I think this is one of the times when Walmart bottomed out prices - and I don't hate them for it
This makes me curious -- which time when Walmart bottomed out prices did you hate them for it? Was it the inexpensive clothing? The affordable household goods? Or perhaps that time Walmart rocked the industry by introducing $4 prescription drugs? (Where allowed by law. In some states, it is illegal to sell medicine too cheaply.)
The people previously providing clothing and household goods in many towns were likely mom & pop type stores. Walmart tends to put those kind of shops out of business. The only folks profiting off of high check cashing fees are banks and check cashing/payday loan stores that are as bad or worse than Walmart.
That is possible, or the goods may have been provided by mail order, or more distant retail outlets, or people may have made their own goods or gotten by without them. When the alternate retailers were less efficient than Walmart, and unable to provide as good a value as Walmart, customers naturally chose to bring them less business. Bad news for mom, pop, and Sears, good news for all the price-sensitive shoppers that are the subject of this conversation.The people previously providing clothing and household goods in many towns were likely mom & pop type stores.