Agreed, but is Amazon really any better? Seems like they're (Amazon) the final nail in the coffin for many local businesses, after Walmart already put them there.
Speaking for Costco -- No, because they treat their employees well, provide good benefits and pay, and don't view their employees as just another cost to slash in order to increase shareholder value and corporate bonuses. Basically they treat their people as a priority.
Speaking for Lowes and Home Depot -- Yes, because they view the human element of their labor as inputs in a function to get as much labor as humanly cheap as possible, circumventing as many laws as possible, to increase shareholder value and corporate bonuses. Basically they treat their people as a liability. (If I have one anecdote that basically sums up Lowe's C-levels: They treat technology and people as a cost. When we asked 49,000 dollars to upgrade a server room that was practically a fire hazard, we had to pull teeth. When it came time to spend 21 million dollars to upgrade their private jetliner so that it could make it to China in one trip, instead of having to stop and refuel, they approved the cost unanimously, almost without thought. Money that amounts to basically a drop in the bucket to make your job, a core function of our daily operations, much better? Nah. 21 million so we can fly to China faster every time the need arises to find more workers to exploit for cheap labor and then resell here in America for 90% markup? Heck yes.)
Finally, I can't speak for Target because I have no idea about them.
The common element here: People, and how you treat them.
