Sparked by the Bob Lonsberry Show

Today Bob Lonsberry had a caller on his show who was fired by Circuit City for being paid too much. From what I am to understand employees that made too much were fired as a cost cutting measure. New employees would be hired at a lower hourly rate and laid off employees could reapply at the lower rate in 10 weeks.

The amount of experience and product knowledge each laid off employee had was irrelevant. Years of service to the company? Irrelevant.

Will people continue to shop at Circuit City? Yes. Will I? No.

What matters most to the majority of today's consumers? The almighty dollar. Instant gratification. Is that all that I think about when I buy something? No! Ask anyone who has ever gone shopping with me and they will tell you it's true. For me it is not just about the product and meeting my immediate desire. these are the things I take into consideration before I make a purchase.

• First I prefer to patronize small shops when I can. Support the little guy. You have the power to decide the fate of the little guy so he is going to do his best to offer you the best. I have boycotted businesses and products before. I didn't eat Twix candy bars for several years because I did not agree with a commercial they had for their product.
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• I ask myself is this a need or a want? If it is a want how badly do I want it? Do I have a place to put it? Will I use it?
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• The Big question for me is where is it made? If I can't find that information for myself (on a TV for example) I will ask a sales clerk. 99% of them have absolutely no idea. They therefore do not know if they offer a similar product that is American made. Then I get on my soap box and tell them I prefer to support American workers whenever possible because if we don't buy American we are putting fellow Americans out of work. I tell them that if I must buy a product made in another country I try to choose a democratic country and not a Communist one for example. If I can find a locally made product Great! I always buy honey made locally for example.
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• Quality. Is it environmentally friendly? Will it last or fall apart? Does it stink? I once wanted to buy toy beads for my son like the ones I played with when I was little. They still made them but looked so shiny now and the colors so dark. I opened the container to touch one and the smell just about knocked me over. I had a headache for a hour. Needless to say I did not buy them.
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• Price. Ah big question. This is a big question for me too. However, if an American made product is only a few dollars more I will choose it in a second. Sometimes the American made or natural or quality product is out of my price range. I can choose to buy the cheaper one or wait and save for the more expensive one or not buy one at all.
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• Service. Customer service has been replaced by cheap labor. Sad but true. I was once shoved by a Walmart employee infront of three managers who didn't say a thing. I no longer shop there. I once heard a home improvement store employee swear to another one in earshot of customers. Wegmans seems to be the exception to this rule. There motto is Every Day You Get Out Best and it's true. Service, selection, price, quality, and customer service. If you ask me there is no better Grocery store than Wegmans they've got it all hands down.
  

So next time you spend your hard earned money give some thought to the long term effects. If Americans don't support Americans by buying American made products who will?.