent, run deep"
Spunk glazed Chicas are the building blocks of the universe!

Gentleman,

You make very good points about the death of small retailers when faced with trying to compete against the juggernauts of the business like Wal-Mart.

It has become popular in the US to bash Wal-Mart for all the right reasons, low wages, lack of health benefits, destroying local down town merchants and areas, etc. Then after they vent against big box retailers they jump in the car and flock to those same big box retailers to buy, buy, buy all the while congratulating themselves on how much money they saved.

I find the situation analogous to when I first became a consumer many years ago. Old line department stores all sold appliances, TV's, household goods. People would go there and get the expertise from a sales clerk about which model did what, which was better, etc. They then would copy down the model number and hightail it to the local discount store and buy the product because it was cheaper. The lack of a knowledgeable sales clerk was not necessary because they had already gleaned the necessary knowledge from the full price department store clerk. Eventually department stores closed those unprofitable sections of their stores and abdicated the market to the discounters.

Costa Rica and the world are no different from the United States when it comes to shopping. They will search out the lowest price and be willing to give up some customer service to achieve those prices. Perhaps it will be a slower and less complete change in CR do to the remoteness and lack of private vehicles in the areas outside metro San Jose.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

If the chicas have access to a walmart they may no longer be impressed by, and provide services for, the cheap MP3 players and other trinkets people have been giving as "regalos".

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Tonka. (Still Alive and kicking.)