Kelly in Kansas

Last night I went down to a nearby town that still has an "old" Wal-mart. Not a supercenter, just a Wal-mart near a grocery store that is an IGA (almost a relic, too). I remember when I moved to this area 12 years ago, that my town had a new Wal-mart supercenter that everyone wanted to come over to go to whereas I often preferred going back to my small hometown and the Walmart that was still manageable and not overwhelming - esp. when you just wanted a few things and didn't have a lot of time or didn't want to spend a lot of time. Well, this Wal-mart will soon be a thing of the past when they put a new supercenter out by the new bypass intersection - which will be a bit closer but I will still miss the nostalgia of the smaller ones. My brother went to the University of Arkansas and one of his roommates was the company VP who picked the new locations for Wal-mart. It always amazed me that they were in a position to just up and leave an old location without necessarily selling it to another retailer.

Another related story recently was that the University of Missouri named an arena (or other sporting venue) after one of the Walton grandchildren who went there only to find out afterword (and several hundred thousand dollars later) that she paid someone else to do most of her coursework while she was there.

And, as much as I grew up in the world of Wal-mart, this is my favorite discount retailer and I'm even more dangerous in there than in high-end stores (as far as spending goes).