Purl Buttons: 2.11.15

Locally grown food at the WalMart?

I don't care for the BIG BOX stores anymore. They seemed to be convenient, and often I could make one stop instead of several to accomplish tasks and errands. Then they grew, including entire grocery stores, ophthalmology offices, optometrists, dentists, hair salons, pharmacies, and fast food chains. Made in America ceased to be the motto as they sought more and more cheaper and cheaper products.

Now, some of these places are closing, right at the time some of the small towns are "finally getting our W******".

I moved to my small town after living in a metropolis. I could see the trend for the Big Box. When the Big Box moved in to the big city where I lived, strip malls with small family businesses crumbled. Picturesque "Avenue" type shopping gave up many of the unique stores that made the Avenue special, in favor of high-priced, over-marketed chains.

Reap THIS, WalMart

Even grocery stores changed as they tried to keep up by offering more and more non-grocery items, sometimes reducing the variety of food offerings. But life is a cycle and we reap what we sow.

You can guess that I am not unhappy to see some of these Big Box closings. But what to do with the abandoned stores? I hate to take a clue from TEXAS. (Yes, that's right, I am anti-most-of-the-whole-Texas-arrogance thing, not to mention what Texas does that Florida thinks is so grand for education. Education. Don't get me started on that and Texas. Or California.)

In McAllen, Texas, they made their eyesore into a LIBRARY, and what a library!

This library has 16 public meeting spaces, 14 public study rooms, 64 computer labs, 10 children’s computer labs, and 2 genealogy computer labs.