I was out purchasing some greeting cards today at the place I hate to shop at the most, Wal-Mart, because here in the town of Boonville, MO we really don’t have a lot of choices. Normally I’d hit up Hallmark in Columbia, MO where I work, but today was a work from home day and since I had friend with a birthday coming up Saturday, I needed to get a card for them quickly.
Wal-Mart carries “American Greetings” – and, as the name suggests, I was expecting them to be quality cards Made in the USA. After all, American Greetings has been around for quite a while – not quite as well-known as Hallmark, but still they carry quite a selection and variety. Imagine my surprise when the cards all revealed they were “MADE IN CHINA”.
I was disgusted to say the least. I looked over many cards – and every one of them was stamped “MADE IN CHINA” on the back. I couldn’t believe it – how much money could they possibly be saving by printing cards in China versus America? Whatever the savings were, they certainly wasn’t passing it on to the consumer – the cards were all $4.00 and up!
Determined I was not going to support a company that ships American jobs overseas I threw down the cards and left. I then made a special trip to Hallmark in Columbia, MO and found plenty of cards still made here in the good old USA. Sure, I spent more money in gas than I saved, but I stood by my principles.
The funny part is, the cards that were made in the USA – they were cheaper! $2.50 versus $4.00 for “Made in China”. So much for all that savings, huh?
How will the economy in this country ever get better if companies such American Greetings keep outsourcing every job they can? And when they do outsource there is ZERO SAVINGS for the consumer – in fact, we end up paying more. That money goes right into their corporate pockets. They apparently never heard of this guy called Henry Ford who was famous for saying that he had to pay his workers a good wage, otherwise how would they ever be able to afford to buy his cars?
American Greetings, you’ve lost my business. There is no way I will support a business that treats the American worker like they are just another “number”.