There used to be a time when there was more than one store to shop at for general merchandise.  Department stores, as we called them.  The stores had similar, but not always exact, things.  And they had variety, and selection, because they had COMPETITION.

I've been shopping for DAYS trying to find a handful of items, specifically, stocking hangers that don't cost $20 each, stencils for spraying snow on my sliding glass door to read "Merry Christmas", bubble bath base, mason jars, and cross-stitchable mason jar lid covers.  There was a time that all of these things could be found at a department store.

And maybe I could find these items at WalMart, but I am boycotting them again, this time for their employment practices.  (A friend of a friend, a single mother, who'd worked at WalMart for 6 years was let go right around Thanksgiving because she was at the top of her pay scale, but she was told she was welcome to reapply, at the beginning wage again.)  My fruitless shopping expeditions have reminded me of their impact on true competition and variety of goods.

It used to be that there were a bunch of stores in a similar price range and goods selection:  KMart, Hills, Roses, Murphy's, Ames.  These were slightly below Target, slightly above, or very close to, WalMart, in terms of price.  They had a little bit of everything.  And while there was a lot of overlap, each store was unique enough to stay in business.  If they were still in business, I'm sure I could find everything on my list at one or two of them.  As it is, because I'm boycotting WalMart, that leaves me precious few options.  Target is too "upscale" for some of my more kitschy items, and they don't do crafts at all, which means I have to scour Michael's, Joann's, and Hancock Fabric.  (Note:  I am now boycotting Hobby Lobby.  I tell why in a post script.)  These stores all seem to carry THE EXACT SAME THINGS, and only one brand of each, and all at the exact same price.  So, I'm still frustrated, still haven't hung my stockings, and still don't have any cross-stitch fabric (though I've found what I need at, get this, a LOCALLY OWNED STORE!  Yippee!  That closes before I get off work everyday, so I can't get them until next Saturday, giving me 4 days to cross stitch the damn things.)

I miss the way I used to shop.  You know, back when there was variety at variety stores.

Addendum #1:  Maybe what I am missing is more the semi-rural area in Virginia where I grew up.  Maybe the big cities never had the variety of department stores we did. 

Addendum #2:  Why I am boycotting Hobby Lobby.  Hobby Lobby purchased an empty building in Lynchburg, VA and donated it to Thomas Road Baptist Church for their expansion efforts.  Thomas Road was founded by Jerry Falwell.  Religious differences aside, Thomas Road Baptist Church and the Falwell Ministries, including Liberty University, are one of the richest entities in Lynchburg, VA.  They practically own the city.  If Hobby Lobby wishes to use its resources to support a religious charity, then so be it.  I wouldn't have liked it necessarily, but I wouldn't have boycotted them.  But to give real estate to an already filthy rich church is not acceptable to me, when there are truly needy charities, some offshoots of Falwell's endeavors they could have given to.