So, what "chains" do we like?
 

I can't walk into a Walmart but don't have a real problem with Target. I can't think of a chain restaraunt that I've ever had a good meal at, including places like Legal Sea Food.

My approval goes to:

Most fast-food places, honorable mention to Carls Jr & In-N-Out. I had White Castle once and can't see how people refrain from puking while eating that shit.

My all-time favorite chain store or restaraunt is Costco! LOVE it. :crazy:

Ben and Jerry's is possibly the least evil chain out there... but I certainly employ the usage of many other chains far more than my rare urge for ice cream. I don't have allegiances towards any chain, that's for sure.

hmmm
Since each cow produces enough milkfat for 18,840 pints of ice cream during her life, this means that throughout Vermont, a herd of 23,085 cows is maintained, with 4617 cows slaughtered each year, in order to provide Ben & Jerry's with their annual ice cream output. That comes to more than twelve cows slaughtered every day in order to keep Ben and Jerry's ice cream business in operation.


Of course I'm sure Breyer's et al is worse but they aren't so hippified as their Chery Garcia image would have you think.




For me I don't "like" any retail chain. I go where the sales are for the most part, and try to not buy from large chains if I can help it. Unfortunately $ or lack thereof wins out more often than I would like.

Always liked Round Table Pizza -- best of the chain pizzerias, in my opinion. But then, they're mostly franchises.

Ross clothing stores -- may not be as familiar to you all back east, but they're the best off-price clothing chain there is. It's kinda like going to the flea market, but you can get a great deal there. A lot of good people on the down-and-out buy their interview clothes at Ross.

PetsMart. In some ways they're a ripoff, in some ways not. But they provide great services, such as pet adoption. And the help all seems happy to be there, except for the guy who has to stock the 50-pound sacks of cat litter and pet food.

Men's Wearhouse. They _are_ going to sell you something, so don't go unless you're ready to buy. But if you need a suit or sportcoat in a hurry and don't have your own preferences, they'll do a very competent job at a fair price.

Yes, and the meat youve eaten in the past month killed just as many cows.

If you are vegetarian, ignore this post ;)

Oh you're right..I have no illusions that I take part in the slaughter of many animals every time I eat and generate more trash in one week than some family in Uganda does in a year, and I consider myself very conservative waste wise. I just wanted to burst the PC bubble that Ben and Jerry's seems to enjoy with many people. The only reason their milk suppiler doesn't slaughter as many cows as Breyer's supplier/farm is they sell much less than Breyer's or Edy's etc.

I'm confused.

In order to get the cream, milk, etc why do they slaughter the cows? It makes no sense.


My family has had a dairy farm for well over 150 years now. My cousin runs it now, and before him it was his father (My great uncle), then his father, and his father before him. They never once slaughtered a single cow to get the milk. What am I missing?

Sorry, I'm not trying to get off topic here....

I LOVE Target. LOVE it.

If you didn't know it, McDonalds get their hamburger meat from Dairy cows that no longer produce the required amount of milk. They have contracts with various livestock auction places across the US and buy the surplus dairy cows. I will eat the salads in McD, but not much else. My Favorite seafood place is Landry's. Small chain, mostly in the south. I shop at SuperWalmart, because they allow Big trucks to park on their lots to do the shopping. Only chain variety stores that will.

Okay.. It just seemed from the other posts that they were making a correlation between dairy production and slaughter. Well, I guess there is a correlation. Ack. Anyway, I was just needing some clarification :)



Krispy Kreme. Best donuts anywhere!

Don't they have something like 15,000 calories each? I'm not sayijng that they aren't good, but I just can't eat them.

It's probably something like that! :lol:

God, they are worth it though. I haven't had one in at least a year when a customer came to my work with a box and I just happened to be at the switchboard :) But one is opening in about a month here so I can't wait.

Got to have my Starbucks in the morning. It's not that I LOVE Starbucks, I am just in love with the ass of one of the girls working on my Venti Drip with an Add Shot. If there was some other chain of java houses, I would probably try them.

Got to go with Home Depot and Costco as well. Now, Home Depot sucks ass when it comes to customer service or hiring people that actually know what a tool is, but their selection is fantastic if you know what you are looking for. Costco, just all around supreme bulk shopping center!!!

Burger Kind... the Double whopper is truly the king of burgers.

Hooters is a good chain....well, not food wise, but fun wise. Old Showbiz pizza rocked. Hardee's used to be the absolute suck chain, but with their new thickburgers, they are a respectable chain. Marshall's has saved me a lot of money on clothes, and Electronics Boutique is one of my favorite shops ever. Also, Barnes & Noble and Borders get honorable mentions.

MB

Re: So, what "chains" do we like?
 

Yeah what's the deal with that anyway?

Wal-Mart and Target are both huge corporations that build stores all over suburbia. So why is it so cool and popular to despise Wal-Mart, but Target is perfectly fine for doing the same damn thing? Is it their trendier housewares selection?

Personally I like 'em both. But if I were a business/capitalism hating liberal, I'd have the same disdain for Target that I and all my liberal buddies would for Wal-Mart. If you're gonna hate something, at least hate it consistently. Sheesh.

Steak and Shake - Dont have any in Wisconsin though.

For department store - Walmart. It's just more affordable and it's the only department store in town (or within a 28 mi radius).

I like shopping at Target a little better just due to the ease of getting around and they seem to have a bit more knowlegeable sales force. I like Walmart when I know what I want and where it is.

As for chain restaurants, there are some okay ones. Chili's, Outback (certain foods only), Whataburger, Sonic, Braum's are all ones I like. I haven't been in a McDonald's or Burger King in 6 months.

They're around, I know there's one in Janesville.

My favorite burger place is Fuddrucker's.

Costco is a favorite, if for no other reason than free samples!

Love...
Baskin Robbins
CostCo
Target
HomeDepot
OfficeDepot
Border's/Barnes & Noble

Hate...
Starbuck's (much money for bitter coffee..ik)
Walmart (there's something about is that puts is over the edge of Target)
JCPenney (too much for cheap)
Blockbuster's (Hollywood has it, and for longer & cheaper)

I'm really a fan of almost any chain. I love McDonald's, and I especially love Chipotle. I love Wal-Mart because it's probably the only decent store you're going to find in Bumblefuck, MiddleOfNowhere, and the odds are high that even there it's open 24 hours. I love Barnes & Noble; late night bookstores should be much more common. I love Olive Garden and their ludicrous food portions.

I think my favorite two chains are MicroCenter and Waffle House. I don't think it's possible for me to leave either one unhappy.

My least favorite chains are Outback Steakhouse, because my steak doesn't need funky toppings that make it taste like crap; and Dunkin Donuts, because they never seem to have plain glazed doughnuts and their colaches are made with cocktail weiners, not sausages. :P

On the west coast there is no burger like an In-n-Out burger! I will seriously drive 45 miles each way *just* to go to In-n-Out.

As far as practices, yes they kill cows. But if you've ever read the book Fast Food Nation you'll find that In-n-Out is the only fast food joint that gets the authors endorsement. Everything they serve is fresh... from the lettuce to the fries they cut in front of you. (Yes, you can watch them turn a potato to french fries, esp. from the drive thru.)

I guess my only cavat is that it take a damn long time to get your food... but a Double-Double Animal Style is sooooooo worth the wait.

I refuse to eat in chain restaraunts. I would much rather get food in either small diner or a super-upper-class place.

I'm really picky about what I eat and hate ill-prepared run-of-the-mill food. I need full flavor... food that you can tell was made with heart and passion and not just for a paycheck.

i find chain restaurants serve unhealthy fatty food....so i don't go there....

i'm in NYC so there's lots of small business and small single owners.

I prefer Target, by far. Great prices, good quality items- and best of all the best fitting brand of jeans I have ever been able to find- Mossimo.
WalMart takes away too much business from independent shops and also treats employees like crap. Also, they've been deliberately slashing prices only because of competition with Target and other chains....but only by a whoppin' cent.

Oh, the horror! Responding to competition by lowering prices! DELIBERATELY, no less--none of those accidental decreases, they know exactly what they're doing! Man, I wasn't convinced before, but now I see the light of why Wal-Mart is so wrong and evil.

:rolleyes:

The WalMarts in our area are filled with the most disgusting people, and are packed 24-7. If we need to go there, we do it past midnight, when only a few of the really scary people are there.

I know that makes me sound snobby, but you all know the kind I am talking about- drunk, sweaty, and generally unpleasant.

Places I love-
SuperTarget
Chick-fil-a (but I would have to drive an hour and a half to get to one)
Krispy Kreme
Chilis
Fazolis

Places I hate-
Popeyes
KFC
JCPenny
Dillards
Gadzooks
Burger King

daisy:D

They do make more then one blend

btw, it means a lot to me when some of you folks like Target more...since i'm an executitive there, i take this to heart....we do have quality merchandise and i even shop there for the trendy clothing...


but i like walmart only because they are always in stock (even if its in a loaded shopping cart or pallets on the main aisles)

being in cali, hands down to in-n-out. i don't know what it is about them but they are fuckin great!

lastly, if i wasn't working for Target, i would definitely be with Costco...FREE SAMPLES, CHEAP HOTDOGS and PIZZA, Yummy Rotisserie chicken, and MUCH MUCH MORE....i love that place...we call it the $100 club (at least).

Haha, I get a Second Cup coffee every morning for the same reason. Well, that and I really like the coffee. About the only employee there that doesn't make my jaw drop is the one guy, which reminds me, I wish I was the only male working with 8 really hot girls.

About the only chain store I really frequent is Loblaws (grocery stores), the prices aren't always the greatest, but the bigger ones have a decent selection of specialty items, which often saves me a trip to the Italian grocery.

I won't go to chain restaurants anymore either, especially after working in a couple. I can't justify paying $12 for powdered fettucine alfredo when an independent restaurant will sell me something made from scratch for less.

Sorry if this should be in PM, but:[list=1][*]Why do you add so much to your prices? You're the most expensive retail store in your class (which doesn't include many outlets, admittedly.)[*]Mossimo was . . . um, he was trendy about eleven or twelve years ago. :-\ There, I said it.[/list=1]
Those comments having been made, I'm fond of the cheap DVD selection at Target. Wal-Mart has been one-upping you guys again lately, though, by having entire bins of B-grade and low-selling DVDs for around $6 each.

Closing your doors each night isn't real endearing, either. :-\ I've no doubt that you have your reasons, but I have my reasons for wanting to go shopping at four in the morning.

A fan overall. Just wish you guys would make some changes. :)

Yes yes yes.. In n Out is pretty much the best chain. They employ intelligent young people who are cheerful and get your order right most of the time. They are cheaper and more delicious than any major chain out there. I have one right down the street from me, so they know me by now.

as far as chains go, i dig target, in & out, and costco (not just cuz they're paying my bills at the moment).

target is all about the aesthetics. they work hard to produce a specific "brand" that people identify with target. the way the store is laid out, the various signage used to indicate the departments and the product, and the uniform appearance of the employees are all specifically done to enhance that image and create a comfortable shopping atmosphere. worked there seasonally a few years back. money sucked but it was a good place to work.

in & out and quality go hand-in-hand. one of the few places where there's no doubt that everything they hand you on a tray is fresh, tasty, and correct. they take care of their employees and give the customer what they want, good food at a decent price. i'll miss these guys when i move.

costco holds a special place in my heart because i'm working there right now. i've seen the place from teh inside out and just love it. beyond the samples, i look at the price and am always amazed that we have all of the best gear for amazing prices. i'm not gonna pitch my schlock, but i honestly beleive that if i shop retail for any major appliances/electronics, i'll never shop anywhere else but costco.

i love costco. i don't really do fast food, with rare exception to Wendy's, and the occasional (VERY late-night) Steak 'n Shake.

I like Target, but probably mostly because Walmart is the pit of all that is unholy.

For the record, the reasons I dislike Walmart but will shop at Target are: 1) I've read horror stories about how Walmart treats their employees wrt hours & medical insurance. I've read in many places that Target treats its employees MUCH better. 2) I dislike the fact that Walmart is so obviously run as a right-wing company. They remove items that they deem offensive (Maxim magazine), and censor CD content as well as graphics. 3) When I walk in there, it reminds me of Vegas... leading to 4) Way too much white trash in there that for some reason don't flock to Target.

I can't believe someone likes Olive Garden. Tsk tsk.

The difference is obvious; Wal-Mart is the biggest company in the world.... the biggest. They rake in something like 2.5 billion dollars in profit a year. If they wanted they could have an army as well funded at the US in 4 year, seeing how the US budget is something like 10 billion I'm not quite sure.

Sure, it's the only one in range, why is that? What would you have all done before a Wal-Mart was in town?? Ohhhhhh right.... LOCALY OWNED BUSNIESS, I haven’t seen much of them lately, because Wal-Mart destroys them. How could a Wal-Mart in bumfucknowhere make a profit? With that much stock and not really that high traffic, truth is they don't. If one Wal-Mart is failing they let it go because so many others are making tons of money, they know that that community will expand, if slowly, with a complete lack of local stores that sell the same sort of things as they do.
What they want, Wal-Mart that is, is to get all competition, so much so that everyone is so accustomed to going there for everything you'll never stop, Wal-Mart will be all you need, this is the perfect end for a business. Problems with it, one, foreign outsourcing, I'm Canadian so I am used to buying mostly imported things, but the States isn't. Going overseas for cheaper goods is nothing new; Wal-Mart is just recently started investing overseas more and more. They are a very demanding company, if you can't deliver the goods at the time that was agreed one, you’re gone. They can always go overseas for cheaper versions of exactly what you make. So what you get is cheaper and cheaper quality things, and more and more loose of jobs. Another problem, low paying jobs, when people get a job at Wal-Mart, there is little chance for that much improvement in the company starting on the ground floor. There are so many jobs available that more and more people are starting there, barely making it by, and living below the poverty line the whole idea behind it is horrible, they just sell things that are huge, for extremely low prices, such good deals that you can just let it all go to waste if you can't finish your giant jar of pickles because it only cost $1.75. One final reason that Wal-Mart is a horrible example of capitalism blown way out of proportions is they control so much that it becomes a political and social problem. Think of censorship, they will not carry certain CD's because of language, or other reasons. When a CD is not carried in Wal-Mart the band looses and ton of money, and this the record label will not allow. Things like this are very bad in so much as eventually everyone will just dress the same and like the same things and buy from Wal-Mart.

This is exactly true. I hate casinos in Vegas; they seem to be designed both to disorient you and keep you in the store -- lots of shiny lights, reflections, and barriers in the middle of the gaming floor that keep you from figuring out where you came in and where you are. I'm one of those people who always needs to know where I am, and the average Walmart seems designed to confuse you and keep you in the store -- blind alleys, no clear site-lines to windows or an exit, and so on.

On the other hand, the wife dragged me to a Bed, Bath, and Beyond the other day -- a home furnishings chain -- and the layout was brilliant. Yes, there are walls in the middle of the floor that block your sightlines, but the basic layout is a big circle or oval; you come in the front door, walk straight ahead, down the main aisle, and eventually you're straight back to where you started. Meanwhile, the different classes of merchandise -- sheets and comforters, towels, kitchen appliances, plastic containers -- are each grouped in their own little cul-de-sac sections off the main aisle. I really enjoyed the experience.

The big issue with chains, of course, is that most don't offer a lot of customer service; that's how they keep prices low. This Bed, Bath,
and Beyond had some high-end cooking pots that we can also get in a locally-owned cooking store downtown. The thing is, at BB&B, you have to know what you want and need when you're buying a specialty product, whereas at the locally-owned store there's somebody to give you advice. It's not just about the lowest prices -- it's about buying the product that's appropriate for you, neither too much nor too little. At the big chains, you have to know what you want or research it on the Internet first. Because there's often no one to tell you if the product is right for you.

Speaking of the $6 DVD bins...

A couple of friends and I used to dig through those late at night into early morning. Once we got so distracted doing it that we just made it a point to dig to the bottom of the bin. We got there, and had a couple of really high piles with all the dvd's we had misplaced. My thin, tiny friend crawled into the hole (I swear she only weighs 90 lbs.) and covered herself up with the DVD's. When another friend came over from a different department, she stuck out her hand with a DVD in it telling the friend looking through the bin "Buy this one!" I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Our WalMart is very short staffed around that time of night, so that is how we got away with it.

I rarely ever eat chain food, but if i would have to I like Boston Chicken. The nearest one to whre I live now is 90 minutes, so I hope they're still as good as they were 3 years ago.

I second irseg's praise for Fuddrucker's burgers.

i shop local unaffiliated merchants, resaurants and cafe's. groceries come from local franchiser. It is about quality,service,community.

Chains that get my bump are Best Buy, Wendys, Subway and Chevron... Oh, guess i have to throw starbucks in there 'cause they always have cute girls working. Sure they charge $4 for a cup of flavored water, but it is the best legalized drug out there and is oh so addicitive.

1 chain = 22 yards = 1/80th of a mile.
I'm a railwayman... :)

Here's my list....

Starbucks
Caribou Coffee
Friday's
Maceys
Panera
Lifetime Fitness
Marriott Hotels & Resorts
Romano's Macaroni Grill

How's that for a list that covers several product areas?

i dunno if i like it.. but they just opened in Times Square...

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

figures since it's a Viacom license from Paramount...

When I was in California last month for a job interview I ate at In n Out each night I was there. I loved it, great staff, order was correct, food was great. I hope I get the job there just so I can eat there occasionally.

Yes! Krispy Kreme is delicious. *runs off because the hot sign is on*

heh. ironic. I finally quit Mervyns not long ago. you guys just have no love for your employees, especially us poor backstock grunts. MUCH better than f'in Walmart though... gotta give ya that. HATE the security guards at the door demanding to see my reciept and my bag. how obnoxious to have me pay for my stuff, and then get f'in SEARCHED as I leave the place? How rude. why not post a sign saying "you are all theifs! give us our shit back!"

...ahem. feel better now.

Famous Dave's BBQ

Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Steffi on Famous Dave's BBQ. I was in minnesotta during the summer from toronto, and this little 'shack' was awesome to eat at. A very backyard experience, especially on the patio.

The Wal-Mart You Don't Know

The giant retailer's low prices often come with a high cost. Wal-Mart's relentless pressure can crush the companies it does business with and force them to send jobs overseas. Are we shopping our way straight to the unemployment line?

http://fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

Costco is first rate.

In-N-Out is the best burger chain by far - None out here on the east coast though.

I'm amazed I haven't seen the Dunkin' Donuts name yet. In New England it truly has a cult following for their coffee. I'm an adict.

i LOVE Costco

i like the fred meyer chain. :P
they have everything

None. I try to inhibit herd mentality.