Voting with your Wallet

I made a stand today.

I've been on the decision point of paying membership fees at one of those very large warehouse supermarkets. I won't say which, only that it rhymes with ShostCo. I'm not a member, though some friends and family are and so I've been in a few times. I think some of their products are interesting & unique, and some of the pricing is pretty good. Not all by any means - their electronics are outclassed and out-priced at many other places for instance.

Back to my narrative though - I am having some family over this weekend, and I know they'd have what I like to cook up on special occasions like this, so I literally walked in with the intention of paying them their $55 just to have the privilege of shopping at their store. And I stopped. I had a conversation with the membership lady, but really - she didn't need to be there as the conversation was really quite personal between me & me.

Let me say a few things at this point...

1. I'm a fervent fan of small town merchants. A little main street section is what town's revolve around, so big box stores aren't in a town's interest in a character sense. I'm the first one to complain that the place I live has started to look like every other place around here. This urban sprawl is a blight, and an extremely shortsighted way to live our lives just so we can get 48 rolls of toilet paper for $1 less.
2. I'm also not against the idea of membership at stores, and I have a few already - notably my favorite retailer - MEC. I've no issue whatsoever provided it goes to some explainable cause that's a little worthwhile. As a means to simply line the owner's pocket though ? Nope sorry that's in the same league as Airline hidden fees.
3. The stores aren't convenient to get to, nor are the everyday values something I think are great, so it's not a place I crave.
   

What's all this mean - it means I walked away from "ShostCo" and their membership desk and decided that if I didn't take a stand and vote with my wallet, then how can I complain if no one else does.

I encourage you - not to do what I did as that's my decision - but rather I encourage to make positive, conscious choices and vote clearly with your own wallet. Your retailers & suppliers deserve to know whether they are providing the kind of value to you that you want.