Yep, you're right as far as Wal-Mart.  I saw a very interesting program on
our local p b s front line about them, and it is scarry.  They're having
all their stuff made in China, and are big enough to dictate what they
will buy a product for.  Long and interesting story.  I see the shack
doing what Wal-mart is doing as far as competition.  The shack has run a
lot of small parts vendors out of business, and now that they are pretty
much the only game in town, they're dropping their parts and ham stuff.
They just want to sell cell phones and satellite contracts, and oh yes,
batteries...   Also, they don't keep a product around very long.   Take
some of their talking stuff like the talking volt meeter.  I don't think
they carry any talking calculaters any more, and I've been told they've
dropped all of their talking watches.
73s
Butch Bussen
wa0vjr